The free market is one of America’s cornerstones. It often works as a leveler for businesses, sorting the more popular from the less. Unfortunately for travelers, it also means airline companies can dictate increasingly tough luggage restrictions.
This scenario forces us to get creative with our packing — those who miss the memo will be subject to the sprawl of shame or standing at the counter, paying a hefty fee. We’ve all been there: forced to unpack and reorganize our bags to meet the weight limit. There are various ways you can avoid this embarrassment and win the vacation suitcase-packing war (and to save your money for your vacation).
1. Leave Some Room for Souvenirs
Nothing sucks more on vacation than finding a trinket or gift to bring home, only to discover it won’t fit or threatens to breach the luggage allowance. Erica Ho of MapHappy shares choice methods for making your suitcase souvenir-friendly.
She encourages flyers to bring a large, foldable bag and remove any packaging from the purchased items. Better still, make sure your souvenirs are small enough to fit in your carry-on luggage. Her philosophy: “Think Matryoshka dolls, and stuffing things within things within more things is really the key.”
2. Make All Documents Soft Copies
If you are traveling with large quantities of paper documentation, it can easily weigh down your luggage. We all love lying on the beach with a new hardback copy of our favorite writer’s work, but is it worth it? Put simply, books mean excess weight.
Investing in a reading app or a Kindle makes packing easier and much lighter. Andrew Blackman says on the platform ReadLearnWrite that he takes no books when he flies anywhere. Instead, he buys them on location. What a novel idea.
3. Solid Toiletries for Carry-Ons
Modern toiletries are wonderful, and they come in all formats. Solid deodorant, shampoo, and soap bars are all TSA-approved. This means that those flying with carry-on bags only won’t need to buy their usual reduced liquid toiletries at their destination.
While 3.4-ounce items might even be too much for a weekend trip, longer adventures might require some trusty, longer-lasting companions. It’s better to be solid than sorry.
4. Follow the Three-Shoe Rule
It can be one of traveling ladies’ toughest choices: deciding which shoes to take and which ones to leave behind. However, for the more indecisive among us, there is a hallowed “three-shoe rule,” according to Sue McLean at BootyShoes.
“For a summer vacation,” she writes, “this typically means a pair of sneakers and two pairs of sandals — one dressy and one casual.” Most men find this rule easier to follow during packing time, much to the annoyance of their better halves.
5. Buy the Lightest Luggage
Every year, suitcase manufacturers find ways to lessen their customers’ luggage burdens. However, those exorbitant baggage fees better watch out. As a side note, maybe this is behind the increase in checked baggage costs.
In any case, it might be worth spending a few more dollars in the short term. That 50-pound allowance sometimes requires 20% of the cost of the bag alone. Meanwhile, lightweight luggage may halve that ratio or more.
6. Use Shoe Bags
My wife is Spanish, and she would destroy me if I packed shoes without packaging lest I soil the clothing inside. The best way to avoid the shoe raw-dogging approach is using the correct method — shoe bags. These useful sacks are designed to keep dirt and grime off one’s shoes, according to Lynsdey Matthews at Afar.
She is a confessed germaphobe who scolds anyone for sullying their suitcase with bare shoes, considering the risks. “I’ve lived in New York for nearly 15 years and can see the gum, dirt, and grime that builds up on the bottom of my shoes,” says Matthews.
7. Wear Your Biggest Clothing Items
Of course, this entry was always going to be here. Those who see the interior of airplane fuselages more often understand the value of wearing one’s heaviest clothing onboard. It might mean wearing your largest shoes or boots and feeling a little warm in the airport at times. Smile: you’ve just saved 20 lbs of baggage.
You might even feel tempted to copy TikToker chantezales_, who wore her entire suitcase on her return flight. The reasons for these actions are, as yet, unknown — there are many questions. For instance, why just the return leg?
8. Roll Your Clothes
A commonly shared hypothesis is that rolling one’s clothes helps make limited bag volume go further. It makes sense to follow the experts, and there is no shortage of folding maestros ready to offer advice.
