Travel Tip: Number 5

DON'T PAY A BAGGAGE FEE IF YOU CAN AVOID IT

Consider buying a smaller carry on case/bag if you know for a fact that you have to pay for any checked baggage. Recently I bought a round trip ticket with hotel to Vegas for Christmas, and the airline I am booked on has a $20 per bag per flight fee. Which adds up to $40. So instead of giving the airline my money, I went to Wal-Mart and bought a really cheap carry on bag for only $19.00. That way I am not wasting my money by just giving it to an airline that is charging more while delivering less, and I can always return the bag after my trip. Especially if I don't like it. Plus even if I kept it, it is still cheaper than what I would have paid to check in a slightly larger bag on the airline. Which is something else to consider, how much stuff you actually need to bring with you. Of course if you have a ton of stuff to bring, you will need a much larger bag, and you will need to pay the baggage fee. But if you can get away with a carry on bag, and find one that is less than the fees they charge, then by all means buy a carry on bag just for the trip. I would suggest going to Ross, Marshalls, Burlington Coat Factory or TJ Maxx, as you can find a lot of carry on bags for less than $40 and some of them are pretty nice. Otherwise Target, Wal-Mart and Kmart have much cheaper bags, but they quality will not be as nice and it will not be a name brand. But like I said I plan to return mine after my trip so it doesn't really matter.


QUICK UPDATE: I decided to keep my really cheap bag, just because it worked fine for what I needed it for at the time and I can always use it again. Especially since I am going to Mardi Gras next month and am debating on whether or not I want to check in a bag for the purposes of bringing my own alcohol to New Orleans ( I assume it will be cheaper to bring 2 bottles of Vodka to New Orleans rather than buying them there, but you never know).