Hi and welcome back to the channel.
My name is Megan, and if you've been around this channel before,
you probably know that I am a huge advocate of traveling carry-on only,
but you may not know the actual, surprising drawbacks of checked baggage.
Which is why, in today's video, I'll be sharing with you
why you should never check a bag -
even if it's free - with your international flight.
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My number one reason...
Hmmm, actually the last one is pretty good too.
A main reason why you should never check a bag on your international flight
is because that, while it may be free on that long-haul international flight,
it may not be free in the country that you are going to
when you start traveling by flight domestically.
Budget airlines are the way to travel quickly and safely around Asia.
It's insane that you can get flights between different Asian countries
for as little as $20 a ticket.
But what they don't tell you is that, if you want to check a bag
or bring anything with you beyond a teeny-tiny carry-on,
you are going to be charged for it, and the charges are massive.
So you may end up paying only $20 for that one-way flight,
but your baggage, to check it on that flight,
is going to be upwards of USD 40 to USD 60.
Reason number two:
Even if you're not flying, it is a pain to lug around while you are on the ground.
If you wanted to go on any short-term treks,
you would also have to store your luggage, which is a security issue.
It's just one more thing that you'll need to be keeping an eye on
and lugging with you from place to place,
which means you won't be able to do things like go out exploring
if you can't check in to your hotel right away.
And often, when you've checked a bag, you have to much stuff with you,
which just means you have more decisions to make every single day.
We have a limited amount of decisions that we can make each day,
and when you're trying to decide what adventure to go on
or how to book your flight or...
whatever else you're trying to do,
and you also have to look through all of these different clothing options,
It's just... It's annoying.
Sometimes people will tell me that they will check a bag
even though it's half empty.
So, they're not bringing too much stuff
but they want that extra space for when they fly back home
that they can bring souvenirs with them.
Don't do this.
You're having to travel with that big bag on your whole trip;
you're having to check that bag on these budget airlines
and spending so much money.
It is more worth it for you to take a carry-on with you,
fill it to the brim if you need to,
and then, before you fly home,
purchasing either an additional carry-on or a checked baggage
and filling it with everything that you want to bring home,
and then checking that bag for free on your international flight.
Another drawback is that, when you check a bag,
you're obviously not able to keep an eye on it.
Have you ever seen the way that your luggage is handled
by staff at the airport?
It's ridiculous, they're throwing it all over the place,
and there is a much greater chance that you are going to end up
with your luggage damaged if you check it,
than if you have it with you safe in the overhead bin.
In addition to potentially having your items and your luggage damaged,
you may also end up with your luggage delayed
or completely lost by the airline.
What a pain in the butt it would be to arrive at your destination country
and your bags not arrive with you.
Even if your bags are not delayed or lost,
you still have to wait along with everybody else that just got off the plane
for your bags to arrive on the ramp.
This means that, when you go to exit the airport,
if you have to go through any more security,
if you need to get a rideshare on the other side,
you're doing it along with everyone else.
If you have a simple carry-on with you,
you can skip through in front of the line, get through security,
get through customs and get out of there before the rush.
there's also a greater chance of your luggage being stolen
by another passenger, either on purpose or by accident,
picking yours up off the ramp after you get off the flight.
Not only is checking a bag going to be more stressful
due to the risk of it being lost, stolen, delayed, or damaged,
it's also going to be annoying in the sense that it costs you more time.
I just mentioned how it costs you time at the end of you flight,
but it also costs you time at the beginning of your flight.
You have to arrive at the airport earlier,
wait in a lineup, and then meet with an attendant to check your bag.
If you were just traveling with carry-on, and you've already checked in online,
you'll often receive your boarding pass, which you can print, bring with you,
so when you arrive at the airport, you go straight to security;
you don't have to wait in any lineups and you don't have to speak to anyone.
Another side bonus to be able to go straight through security
without having to wait in a lineup and check your bag,
is that, if you go up to the attendant to check your bag,
they may also weigh the carry-on that you have with you.
Carry-on weight limits are very low.
I know every single time I travel I am over the limit.
Luckily, by having my boarding pass with me,
I don't have to speak to anyone,
I don't have to go to anyone representing the airline,
I go through security,
and it's a lot less likely that while you are trying to board the plane,
they are going to stop you for having an oversized carry-on,
or at least for having an overweight carry-on.
Oversized, you can see; overweight, not necessarily.
The last reason that I recommend that you travel carry-on only,
even if your checked bag is free,
is that you can take advantage of getting bumped.
Typically, how getting bumped works
is that about an hour or so before the flight takes off,
the gate attendant will make an announcement
that the flight is fully booked
and they're looking for volunteers to take a flight at a later time.
They'll arrange all of the details for you,
but you may have to wait an hour, maybe even overnight,
in which case they'll pay for your food and your hotel.
In addition to paying for all of your expenses in the meantime,
they will pay you to take this later flight.
So you would pipe up, volunteer,
go up to the gate attendant and say, "Hi. Yes, I would like to volunteer.
I will take a later flight."
If your bag has been checked and it's already on its way to the destination,
they often won't let you do this.
It wouldn't make sense because your bag would be unattended.
But, if you are traveling carry-on only,
you can take advantage of this because you don't have the bag to worry about.
I was once bumped from a Delta flight, and received $1,000 in airline credit
to take a flight two hours later.
If I had checked the bag and it was already en route to my destination,
I would not have been able to take advantage of this.
It's an excellent perk.
If could ever get bumped and you're not on a tight schedule,
definitely do it.
And make sure you're carry-on only, so you have the option to do it.
Based on these factors,
flying carry-on only is going to save you time, stress, and money;
it might even make you money.
If you're not sure how to do this,
definitely check out the video that I have right over here,
which is on 30 carry-on packing hacks. I think you'll like it.
Let me know in the comments down below
if you'll be flying carry-on only on your next flight.
Don't forget to give this video a thumbs-up,
subscribe if you haven't already,
and I'll see you back here again next week.
Bye!