Does anyone ever use their full luggage allowance on holidays?

[smit0847]

One of the perks of just about every frequent flyer program is increased baggage allowances. In premium cabins there is also increased allowances. When I flew TG F as *A Gold I think I had something like 85 kgs pp including hand luggage.

It can be very useful for business trips where you may be taking sample stock or promotional materials and you have to lugg a lot of stuff around. But on a leisure trip does anyone check in, more than, say, 25 kgs pp? When I went to Europe for a 5 week holiday I think my outgoing checked luggage weighed around 12 kgs and was only about 19 kgs on the return, only using about a third of my J + *A Gold allowance. The main reason I dont pack everything except the kitchen sink is because while the airline will load and unload it onto the plane, you have to lugg it around the rest of the time. If you are taking any kind of public transportation with your luggage it becomes a huge hinderance, especially where crowds and stairs are involved. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen people (usually young girls) attempting to lift huge heavy suitcases up stairs or onto a tram. If you can't carry it, why are you taking it with you?

If you were waited on hand and foot the entire trip and never lifted a thing it might be nice to have a different outfit for every day of your holiday but for us normal folk, do you ever use more than 30kgs of allowance and how do you move it?

 

[harvyk]

Yes, once, it was myself, mrs harvyk, and baby harvyk (when it was only 1 baby harvyk), and the mrs felt we needed to take everything including the kitchen sink, just in case.
As it turned out (surprise surprise), most of the stuff was unused on the trip.

These days with the 6 of us, our full baggage allowance is larger than what we can get into the van. We did a USA trip last year with all of us, the question was not what we could take on the plane, but rather what would fit in the boot of our car.

 

[wooley]

I only take carry on... No matter the length of trip or destination.

Only time I ever have checked luggage is if I need to cart around things for work, which I try to avoid.

 

[Ansett]

Mrs Ansett and I used our allowance one year on a trip to Russia with gifts for friends and family and Hand me down clothes for local charity's. Me as a P1 and Mrs A as a Gold we took over 130 kg. We did check with the airline before to make sure it was acceptable and all confirmed in writing especially for the transfers to CX and S7

 

[ashleyn]

I think it's not so much the flight but what you plan to do after that dictates the weight you carry as Harvyk mentioned. Will you hire a car, take an internal flight, go by train ? No way I'm lugging more than 20k's up the steps of your typical European train so regardless of the allowance, that's about my personal limit.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Skiing absolutely. Even boot bags are checked in separately.

 

[get me outta here]

I love HLO for 95% of my trips. But, when say travelling to the US on hols, where lots of mundane items are easily obtainable and cheap I may take an empty large suitcase over and at the last stop I may buy a few things. Like a lot of people, travelling light is a lesson to be learned. And reinforced by experienced travellers, and now maybe paying for luggage.

 

[RooFlyer]

Never gone close. Even if I wanted to take advantage of my full or near-full OneWorld Emerald allowance, I often travel non OneWorld airlines on the same itinerary where one is brought down to earth (allowance wise). And as smit0847 mentions, you have to lug it around when not in the air.

I do like to buy books on my travels away, and always get a couple of bottles of wine etc to bring back but still can't go close to the allowance when I'm travelling with my full work kit of boots, bush jacket, winter coat, papers etc.

 

[Denali]

Yes, for scuba dive trips. Two sets of gear plus underwater camera and housings and sometimes, a rebreather and empty cylinders. We've maxed out our allowance previously.

 

[anat0l]

When I moved to Switzerland, I deliberately booked an itinerary so that the MSC was BA, which granted me an allowance of 3 x 32 kg bags. I used it all with about 6 kg overall to spare. I'm glad they didn't check the weight of my cabin baggage (2 pieces)!

As mentioned, much of the time it's not a worry of exhausting the allowance, but having to carry the damn lot when it isn't being handled by the airline in some way. It was already bad enough when I had the cabin baggage with me during transit, as both bags were heavy - one on my back and one slung on a shoulder, plus a suit bag. I had strong arms by the time I finally reached my destination.

Most of the time, the problems with packing is usually not an issue of weight of the contents, but rather the size and space occupied by those contents, and then fitting (read: usually having to press down or sit on the bag) them inside the bag.