Lindsay Campbell of Travel & Leisure reveals some nuanced garment-rolling skills, including one essential tip. “Fold one end of the clothing, and that will hold the roll in place until long after you land,” she says.
9. Carry a Collapsible Bag
There is a misconception that we bring home the same bags that made the outbound leg, though this doesn’t need to be the case. Why not pay for an extra carry-on for just the return leg? You can achieve this by packing a collapsible bag in your check-in luggage.
Danielle Blundell of Apartment Therapy says this method has saved her countless dollars over her busy traveling career. She writes that it “comes in handy on the return leg of a journey for packing everything from souvenirs to dirty clothes.”
10. Travel Pillow Hacks
Long-haul flights are no fun, especially for those without the funds to sit up front. Back in coach, limited legroom can create back pain. Therefore, many opt for travel pillows, but often feel worse for it.
Maybe they are using their travel pillow all wrong. It’s no wonder many of us leave airplanes with a crooked neck, considering the pillow’s design. A TikToker named sidneyraz discovered that by reversing the pillow, you can mitigate this neck pain conundrum.
11. Pack Empty Drinking Vessels
A great tip for travelers is to bring either a drinking mug or water bottle — or both — on your next trip. You can empty drinking vessels before pulling through security, and they will let them through. What’s more, you now have an endless deposit for that caffeine, which is so crucial to long-haul travel.
Monica Humphries shares in Business Insider why the water bottle hack is ingenious. “I estimate that my reusable water bottle has saved me from buying 24 water bottles at airports,” she writes. Let’s remember water bottles at the airport cost a lot more than your local store — this amounts to well over $100 in savings.
12. Bring Power Strips and Plug Adaptors
You’ve been there before, haven’t you? Arriving at the hotel in the dead of night with a phone charger but no adaptor for your charger. Of course, it makes sense to invest in a handful, though perhaps it still isn’t enough for all your devices.
If you bring a travel power strip, your charging woes will be over before you can say “low battery.” Website TooManyAdapters shares a list of the best travel power strips to buy to answer all your electrical vacation prayers. These devices have multifunctional plugs for international electrical outlets.
13. Multipurpose Everything
Some may find the modern age of travel challenging, while others prefer to work smarter rather than harder. One way to reach packing mastery is to invest in multifunctional travel gadgets and lessen the burden.
Buzzfeed’s Elizabeth Lilly writes about recent travel gadgets that will bring a smile to any frequent flyer. These toys include travel pillows that double as clothing storage and reusable bottles with built-in pill organizers.
14. Wrinkle-Free Clothing
We love the relaxation part of vacations, and packing for this is simple. However, those of us who enjoy nightlife activities might want to pack something for the occasion. It means pressing clothes, and this is not always easy while abroad.
Of course, you can bring a heavy travel iron or borrow a hotel’s appliances, but the best method is to pack wrinkle-free materials. Natural options include merino wool, which Tortuga Travel’s Laura Lopuch has labeled “the ultimate travel fabric.”
15. Embrace the Tech Pouch
Some might say we are seeing a wireless generation emerging, but this doesn’t translate to our packing issues. Wirelessness requires lots of cables, chargers, and other apparatus, which can present packing dilemmas.
For the win, try using a tech pouch, a light fabric (usually waterproof) pouch with pockets designed for different tools. Digital nomads will understand the importance of keeping one’s tech in good shape when traveling. Gadget website PackHacker gives three levels for tech pouch necessity: “charging basics, charging and computers, and everything (within reason).”
16. Layers for the Win
Instead of packing that one giant sweater for the potential cold evenings that sometimes occur even on summer vacations, think again. A tip for hikers and trekkers is to pack multiple light layers in place of fewer thick materials.
This approach traps warm air between each layer, leading to a warmer result. Travel writer Susan Blakey has sworn by this philosophy for a long time. “Not only does relying mainly on lightweight layers save space and weight in luggage,” she writes, “but several lighter layers are more versatile.”
