Baggage Flight Poll Results
Carry-on baggage, lightweight bags and check-in luggage wins
Most business travelers who voted in the June/July 2006 Poll on flight baggage said they prefer traveling with just a carry-on bag, or one check in and their carry-on, rather than filling their hotel rooms to the brim with baggage.
An overwhelming majority of voters apparently travel with just a carry-on bag, wherever and whenever possible:
25% of those polled adamantly declared themselves a "carry-on-only devotee"...
...while 43% admitted to trying to pack with just a carry-on whenever possible.
That's a total vote of 68% who don't bother to check in their bags if they can remotely, possibly help it.
31% of voters bring one bag for check-in as well as a carry-on bag. This makes sense - sometimes you need more "stuff" on your trip than you can cram into the small carry-on allowance our modern flights permit. Readers who wrote in mentioned that business trips longer than three or four days necessitate a check-in bag. And for more formal business trips - those requiring wearing a suit, for example - a check-in bag is nearly mandatory.
Not shocking but still a surprise, but no one voted for flying with all the bags they could cram in their cars enroute to the airport. Is this because business travelers naturally travel light? Or is it that no one wants to admit their dirty little overpacking secrets?
Finally, no one admitted to having their butlers send their luggage on ahead, either. Yeah, this was a tongue in cheek option...but still, there's a seed of a great idea in there. I myself have been known to mail ahead some items to a place I knew I would be spending a significant chunk of time in.
Ground mail is slow, but cheap (don't send anything you would hate to lose, however - a basic rule for any packing). Media mail is even cheaper, if you will be sending books, magazine, discs, promotional do-dads or other media on ahead of your arrival.
Get a box and sweep those things cleanly out of your sight via local post office. Then strut through the airport with a lightweight carry-on, like a prince, without a care in the world. This won't work for every situation, but keep this in mind for the rare longer trip you might plan for, or for items you want to transfer just one way.
