Hi,
I've been on a few trips overseas and have always taken a suitcase.
For the first time I have booked a flight with Carry on only for myself and my son to Kuala Lumpur.
Has anyone got any good advice on what to pack to keep under the 7kg limit?
I am thinking of taking a back pack each instead of a small suitcase as it will weigh less.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your help
A lot of the airlines won't weigh your carry on, especially for international travel unless it looks oversize or notably heavy to carry. You are also usually allowed a small handbag or laptop bag as well as your carry on one
Thank you for your help
You're on the right track with a backpack or duffle bag to save weight. Try and keep it to one pair of shoes, buy toiletries in country, wear any bulky items on the plane and take them off when you've boarded.
Thank you for your help
Check the airline website. Did similar in December and they clearly stated 7kg carry on with maximum dimensions but also a personal item, E.g. bag. Having a bunch of stuff in a backpack helped.
Thank you for your help
Get a good travel bag that is light and can pack a lot. I recently got this backpack and it's amazing:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clickpackpro/clickpack-…
It has lots of features and compartments and quite light to carry. Even with the bag completely full, I can still carry it around without feeling like I have to carry a boulder on my shoulders. That should help you save a bit on weight and just pack the essentials you need.
Korin also makes this travel bag (https://www.korin-design.com/products/flexpack-go) that you can fold up and compact into a small area. I sometimes take a short 1 week holiday somewhere and I'll take with me a small bag (holds like 20L) with just very basic essentials and I'll keep the Korin Flexpack Go in my bag as well. When I get to the destination, I'll buy clothes or other things and that's when I can unfold my Flexpack Go and use it. It's a great way to travel if you know you'll be buying things that you'll take back home, so there's no point loading up your bag with stuff as you won't have enough room and weight left to pack new things.
Thank you for your help
I've been travelling with one carry-on bag for many years. I haven't gone over 5kg in a long time.
Clothing is usually the bulkiest and heaviest part of your carry weight. You can reduce it by wearing layers in lightweight, quality materials like merino (or 100% cotton if it's hot).
Places like Kathmandu and Macpac sell wrinkle-free trousers and shorts that are great for travel.
If you're taking a bulky jacket, wear it onto the plane so it doesn't go in your bag.
I like lightweight shoulder bags, which are 200-400g. If you're packing light it'll fit in a light bag. I put my clothing in packing cubes which are a good base for padding the other stuff near the top of the bag.
Tablets are far lighter than laptops, and the chargers are lighter too.
Avoid packing shoes. All-black jogging shoes are perfect as a single pair of shoes: they're comfortable for all-day walking and if you're wearing decent pants they're OK for 99% of restaurants.
Reduce your toiletries down to travel size, use a blade razor (Mach3 etc) rather than an electric one, bring a comb instead of a brush… downsize all the toiletry items you bring, because your regular ones aren't made with travel in mind.
You can get great noise-cancelling earbuds now. Headphones are very bulky by comparison.
Bring medicine with you, because when you need it you won't want to spend time trying to buy it. Imodium (or similar) for diarrhea, a dozen paracetamol, and a few cloth-type bandaids.
Thank you for your help
I am a huge advocate for the Elephant Stripes 45L carry-on bag. https://www.elephantstripes.co.nz/?s=45l&post_type=product&v…
It is a duffle & backpack and is designed to be your primary carry-on. My family and I use them when travelling as it is hard to describe how well they fit everything you need. You combine it with packing cubes and carry on travel bags is achievable!
Thank you for your help
Who are you flying with? I know for a fact that Jetstar is ruthless with it.
At the same time, Air NZ is pretty good at it, no checks in general. You can buy extra luggage cheaper if it's before the flight; it'll cost you more buying at the airport.
But this is in case you go over. Lots of good advice here.
I'm flying with Chatham Airlines from Wanganui to Auckland, Jetstar from Auckland to Melbourne and then Scoot from Melbourne to Singapore/KL.
Jetstar has the 7kg limit so that's what my target weight is.
Ok, they will definitely hit you with it so stick to the limit in Auckland. We had to shuffle so many bag weights and wear a few extra jackets (it was winter so all good) to reach the limit. That was in Auckland.
I've seen a couple hacks online.
Could take like a fishing vest with lots of pockets, or wear pants with lots of pockets.
There's travel neck pillow hack where you take out the inner pillow and stuff the inside with clothes.