Don't ask how I managed to tow along 2 pieces of cabin baggage, a suit bag, a spare loose cabin bag and 3 pieces of checked baggage all by myself without using a trolley......

 

[seanpodge]

I used to test the scales on check in, but I've been trying to cut back on more recent trips. That said, it can depend on the type of trip. If you're doing a few cities, particularly by train or bus, then the lighter the better. But when I stay with family for a few weeks, there can be a bit of bloat.

 

[Deleted member]

I did coming back from the titanic wine tour!!!

 

[drron]

We never go close.........,.........to not using all our allowance.Usually because we are away 8-10 weeks.with hot and cold climates.And we buy all our clothes plus for the grandkids in the US.More recently taking up cruising so the need for some formal wear as well.
We once went HCO to SIN.Unfortunately the Great Singapore Sale was on.Bought 3 new suitcases,1 new carry on,replaced our saucepans plus a few odds and ends and came back with 4 checked bags + our carryons.

 

[boomy]

Never on holidays, hate carrying too much and always trying to take the minimum amount of luggage possible, but I'm a bloke and it's easier for us I guess
I did use my P1 unlimited domestic luggage allowance last year when relocating to BNE. It was the easiest move I've ever done and the look on the QF CSA when we brought, literally, a mountain of luggage to check in (we used two large 4X4 cars to transport them) was priceless

 

[Bundy Bear]

I have only used the maximum luggage allowance twice.
Firstly when I moved to Perth with 5 pieces of checked luggage and 2nd when I moved back to Brisbane this year.

Otherwise take twice the money and half the stuff.

 

[ajd]

Even when I was only NB, I think there were only a couple of times I came anywhere near the limit. Now that I'm PS, I'm even further away from hitting the limit. (Personally, I'd prefer if PS got a 2 piece allowance with a lower weight - there have been a few times when it would have been handy for me to check in a fairly lightweight second bag. Not that it really matters anyway - many of my CBR and PQQ flights are operated by Dash 8s.)

 

[horseman]

Traveling for work, yes, my toolkit in its most basic form weighs in at 22kg alone.
For holidays however no way, but that is often travel to warm climate. Belgium for Christmas this year may be a total different story.

 

[andye]

I often come back from J trips to the UK with a full allowance-one year was Christening gifts that had to be left behind on a family Y trip, others have been a drip-feed freight service for my mother-in-law's relocation (as well several months' supply of Calpol, Tetley's tea for hard water and Sainsbury's gravy granules). Usually pack one suitcase inside another on the outbound.

 

[romney]

Not even close - and I am NB so no extra allowance. Currently travelling for 25 days in both hot and cold climates and luggage is around 14kg (+carry on) - and that's only because I have picked up some books along the way. Mr Romney is about the same, kids (teenage girls) around 12kg. We do a lot of public transport wherever we are, so the rule is if you take it, you have to be prepared to carry it. It's brilliant at stopping the kids wanting to buy things the whole time - but I normally do plan some shopping time towards the end of the trip for them to look forward to, and we have a few kilos extra between us on the way home.

 

[maureeng]

One of the perks of just about every frequent flyer program is increased baggage allowances. In premium cabins there is also increased allowances. When I flew TG F as *A Gold I think I had something like 85 kgs pp including hand luggage.

It can be very useful for business trips where you may be taking sample stock or promotional materials and you have to lugg a lot of stuff around. But on a leisure trip does anyone check in, more than, say, 25 kgs pp? When I went to Europe for a 5 week holiday I think my outgoing checked luggage weighed around 12 kgs and was only about 19 kgs on the return, only using about a third of my J + *A Gold allowance. The main reason I dont pack everything except the kitchen sink is because while the airline will load and unload it onto the plane, you have to lugg it around the rest of the time. If you are taking any kind of public transportation with your luggage it becomes a huge hinderance, especially where crowds and stairs are involved. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen people (usually young girls) attempting to lift huge heavy suitcases up stairs or onto a tram. If you can't carry it, why are you taking it with you?

If you were waited on hand and foot the entire trip and never lifted a thing it might be nice to have a different outfit for every day of your holiday but for us normal folk, do you ever use more than 30kgs of allowance and how do you move it?

I do on the return journey but then again I am a shopaholic