3 Secret Hacks To Save Money On Crazy Luggage Costs While Travelling

The worst thing about travelling is how expensive it is. Well, let's be more specific, it's how expensive luggage is! Plane tickets you can kind of accept will cost money. But why does luggage cost so much to store? It's outrageous, and you can double the cost of flights by adding a couple of bags to each journey. 

As someone who has travelled a lot, I've picked up a few secrets on saving money! So, here are a few of my favourite tips to slash the cost of luggage when you travel:

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Use a third-party baggage collection service

Airlines charge an outrageous amount for hold luggage. It's annoying because you also have restrictions on what you can carry in your cabin bags. If you have liquids over 100ml, then you're paying nearly £50 for a bag in the hold! It's insane, but I discovered a way to make this less costly. Companies like My Baggage will take your bags and send them to your destination separately. They aren't working with the airlines, which means the fees for these services are a lot cheaper. Now, you can travel with hold luggage but bypass the annoying bag-drop desks and also avoid paying the extortionate fees. 

Put your heavy items in your hand luggage

One of the reasons luggage is so expensive is down to the weight restrictions. If you go over a certain weight in hold luggage, you pay per kilogram it's over. This is the same on basically all flights, from domestic ones in London all the way to Lahore. It's irritating, but you can do something about it. Swap out as many of the heavy items and put them in your hand luggage. Now, you have a lighter suitcase that fits under the weight allowance and doesn't cost as much money. Also, you could even qualify for the lighter weight allowance, which is always cheaper. Instead of paying for 25kgs, you pay for 15kg! Hand luggage never gets weighed, so you can use a small rolling case to take your heaviest items in. 

Use the plastic bag trick

This is a trick I heard about from a man on a flight once. It's genuinely really clever, and I've used it ever since. You're only allowed one item of hand luggage for free. However, this doesn't include things you bought in duty-free. Effectively, you're allowed your hand luggage plus a plastic bag full of duty-free items. The trick is to bring along a hand luggage suitcase with a backpack or handbag. Now, you have extra space across two items. But, before you get on the plane, you put all the items from your backpack/handbag into a plastic bag from duty-free. Then, sneak the empty handbag/backpack into your hand luggage suitcase. It looks like you have one item of hand luggage plus a bag full of things you 'bought' while waiting for the flight. No one ever checks these bags, so it's a smart way to basically sneak two lots of hand luggage onto every flight. 

There you go: three hacks to save a fortune on crazy luggage costs while travelling. Give them a try the next time you're able to travel, and you'll be amazed at how much money you save.

Cover Photo by Francesca Tirico on Unsplash.