Ultralight principles to (airplane) carry-on luggage?

[Bati]

Consider taking a train instead of a plane to travel between countries. Ferries and buses work too. On both trains and some boats you can get a sleeper, saving the cost of a room for the night. If you're traveling to a lot of places, look into a pass.
Be warned (especially if you're leaving from an airport that profiles): carrying too little can get you pulled for extra questioning by multiple people. Allow extra time to catch a flight in these cases.

[Dochartaigh]

Consider taking a train instead of a plane to travel between countries.

I'll take trains for destinations maybe a 2-3 hour train ride away, but for distances farther than that flights are almost always cheaper and faster (you can literally get a round trip flight from Dublin to Paris for $20 including taxes for example). And when you're only there for 2 weeks I like to get where I'm going as fast as possible!

[fiddlehead]

I didn't know international flights had baggage fees.
Mine never does: Asia to North America. No matter what airline I fly.
But, I still use only a carryon just so I don't have to wait for the baggage claim.
and it's easy.
Carryon's are pretty big anymore and I can get more than i need in there

I go back next week and am allowed 2-50 lb bags for free.
Who the hell takes 100 lbs of stuff with them?
Anywhere?
PLUS carryon

[Dochartaigh]

I didn't know international flights had baggage fees.
Mine never does: Asia to North America.

To Europe from the USA it's quite common lately which stinks. The cheapest airline to Norway is Norwegian Air which charges for any checked luggage for example (unless you upgrade your ticket). But more so I've been talking about the airlines between the countries inside Europe. All the cheap ones (Ryan Air, EasyJet, SAS, etc.) also charge you for anything beyond that small carry-on size (and is why I embarked on this project to begin with).

[Heliotrope]

I didn't know international flights had baggage fees.
Mine never does: Asia to North America. No matter what airline I fly.
But, I still use only a carryon just so I don't have to wait for the baggage claim.
and it's easy.
Carryon's are pretty big anymore and I can get more than i need in there

I go back next week and am allowed 2-50 lb bags for free.
Who the hell takes 100 lbs of stuff with them?
Anywhere?
PLUS carryon

My wife!


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[Coffee]

EasyJet in Europe is best compared to Spirit Airlines in the US. If you're comfortable with the nickel and diming on Spirit, you'll be used to Easy Jet and similar carriers as well.

[mkt42]

I would love to have more room! But the problem is when I looked at the 20ish budget airlines across Europe (think companies like RyanAir and EasyJet), the ideal size seems to be 21" tall x 13" wide x 7.87" deep to qualify for carry-on (they don’t do linear inches). Sadly, the Porter 46 is over that size in every dimension.

That's why I got an Osprey Farpoint 40 instead of the Porter 46. Smaller, lighter but still has a supportive suspension and hide-able straps and hipbelt. It's listed as 21 x 13 x 9. It probably is that thick when filled completely, so one would have to remember to not fill it. I have not flow on any budget Euro airlines but it should work for all but the most persnickety airlines. I have not yet had to check it on any US airline.

[colorado_rob]

Consider taking a train instead of a plane to travel between countries. Ferries and buses work too. On both trains and some boats you can get a sleeper, saving the cost of a room for the night. If you're traveling to a lot of places, look into a pass.

Yeah, this. Train travel in Europe is a blast. It does take longer, of course, though there are those 180MPH trains in places (like the TGV in France....). Good thread and tips. I'm going to look at those Tom Bihn Tri-Star bags for travel when we're not hiking at our destination.

[squeezebox]

Hostels. My experience with hostels is from "81. And pretty much limited to England,Wales, and Switzerland. Hilter developed hostels so his youth group "scouts" would have a place to stay for the night. One of the few positive things he did. Hostels seem to be still aimed at that group. ie teenagers. If you are older than 18-20 you will probably find hostels pretty draconian.
But the feather bed I slept in in Switzerland in the high mountains was quite an experience. It was cold so I pulled the mattress next to me on top. A group of scouts pulled in about 10 pm, but were bedded down in about 10 minutes. the place was probably built as one of Hitler's original hostels from the early 30's maybe even a converted barn.
If you stay at a hostel expect to be treated like a 15 yr old child.
That's what happened to me.

[Coffee]

Hostels. My experience with hostels is from "81. And pretty much limited to England,Wales, and Switzerland. Hilter developed hostels so his youth group "scouts" would have a place to stay for the night. One of the few positive things he did. Hostels seem to be still aimed at that group. ie teenagers. If you are older than 18-20 you will probably find hostels pretty draconian.
But the feather bed I slept in in Switzerland in the high mountains was quite an experience. It was cold so I pulled the mattress next to me on top. A group of scouts pulled in about 10 pm, but were bedded down in about 10 minutes. the place was probably built as one of Hitler's original hostels from the early 30's maybe even a converted barn.
If you stay at a hostel expect to be treated like a 15 yr old child.
That's what happened to me.

I spent three weeks staying in mountain huts and hostels in Switzerland, Italy and France this year. They are NOTHING like American hostels - very fancy in comparison especially the meals, but be prepared to pay anywhere from $60-75/night. For this reason, the people were usually older than the typical hostels in the US. Younger hikers tended to hang out at these places during the late afternoon and then stealth camp nearby (camping is discouraged or illegal in many places and I didn't want to risk it in a foreign country not knowing the language, etc... )