Bag hacks for business travel

Luggage tips for road warriors

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Travel arranger Maarten van den Hout (right) and frequent traveler Neil Salinas, with BCD client QuadTech

Packing and managing luggage is one of the biggest tasks a road warrior has to manage. Try these four bag hacks to help make your next business trip the best one yet.

  • Roll with it. Your mother was right. Rolling your clothes saves space and prevents creasing in luggage. If you do a good enough job, all of your travel items might fit into a carry-on bag. Eliminating the cost for checked luggage and bypassing baggage claim are your rewards for taking Mom’s advice. Packing an extra suit? Turn it inside out and wrap it around soft t-shirts or pajamas to preserve its well-pressed appearance.
  • Keep up with the rules. Nobody likes surprises—especially, when you’re headed to catch a flight. Baggage restrictions change from time to time. So, make a note to check them out every now and then. Travel arranger Maarten van den Hout says it pays to know the rules. “If you don’t take care, this can be expensive, as a colleague of mine recently discovered,” van den Hout said. “A standard weight limit of 30 kilos was allowed, but the price per kilo for excess weight was exorbitant. He ended up paying £1,000 (about US$1,330) extra!” Check the airline’s rules for hand luggage and checked baggage ahead of time. Portable scales are useful for monitoring baggage weight.
  • Register baggage in advance. “With EasyJet and Ryan Air, you can arrange and pay for this in advance. With many major airlines, you can register the baggage, but it often has to be paid for at the check-in desk,” Salinas said. Some carriers reward travelers who check bags electronically in advance; for example, KLM offers a 20% discount on fees for excess baggage checked in online.
  • Get smart. Raden suitcases are equipped with a phone charger, integrated scales and a location tracker, and the corresponding app allows you to communicate directly with your suitcase. The hyperintelligent Bluesmart locks automatically if you move too far away. With the advanced ReboundTAG microchip, your lost luggage can be located quickly in any airport worldwide. A Trakdot placed in your suitcase will tell you the exact location of your luggage at all times.

 

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