A flight attendant has shared the three things you should look for when choosing a suitcase to put in the hold of a plane – and calls out one bag type as a poor choice
A flight attendant has shared how to pick the ideal suitcase for your next holiday that will guarantee all your possessions remain secure inside the aircraft’s cargo hold.
Megan Homme, who is employed by an American airline and shares videos under her TikTok account @meganhomme, has gathered 360,500 followers thanks to her viral travel hacks. In a recent clip, she detailed how she selects her own luggage after being forced to “learn the hard way” from numerous errors she has made previously.
The initial consideration is the fabric from which your suitcase is constructed. Whilst soft cases might be simpler to handle, they can create difficulties if another passenger’s luggage spills or splits open in the cargo area.
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“You never know what is going to be in someone else’s bag, or what is going to be underneath the plane and what could leak on your bag,” Megan explained.
Baggage handlers have previously disclosed that travellers frequently pack liquids in their carry-ons and this can create complications. Writing on a Reddit forum, the unnamed baggage handler stated: “Please don’t pack food or drinks in your bag.
“They rot, break, leak, open. It smells. Especially alcohol. Then I smell all day after picking up a bag that leaked on me.” It’s not merely liquid spillage that you must be cautious of when choosing a suitcase though – shade is another crucial factor.
Megan suggests purchasing a dark-coloured case to reduce the chance of it appearing visibly damaged once it appears from the cargo hold. “If your bag is going under the plane it is going to be scuffed up very quickly. I learned that the hard way.”
The third consideration is ensuring your suitcase has wheels. Another baggage handler also took to Reddit to explain why having four wheels is crucial to prevent your bag being hurled into the hold by staff, reports the Express.
If your luggage has at least two, but ideally four functioning wheels, this means handlers can wheel it down into the hold which will protect your belongings. If you’re without wheels, then your bag will almost certainly need to be flung into the hold.
The baggage handler said their “absolute least favourite” bags to load were ones with wheels that had jammed up.