Master the Art of Light Packing: 19 Travel Tips to Outsmart Baggage Fees!
Airlines are trying to make money however they can, and one of the easiest ways is requiring more passengers to check their bags. Luggage weights and dimensions are getting more restricted as a result. It’s also not only about money—sometimes you want to save time by avoiding the stop at baggage claim or potentially having the airline lose your luggage. Here are things you can do to cut weight or the appearance of having an overweight bag, avoid having to pay these fees, and keep your belongings close at hand.
Pack light. Of course this is the obvious and most useful tip I can give you. Pack for a week or less, even when you’re staying for more than that amount of time. Plan to wear your clothes more than once and don’t pack, “just in case” clothes. Lay out everything in advance and continue to cull, cull, cull. If you think you didn’t bring enough, you probably have the right amount!
Ignore empty spaces. If by some good fortune, you have not packed every square inch of your suitcase, don’t think you have room for more. You may have to carry your case up flights of stairs or navigate it long distances to your hotel or over cobblestones. Having a lighter pack will benefit you; it’s not a packing flaw.
Buy the lightest bag possible. Especially if you frequently travel on airlines that require your bag to be under 7kg, make sure that the bag you are bringing is as light as possible empty. In those instances, lightweight backpacks are ideal because they don’t have wheels or a handle. If you need a rolling bag, we like TravelPro’s MaxLite bag. It’s only 5.4 pounds—one of the lightest rolling carry-ons we’ve seen. If you can handle a little more weight, we are thrilled with our 7.4 oz. Briggs & Riley ZDX 22” bags because of their amazing and unique compression feature.
Reduce the number of heavy items. Wear your heaviest pair of shoes or boots and make sure that as many of your clothes as possible coordinate with them. Stick to a capsule wardrobe so that everything goes with everything else. If you need more than the pair of shoes you are wearing, make sure that the alternate is different enough that there’s a clear reason to have more than one pair (boots and sandals, not two pairs of heels).
Utilize pockets. I wear these Headlands Hybrid Cargo II pants I purchased from Athleta on all my plane rides. They are lightweight, have loads of pockets, and have an inner drawstring for comfort. You will need to put those pocket items elsewhere before going through security, but afterwards, load them up!
Wear your heavy jacket. My puffy jacket is bulky, so to save room in my carry-on as a full-time traveler, I wear it even when I’m en route from one sunny destination to another. It does compress pretty easily if necessary, but it’s got a bunch of generously sized pockets, so you can bet those are loaded up if I’m on a budget airline and need to lighten up my carry-on bag.
Bring your old undies and tee shirts. I know people who reserve their slightly older underwear and t-shirts for travel and then discard them in order to “acquire” room for souvenirs.
Hide a fanny pack. Now they’re called slings or hip packs, but put it under your jacket and zip it up. You only are allowed one personal item on a plane, and a purse or backpack typically count as that item. Some people claim that hip packs are considered “wearable apparel,” but don’t count on it. Better to zip it up if you can’t squeeze it into your backpack or carry on.
Luggage scale. This handle scale is a convenient tool that will help you weigh your carry-on in the comfort of your hotel room or Airbnb so you can make adjustments before you’re forced to expose your belongings at the airport.
Wear your heaviest clothes. Wear your jacket, scarf, a base layer, a mid-layer, and a sweater if you need everything you packed and you still can’t stay under the weight limitations. Some airlines really constrain the weight of your carry-ons. But don’t be like this person who ended up paying a Jetstar Airways a $40 fine for wearing 13 pounds of excess clothing. It made for a humorous TikTok, but you’re better off being a little more subtle.
Wear a ScotteVest. People swear by their ScotteVests because they are the the ultimate in pockets. Sixteen pockets in a lightweight vest is quite an achievement, and some of them have as many as 42! There are hers and his versions as well as cargo or chino pants for him and her.
Avoid the outer pockets of your luggage. Sometimes it’s bulk, not weight that is problematic to fitting your bag into an airline’s carry-on sizers. I use my Kindle app so I don’t have to carry books, which are heavy and bulky. But I’ve found that if you can squeeze your items into the body of your carry-on and spread them out, the bag won’t stick out the way it would if you put items in the outer pockets.
Compression packing cubes are your friend. We’re huge fans of packing cubes to feel organized, but we know not everyone thinks the same way. When you have severe weight restrictions, you may consider leaving them out. We’ve found that giving your bag the appearance of not being overpacked may mean that it doesn’t get weighed. In those situations, compression packing cubes will prevent your pack from needing to be expanded and prevent bulges that will make it harder to put your bag in an overhead bin or meet the maximum dimension requirements. They can cause wrinkles, but you can avoid those by following tip #15.
Souvenirs, anyone? I’m a strong proponent of having my memories be photos I can look back on afterwards, but if you are the type of person who likes to buy clothes during your travels as souvenirs, consider packing way less than you need and wear your souvenirs as your outfits each day. Win win!
Pack clothes made of lightweight fabrics. Jeans and denim are some of the heaviest clothes you can pack. The best travel clothing is made of lightweight fabrics, dries quickly, and is wrinkle resistant. We LOVE Wool& merino wool (not all wool is the same!) because it’s breathable, can be worn multiple times before washing, and is odor and bacterial resistant. You can air it out overnight and rewear it multiple times on a trip without having to launder it, so one piece can do triple or quadruple duty. Wool isn’t only for winter, either. There is fine lightweight, non-itchy fabrics made with wool for all four seasons. I’ve been steadily shifting to wool for nearly everything I pack, and I’ve been loving it.
Bring as few liquids as possible. Shampoo, toothpaste, shower gel, and sunscreen all are available at any pharmacy or convenience store nearly anywhere in the world. These items can be heavy and take up valuable space in your suitcase. Alternately, there are bars versus liquids if you don’t want to shop, and they’re still lighter than liquids and last a long time.
Jewelry and makeup should be minimal. You don’t want to pack every piece of jewelry you own and you also don’t need all the makeup you wear in your daily life for a vacation. Give your skin a break and bring a minimal amount of makeup. Ask yourself what are the bare necessities you can get by with. Curate and then ask again what more can you leave behind.
Skip the toiletry bag. The items you’d typically pack in your toiletry bag can also be stuck into the crevices of your bag and allow you to skip the bulky container. Deodorant can go inside your extra shoes if you brought some, and a covered toothbrush can go nearly everywhere. But when the items all are gathered in one place, it then is much harder to pack. If you want things organized and in one place at your destination, bring a large Ziplock bag and stow them in there only when you’re in your hotel.
Ship home your dirty laundry. If you are traveling within the United States, you can do this as a DYI by bringing a large FedEx envelope with shipping label or use PackD Bags, a service that supplies you with a pre-labeled large bag that you can leave at the front desk of your hotel and USPS will ship back to your home up to ten pounds of clothing. It can be your laundry or clothes souvenirs. Your items are tracked and insured, and PackD will manage any delayed shipments on your behalf.
What are your best travel tips for packing light? We’d love you to share them with our readers in the comments!
