Packing your carry on luggage is important, as its contents will be your companion throughout the air travel. Of course going on a vacation is really fun. But not the long flights you have to take. Feel free to use the following tips so you can be assured of comfort until you get to your destination.

Not all tote handbags or backpacks are the same. It’s important to pick something that’s large enough to contain all your carry on items. But it’s also important that it’s small enough to be comfortably carried around. If possible, go for something out of soft materials. This way, it can also double as a pillow.

Instead of stashing in the bag several different items together, separate them by using resealable plastic bags. For example, all your small toiletries in one plastic bag make it easier to bring them to the plane toilet for freshening up. Anything that may spill or rub off odors onto other items, like snacks, may be stored in resealable plastic bags.

For your jewelry set, it’s advisable to store them in travel jewelry cases. The inside is lined to protect your precious items. It’s also compartmentalized to keep them from getting entangled with each other. All your medications should also be placed together, but in their individual containers, in a single pouch for easy access.

Magazines are much better travel companions than books. They’re lighter and cheaper too, so you can simply throw them out after reading them. Plus it’s easy to pick up copies even during the last minute. You can get them in newsstands on the way to the airport, or at the newsstand found in the airport itself.

Other than reading to keep yourself busy, pick magazines that contain information you might actually benefit from. For instance, you might have had sleepless nights before the flight out of excitement, thus you ended up with acne breakouts. A beauty magazine with an article on how to get rid of acne sure might come in handy.

If you’re trying to maintain your weight or you’re on a certain diet, it pays to pack your own snacks. Sometimes food items served on an airplane may not necessarily complement your waistline or taste buds. Having something nutritious and light to reach for is a great way to keep hunger pangs at bay.

When exposed to the cold and dry cabin air, your skin might dry out and get itchy. For this, you can apply skin moisturizers to exposed skin as needed. For your lips, a stick or small tub of lip balm in your pocket can easily come to the rescue. Don’t forget to stash in your luggage a sweatshirt, tiny blanket or extra pair of socks to beat out the cold.

Most of us definitely would agree that the most annoying thing that could happen to us in any airport is to be told that our carry-on luggage must be check in because it didn’t meet the regulations of the airline.

Sometimes, we are told that some of the stuff we have in our carry-on luggage are not allowed onboard the plane, either we have to get rid of them, or (again *sigh*), have our luggave checked in.

Before we lose our temper and get irked by these kinds of inconveniences, it is wise to check with our specific airline regarding their hand-carry luggage policy, including items that are allowed inside the plane.

Hand-carry Luggage: Some Tips and Trick
related article: Carry On Luggage Dimensions

There are some guidelines that we need to follow in order for our hand-carry luggage to be allowed aboard the plane, which might be different from one airline to another. Usually, the size of a hand-carry luggage is about 22x14x9 inches. Anything that exceed this measurement must be checked in.

It’s not surprising that some luggage stores may insist that the sizes of their carry-on bags are the exact dimensions that airlines have specified. While this may be true, it is still best for us to measure the bags on our own just to be sure that we are buying the right-sized carry-on bags instead of being told later on that they have been rejected for carrying on the plane.

The shape of our carry-on luggage is the other thing that we have to consider. Unfortunately, ven if we have the appropriate total size of the allowable carry-on luggage which is forty-five inches, if it’s shaped is too irregular, it may still need to be checked in the compartment of the plane.

Finally, we have to check with our airlines on the items that are allowed to be carried on the plane; and the items that we can still carry onboard without being added as part of our hand-carry luggage. These items include jackets, child seats, and umbrellas, among other things.

Packing Our Carry-On Luggage

So okay, we got the right airline carry-on luggage size down to a T; we have checked that it is just the right shape to fit into the compartment inside the plane; and we have also checked all the items that we are allowed to pack inside our hand-carry bag.

The next thing to think about is how to pack the bag in such a way that we will not exceed the maximum allowable weight of hand-carry bags as directed by the airline. Again, this may differ from airline to airline; and also whether we are flying domestic or international.

We have to remember that when we are packing, we can’t just stuff inside the bag whatever we want, haphazardly. Being organized with our packing will not only ensure that all items will still be in good condition once we land; it will likewise eliminate the possibility of it being checked in for exceeding the allowable weight.

Finally, we should take care not to put anything in the outer pockets of the bag as this will cause the bag to be bulky; hence, it might not easily slip through the checking counter for hand-carry bags.

you might also want to read this article: Airline Seat Pitch