Now that all Australian airlines are weighing carry-on luggage upon check-in, any tips to cut down carry-on baggage weight and save on having to fork out extra for overweight bags or airfares with checked luggage are worth their weight in gold
Webjet’s country manager and frequent traveller, David Galt, shares his experts travel tips to help passengers easily keep their carry-on under 7kgs.
•••
Check out durable light weight travel bags
Consider the weight of the bag you’re using – generally, anything under 2kg is considered a lightweight bag. Often soft sided suitcases are lighter but ensure that it is also durable with either metal or thick zippers. For suitcases; try Samonsite or for top-quality travel bags and backpacks; try Rushfaster.
Consider lighter alternatives
For laptops, usually anything between 2 to 2.7kg is considered light weight. Alternatively, you could opt for a tablet as they weigh around 800g, particularly if your trip is just for leisure travel.
Travelling light also means limiting your liquids, so alternatively, try some solid toiletries products as these are smaller and last longer than their liquid counterparts. Lush has a great variety of solid shampoos, moisturizers, face wash and soaps and some of these are as light as 45g.
Prioritise items that have multiple uses
The more uses an item has, the more it belongs in your bag; multi-functional items are key when travelling light. When packing your clothes everything needs to match, so choose two or three complimentary colours to stick to and pack clothes that work well in layers as well as standalone pieces.
Be a bit cheeky
Take a jacket and use the zip pockets to carry some small but heavy items like a camera, phone or chargers.
On travel days, simply layer your clothes and wear your bulkiest pair of shoes as shoes typically take up the most weight.
Do you have any tips to keep your bag underweight?
Related articles:
Pack for weeks in a carry-on bag
Five carry-on packing essentials
How to avoid paying baggage fees