17. Downsize Your Needs
There are so many ways to reduce luggage space, including adding smaller items to make the trip more comfortable. Travel-sized toiletries are one option for the inevitable moment you run out of complimentary ones.
LifeHacker’s Beth Skwarecki swears by smaller toiletries like toothpaste, shower gel, and moisturizer. Other small treats include coffee, your favorite snacks, and even powdered coffee creamer for emergencies.
18. Scarves and Shawls Are Your Best Friends
Some may think this entry applies more to female travelers, but men wear scarves, too. I personally love taking a scarf onboard a plane. For starters, flights can get seriously cold at cruising altitude; moreover, scarves or shawls make perfect neck support for in-flight dozing.
“A large wrap scarf keeps you warm during cold airplane flights and extra layers can help get you through long travel days,” reports adventure platform Travelista. In addition, lightweight scarves make perfect head covers or dust protection in more religious or desert-type places, even in the sun.
19. Pack Heavy Items Near the Wheels
In 2024, Delta Airlines issued an apology for how its luggage staff mistreated a college golf team’s expensive equipment. This is just one example of an endless problem where luggage handlers take their frustrations out on our bags.
An excellent tip is to place anything fragile (wrapped in as many clothes as possible) deep inside the bag. Moreover, putting heavier items near the wheels works, too. The wheelbase provides more stability, making luggage abuse a bit harder.
20. Choosing the Right Luggage Colors
It may sound obvious, but many travel experts recommend using brightly-colored suitcases in busier airports. Large flights involve tons of luggage, most of which will have neutral colors, making it harder to spot on the carousel.
However, loud colors (or bright luggage complements like ribbons) may also present a higher luggage theft risk. Kayla Morgan of BackstageCountry suggests inserting tracker tags if the fear of theft is high.
21. Utilize Wasted Spaces and Nooks
As a regular passenger on Europe’s low-cost airline Ryanair, one of my go-to packing techniques is utilizing empty cavities. Shoes present excellent storage space for rolled-up socks or even more fragile products such as ornamental souvenirs or toiletries.
Travel enthusiast website KoshA recommends using the soles-facing-out method before stuffing your shoes. By placing shoes with the soles facing outward, you can “fit shoes in a way that frees up the central area for other items.”
22. Noise-Canceling Headphones
All flyers have experienced differing levels of in-flight disturbance: the kid with that noisy iPad, the chatty friends, and yes, that screaming infant. Long-haul trips where you are suspended for 12 hours with 500 strangers can be testing.
I once shouted across a plane at two distant voices gossiping at full volume during blackout time to shut the “heck” up. I am not proud of my conduct, but everyone silently thanked me — at least, that is what I told myself. The lesson here is to get some noise-canceling headphones, preferably with a lengthy white-noise MP3 file downloaded for good measure.
23. Ziploc Bags and Tupperware
How many times have you got to the huge breakfast spread at your resort and thought, “I wish I’d brought some Ziplocs.” Okay, some may scoff at the idea of taking cold cuts and freshly baked rolls back to their room for later. Still, they probably don’t have superhuman snack addicts — also known as kids.
Debbie, who writes for the colorfully named Delicious Baby, agrees there are a few drawbacks to packing these useful products. She shares dozens of advantages of her family travel platform.
Be Ready for The Long Haul
There is a current online trend called “raw-dogging” on flights, whereby the passenger sits for the entire flight staring at the seat in front. A viral clip shows Norwegian soccer star Erling Haaland raw-dogging a seven-hour flight. The fad involves not eating, reading, or watching anything — merely staring ahead in silence.
For the rest of us who cannot raw-dog a flight, an array of snacks and a personal water source are a must. Unless you are flying business class or better, most flights will struggle to meet your snacking and hydration needs. Having personal earplugs and eye masks handy can also help make flying more peaceful if complementary ones aren’t available.
