They’re the passengers everone loves to hate: Straggling on board with not just a roll-aboard bag for the overhead, but also an overstuffed backpack that is not going to fit under the seat.
As airlines charge more and more for checked bags, it’s tempting to be that person, stretching the rules to bring everything you own on board. But if you resist the urge to overpack your airline carry-on, you’ll actually have a better flight and a smoother travel day. In this post I’ll share all the reasons to pack light in flight.
7 reasons to minimize your carry-on luggage
If you’re checking a bag anyway, put as much as you can into that checked bag. Don’t carry stuff you don’t need in-flight onto the plane. Here’s why you should pack light in flight, from the moment you arrive at the airport until the moment you leave your arrival airport:
- Get through security quicker. Every item you bring through security is a potential bag search trigger. Especially if you have any items that might look weird on the Xray! Fresh-picked lemons for the folks back home? Into the checked bag they go. A bag search will slow you down, display your personal items for all the world to see, maybe even make you miss your flight.
- Recombulate quicker after security. The more items you bring through security, the more difficult it will be to get them off the belt without dropping something, forgetting something, taking forever, or getting all your stuff hopelessly messed up.
- Enjoy your airport time. Once you’re through security, you’ll enjoy your waiting time more if you’re not tethered to a large carryon. With just a small backpack, I can shop, use the bathroom, get my steps in, etc., without getting in peoples’ way or asking someone else to watch my stuff.
- Eliminate bin anxiety. Fun fact: There isn’t actually enough overhead bin space on a plane for every passenger to put a bag up there. Since airlines — especially Southwest — are charging more to check bags, competition for that limited space has become fierce. If you’re only bringing an under-seat personal item, you can relax about boarding the plane. Stretch your legs and board last if you want!
- Access what you really need in flight more easily. In the cramped quarters of an airplane, digging through an overstuffed bag is a pain. Reserve your personal bag for the few items you’ll really need!
- Avoid overhead bin trauma. Opening the overhead storage in flight could trigger yours or other peoples’ bags to fall out and bonk fellow passengers on the head. Even if all goes well, wrestling the bag down and back up again can be tricky. And kind of embarrassing.
- Smooth boarding and deboarding. It’s so much easier to get in and out of that narrow aisle without pulling a rolling bag topped by an overstuffed backpack.
What items belong on the plane with you?
Obviously, that’s your business (unless it violates the law, then it’s the TSA’s business), and will depend on your circumstances. People traveling with small kids or traveling to a show to display their collection of invaluable fragile figurines will need to bring a lot more crap onbard than the rest of us.
For the past couple of years, every time I fly, I’ve carried a Nordace Siena backpack. It helps me pack light in flight because it’s small and easy to keep organized because it has just the right number of compartments and pockets.
For me, for a domestic flight, the contents of my backpack usually look like this:
- Laptop. What with Southwest’s free movies and TV — and the option to pay $8 for wi-fi — this is usually what will keep me occupied during most of the flight. Even if I wasn’t going to use it during the flight, airlines don’t want laptops in checked bags because of the risk of batteries caching on fire.
- Pouch of chargers/cables. Includes a battery pack, the battery pack’s charging cable, an iPhone charger, my laptop cable and my headphone cable. One plug-in-to-the-wall part that all the cables except the laptop one can interchangeably plug into. True, some of these things won’t be used on the plane, but they will be used in the airport right before boarding and/or during layovers.
- Reading material. Usually one book and maybe a magazine or newspaper. Covers me in case all my electronics die or the plane wi-fi isn’t working. (This happened on two of my flight legs recently.)
- Noice canceling bluetooth headphones. Most precious, indepensible airplane item ever. How I love thee.
- Wired earbuds. In case the big headphones run out of power. Also, I find it uncomfortable to fall asleep with the big headphones on.
- Eye shade. It’s the inviolable right of the person in the window seat to keep the shade up if they want. Deal with it.
- Emergency stash of sanitary products. Planes usually have these, but why take chances?
- My puffer coat. The kind packs down small. If it’s winter, I wear this to the airport and then shove it inside my backpack inside the aiport. I don’t put it in my checked bag because sometimes I get cold in the air.
- My water bottle. Filled up as soon as I cross security. My backpack has a nice tight pocket on the outside for it.
- Emergency overnight supplies. If I’m feeling paranoid about getting my checked bag lost, I throw in a toothbrush, hair brush, maybe even a change of underwear. Really, though, this is superfluous, because you could easily pick those things up pretty much anywhere.
- Snack or lunch? Sometimes. If I’m trying to save money by avoiding buying food on the layover. If I bring it, this might go in a separate disposable bag. For most flights, though? The bag of snack mix the flight attendant hands out is plenty for me.
- Travel pillow? For international flights, I attach a travel pillow to the outside of my backpack using a caribiner. TBH, a balled up coat works almost as well.
With all that in it, my backpack is light enough that I barely notice wearing it in the airport, and slides under the seat easily leaving room for my small purse. (By the way, lately I’ve been connecting my purse to my backpack with a caribiner under the seat, which prevents my little purse from sliding out of reach.)
Speaking of my purse, there’s not much in there either: - ID, credit cards and cash. (Obviously.)
- Southwest drink coupons. (Lately they hardly ever collect these, so I have quite a collection.)
- Pack of tissues.
- Ibuprofen.
- My phone. With at least one audiobook and multiple podcasts downloaded.
- Cough drops.
- Extra KN95 mask.
- Hand sanitizer.
- Hand lotion.
- Lip Balm.
- Pen.
- Sunglasses. (Sadly, on a recent flight, I had my sunglasses in an outer pocket of my purse and when I pushed my purse under the seat a little too tightly, they broke. Erik glued them back together for me though. I guess I should actually start carrying these in a case in my backpack.)
- What, no keys? I don’t usually bring any keys with me on a trip, as we usually leave the car at home and we have codes and such on our house locks.
Last-minute airport tips to pack light in flight
Here’s my airport routine to help me hit security and boarding as unencumbered as possible:
- The night before the flight: Clear out any excess clutter from my purse. Old receipts, keys, etc. don’t need to fly with me.
- Upon arrival at the airport: Remove any heavy coat and/or hat and shove it into the outside pocket of the bag I’m going to check.
- In the terminal: Discard trash from airport snacks before boarding.
But all my stuff doesn’t fit in the bag I’m checking!
If this is an issue, consider:
- Checking a larger bag.
- Bringing less crap on your trip.
For me, I’m happy to bring a roll-aboard on a plane if it allows me to avoid checking a bag. But I had to bring one aboard if I’m also checking a bag. Seems like a lot of unnecessary hassle.
What about you? Do you usually bring a roll-aboard bag onto the plane in addition to checking a bag? Maybe there are good reasons to do so that I’m clueless about!
And what items are essential to you on the plane?