If you’re going on holiday anytime soon, you’ll know that there are plenty of things to consider when it comes to flights.
Timings, seats and baggage allowances all need sorting out if you want a trip to run smoothly.
And with so much to plan, it can be easy to forget about certain things – especially when it comes to packing your suitcase for your trip.
There’s truly nothing worse than arriving to your destination to find your bag has been damaged in transit, harming your belongings inside.
And according to one baggage handler, there’s one very common mistake people make that could be causing this issue.
Taking to Reddit, one baggage handler offered some valuable luggage advice for anyone keen to keep their belongings as safe as possible during air travel.
He warned that making one mistake can cause your belongings to “go flying everywhere” when your luggage is being placed on and off the plane – which is definitely never ideal.
If you’re heading off for a few weeks away, it can be tempting to cram your bag with as much as possible, to ensure you don’t run out of clothing or toiletries while you are away.
But according to the expert, over-stuffing your bag is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to suitcases becoming damaged or breaking.
They said: “Do not over stuff your bags! 9/10 these are the bags that get to baggage claim completely exploded, cheap zippers, crappy quality fabric and overstuffed bag is just a ticking time bomb for all of your belongings to go flying everywhere.”
And the type of bag you choose to take on holiday can also have an impact on its safety.
The baggage handler continued: “On a semi related note, if checking luggage, buy four wheeled if you can, less likely baggage handler will ‘toss’ the bag, will roll whenever possible.
“Poor quality bags have a rigid skeleton that eventually breaks or is made of poor quality cloth that tears.”
It can also be tempting to wrap your suitcase up in cling film to keep it protected from any dirt or opportunistic thieves, but the expert has strongly advised against doing this.
They added: “We know at some locations it is necessary, but please please please, for your bags sake and our backs, leave the wheels available for use, and please have a four wheeled bag.
“The plastic prevents the bag to be slid across smooth surfaces and must be tossed/thrown/slung to be loaded into the cargo hold.”
