We are flying to a wedding in a few weeks and I’m wondering how to pack my husband’s suit. It is a very quick trip, in late Friday and out early Sunday so we won’t need much and could probably travel with carry ons. We haven’t had to pack a suit since all of the restrictions went into place and I’m not sure how to handle it. We may just check a bag but would like to avoid that if possible so I’m looking for advice from the more experienced travelers.
Thank you.
some planes have a small closet area where you can hang suits, long jackets, dress etc. so you could put in a suit cover, that could be one option. The other is to fold it in the carry-on, and iron it before he needs to use it. I’d avoid paying the fees for checking bags in if I could.
Can the suit be rolled to fit in a carry-on without wrinkles?
My H puts his suits in a plastic (dry cleaner’s) bag before he folds them – he says it helps to keep the suit from wrinkling.
One of you could carry a garment bag, and the other could carry a suitcase. The bag would hold all your clothes and the suitcase would be for shoes, socks, underwear, toiletries, etc. should be easy to do for such a short trip.
Wool suits pack pretty well in a carry on. Just put other clothes between the folds so as not to crease them too much.
Lay the trousers out on the edge of the bed, after holding them up by the cuffs and aligning the creases. Use two hands and grab the legs together at each crease about 1/3 of the way up. Lift this and take that part up to the waist, which will give you a pair of pants that is folded into thirds.
Layout the jacket on the bed, and pull the front sides in so that they slight overlap each other, as though the jacket were buttoned, and then fold the sleeves slightly so that the cuffs are roughly over the front pockets. Now do the same thing you did with the trousers so that the jacket is folded into thirds from bottom to top.
Pack your carry-on and finish by placing the suit on the top. When you get to your destination, take it out and hang it up. If you have a chance to hang it in the bathroom during a hot shower, that will help any wrinkles to fall out.
Garment bag. Place the suit into a plastic dry cleaner bag as suggested above and pack inside a garment bag. There will be no need for ironing when you arrive.
If you don’t have a luggage-quality travel garment bag, this is what works. Place suit inside a plastic bag as recommended above. Place the plastic-bagged suit inside a cloth garment bag like the ones that Nordstrom or Saks use to pack coats or suits. Lay out on a flat surface. Take out the hanger without disturbing the suit. Then zip it up, and roll. Secure the roll with tape or rubber band without wrinkling or pinching. Place the roll inside an open top tote sticking out like a baguette. Yup. It will work. 
I did it with dresses.
I don’t do it much anymore, but back when I wore suits and travelled a lot I’d fold the jacket just enough to sit on top of everything else in my rollerboard. Essentially fold it in half vertically, lay it in the suitcase, then fold the bottom up as needed. Wool suits should come out just fine as long as your suitcase isn’t stuffed full. Seersucker and linen will of course crease as that’s what they do but creases are expected and normal on those materials. You might want to lay the suit jacket “upside down” in the rollerboard, i.e. shoulders towards the wheels. Otherwise the weight on the shoulders might push down while the rollerboard is vertical, crushing the suit slightly.
Back in those days I bought a really nice garment bag but used it less than 10 times before deciding it was more trouble than it was worth and that the rollerboard was perfectly fine.
Bingo. I put my suit in a roll-aboard all the time. Just google a youtube on how to pack a suit properly. (Take the pants and intertwine them with others, as you fold. Button the jacket, lay flat with the back facing you, pull sleeves inward and fold in half.)
When you get to where you are going, just take it out early and hang in the hotel closet. And of course, if it somehow gets really wrinkled, hang in the bathroom during a hot steamy shower and the steam will release the wrinkles.
My husband use to travel all of the time for work and needed to wear a suit at the destination. He just wore the suit. He absolutely had to have the suit at his destination, and only felt safe wearing it.
I have seen garment bags grabbed for gate check more than once - especially on a Friday on a full plane. What size aircraft are you flying? If you’re OK with gate checking, fine. Rollaboards can also be grabbed, but sometimes make it through more easily than a non-standard shape/size garment bag. Totally depends on the mood of the crew - one of the instances I observed almost resulted in a fist fight. Nasty out there!
I agree with @silverlady if you don’t want any risk of the bag disappearing from your control. If packing, @dadx advice (and others) is perfect. I actually just brought my Asia resident kid a suit packed as suggested. 15 hour flight, 5 hour layover, 4 hour flight. Suit arrived in great shape.
Enjoy the wedding!
Check the carry-on dimensions for the airline(s) you are flying, and don’t be surprised if you have different dimensions with each carrier.
Recently traveled to a wedding by plane with friends. The husband had some new kind of tube shaped carryon in which he put his suit. My husband has one too…but I can’t remember the name. But basically…when you package your suit in this thing (or whatever you put in it) it rolls up. Very slick, and compact, and meets the carryon requirements.
Someone here must know the name! When DH gets home, I will ask him!
My H uses the garment bag/plastic bag method that BunsenBurner described in post #7. It works.
Following up on @happymomof1: If it’s been quite a while since you’ve flown, the garment bag that’s sitting in the back of your closet or in your attic is likely too large for current carry-on dimensions.
I found out a way to roll the suit jacket for a carryon. It actually worked and DH and I couldn’t believe it. You’ll need to practice like I did though, to get the hang of it. It’s anazing how rolling clothes stops the wrinkles. Makes sense, though. I’m a convert now, along with packing cubes. I found this YouTube video a few years back and refer to it when we need it.
My S bought this for quick weekend flights where he needed a suit. It’s worked out quite well for him. https://www.ebags.com/hproduct/us-traveler/ballistic-nylon-tri-fold-carry-on-garment-bag/133930?productid=1347494&cat=garment-bags&country=US¤cy=USD&couponid=94790994&sourceid=ADWPRODUCTB&adtype=pla&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIme_Kt7XC2wIV2AiBCh1O3QHMEAQYASABEgIQ-fD_BwE
Seems like some parts of Asia are known for being able to get nice made-to-measure or custom suits at relatively inexpensive prices, so if someone living in Asia needs more, they can be gotten locally.
^^^^^^ Not sure the point of the comment or if the comment is directed to me specifically. My kid can not get an inexpensive suit made at his locale.