<p>As you consider the costs of transporting your kid to a far off college, consider the below MSNBC story.</p>
<p>As for me, driving seems like a better and better option. I used to love to fly. I now hate it.</p>
<p>"How much clothing can you fit in your carry-on bag?</p>
<p>If new baggage fees just announced by British Airways take hold across the industry, you may want to find out.</p>
<p>According to breaking-news reports, British Airways (BA) will begin charging coach-class passengers extra fees to check a second bag starting Tuesday, February 13. The fees range from </p>
<p>My D will have to learn to pack light. I couldn’t believe everything she brought home at Christmas. She was only home 2 weeks. We had to ship a box back to her at school. She manged to get through the airport with a 53lb duffle bag, 70lb ski bag, backpack, and laptop bag with no extra fees. We didn’t think she could be so lucky on the way back. Luckily, the airlines didn’t loose anything, like happened to one poster’s son last year.</p>
<p>I just wish that the airlines would start regulating what can be brought on as a carry-on. People have gone crazy with what they bring into the cabin and try to stow in the overhead compartments. It’s gotten totally out of hand and it annoys me every time I fly. I’ve never checked a second bag when flying so if this new policy is instituted industry-wide, it won’t affect me.</p>
<p>LOL. I was picturing the air sick bags when I read the title! Ewww</p>
<p>Anyway, I never bring two bags anyplace…but that does mean washing stuff out, and sometimes hitting the very-hard-to-figure-out foreign laundry mats…but moving to college, well that would be bad.</p>
<p>And, ha, that was my kid who lost all his stuff last year. But he learned! Now it’s just his backpack. We do have a washing machine I keep reminding him!</p>
<p>All this is fine if you are on a short trip but what about people who go away for a month in different climate zones? Or students who need to bring all their gear across the country?</p>
<p>fwiw, I recently traveled on JetBlue. Coming from overseas, I had a large duffel bag I wanted to check. It weighed 52lbs, 2 lbs over the limit. I was told that the extra pounds would cost me $20. I took out two items of clothing and brought them onto the plane cabin with me, my parka, a bag containing my laptop and a change of clothes (you never know whether your checked bag will follow you or not), my handbag. Yes, I know it probably annoyed some fellow passengers that I was stuffing the overhead cabin with all that gear. But $20 for 2 lbs? No way.</p>
<p>I think people will just learn to pack lighter. </p>
<p>I’ve never brought more than a 22" roller to Europe - for one week or three weeks, it doesn’t matter. (As annoying as Rick Steves is, he taught me how to do this and I’ve never regretted it.) </p>
<p>I see people struggling with all these giant suitcases and I feel bad for them! It’s unhealthy to even haul that much weight and it can greatly hamper your ability to get around. I see people who can’t even fit their luggage in a rental car over there, and they are making several trips on those tiny elevators, and then complaining that the rooms are too small! </p>
<p>I’d rather pay less, wait less time in security, have fewer lost bags (assuming it lightens the load in the baggage handling areas) and have everybody bring less stuff.</p>
<p>We just traveled to Denver for a college visit and four days of skiing. Each of us checked two bags and carried on one. One bag for ski equipment and another for ski clothing. Even if we rented equipment, we would have needed all of the gloves, helmets, fleece, etc. Both my H and S ski and snowboard. Made them pick one set of equipment and bring the other boots. Navigating through the airports and rental car agencies is always fun with all that stuff.</p>
<p>Europe? Same climate zone as here. Not the same thing I’m talking about. Especially if you need to go formal for some occasions.
And not the same thing if you are a student and need to bring practically everything you own from CA or TX to NE and back.
Actually, I only checked one bag. It just happened to weigh 52lb–2lbs over the weight limit. I’d just flown back to NYC on a plane where the baggage allowance was 70lbs.</p>
<p>I figure if you need a lot of stuff, then pay for it. That is still an option. Most people, if they can afford to fly to a different climate zone (much less a ski resort) can afford it, so I don’t think it’s that big of a hardship. </p>
<p>I just think that with the poor security there is right now with checked baggage, maybe if there was less of it they could somehow figure out how to do a better job with it.</p>
<p>It’s true the differences in various airlines makes for a confusing scenario for passengers. Lots of people get hung up on the low budget airlines that fly throughout Europe because they have quite tight luggage restrictions. Again, it doesn’t make much sense to snag a cheap flight and then have to pay a hundred dollars or more for overweight luggage. Moral of the story - be sure to check all legs of your trip.</p>
<p>$10 for each lb? C’mon Weenie. And there are people who NEED to fly to different climate zones. I don’t know why you went to Europe, but my own trip was not a pleasure jaunt. Anyway, the stuff that was producing all this avoirdupois was not my clothes but materials I need for my work. So please, no lectures on how to pack light.<br>
I also had to fly Jetblue for complicated reasons–some of which had to do with money.</p>
<p>I packed for a year when I came down to Phoenix, and my bags weighed well under 50 lbs. When you occasionally have to move or throw bags, you can appreciate the restrictions.</p>