For most of my early trips I relied upon a 28" checked bag and a laptop backpack. I've had airline status in one form or another all this time so I rarely have to pay for a bag. As for the rest of the unwashed masses most people try to use a roll-aboard to avoid these charges which has created a frustrating system of uncivil boarding and disembarking procedures.
Expensive or Cheap?
I still can't win here. I have purchased a bag at Walmart for $30 that lasted me 3 years (Ozark trail; have never found it again). Currently, I am using a $230 Osprey 19" roll-aboard (with lifetime warranty) and it is fantastic as well. I've also had the Target $40 duffel wheeled bag survive only 3 trips.
The fact of the matter is, if you check your bag, then "throwers" are going to abuse it. In the end I recommend reading the reviews on FlyerTalk. I got a good recommendation for a 19" expandable Delsey Helium, about $120 at Bed Bath and Beyond.
Bigger or Smaller?
Some of the best advice I have ever received about packing for a trip is "remove half the cloths, double the cash". I have found that I really don't need to take every possible thing I own. My recent move to a 19" bag has really forced me to be smart about packing. I no longer worry about a big winter coat. Instead I have 3 or 4 articles that I can combine in layers to get the same effect.
The biggest challenge for me with a smaller bag is when I go on vacation I really don't have room to bring back souvenirs. That's probably a good thing. But it breaks my heart to find a really good bottle of 12 year aged Single Malt Scotch Whisky and realize that the TSA (you have to recheck your bag on international arrivals so the Duty Free Stores dont work) will not let me carry it on board an aircraft. Sure I could check it in my 19" bag after throwing away a few items of clothing, but I have seen the dreaded leaking bag of another passenger at baggage claim.
I remember hearing broken glass and seeing brown liquid dripping from the corner of that poor soul's suit case.
1 Bag, 2 Bag , 3 Bag, blue...
To this day I still laugh at people who show up at an airline ticket counter with a cart of 5-10 bags. It is usually a family moving and they are chained to their possessions. Clothing can be replaced.
I tend to switch back and forth between 1 or 2 bags.
Current approach:
Contrary to the movie clip at the start of this post, I almost always check my clothing bag. It's really just sheer laziness as I don't want to cart it around the airports. Also, with the advent of baggage fees, people will fight you for overhead bag space.
Alternatively, I use my Osprey 60 Liter hiking backpack for vacations where I will be hiking and leveraging mass transit.
For every other trip it is usually for work and requires a laptop. For the dual bag scenarios I have a High Sierra backpack provided by work. I also have a Slappa shoulder bag I like to switch out when heading to LAN parties. For my cloths and toiletries I am currently using a 19" Osprey High Road LT. It can hold about 5 days worth of clothing meaning I will have to find a laundromat or do sink laundry for trips that last longer.
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