Luggage!

[Pembo]

Not sure which board to put this on but it is a way to keep in your budget!

My friends just got back from WDW. They flew a non-stop flight and their suitcase never made it and is now still MIA!!!

My budget tip is: they had packed all of the kids clothes, diapers, all bathing suits, all shoes, all underwear, all pajamas, and much more in this suitcase. This meant the kids had NOTHING to wear, the parents had no underwear and they couldn't go swimming. The only thing in the other suitcase was the parents shorts and shirts. They got in on Monday afternoon and Tues morning headed to JcPenney to buy some replacements. $700 later they returned to their hotel.

So please-pack a little bit of everybody's stuff in each suitcase so if they do get lost...you won't have to replace everything!!!

BTW: My friend's dh is a pilot for this airline!!! On their return flight they gate checked a few bags. When they got to Cleveland he walked right down on the ramp to get their bags directly from the plane!!! LOL!!! They got a few strange looks!

 

[CapeCod53]

We have been lucky & never had lost luggage, but know plenty of people not so lucky, besides the don't have separate suitcases for different people or different types of clothes, we ALWAYS pack a carry-on bag with toiletries, bathing suit, pjs, & full set of clothes & extra pair of shoes, plus we wear some type of jacket on the plane. It may seem like a lot but a child can easy put this in a backpack along with some toys, games, snacks & a stuffed animal. Esp in Orlando we find that the luggage is waiting for us at baggage claim since the gates are so far away that we don't try to carry everything on the plane & then have to lug it thru the airport. With what we wear on the plane & what we carry on , we figure we can make it for the 1st 2 days.

 

[mainey-mouse]

We did the same thing as CapeCod on our recent vacation. Luckily, no lost luggage. But we also keep those backpacks packed (a sweater included) and in the car with us throughout vacation. That way, at a park or elsewhere, if someones clothes get soaked on a water ride, or the kids want a bathing suit for an unexpected water play area, or a kid pees their pants, or we go into a shop or restaurant that is way too air-conitionned, we have everything we need with us.

 

[jjsmom]

We learned this lesson the hard way about 15 years ago. Hubby & I took a Christmas break trip to the Keys. It was 20 degrees when we left MD, 80 degrees when we walked off the plane in Marathon, FL. Our luggage was somewhere else. We were dressed in jeans and sweatshirts. We had to go shopping and spent a good chunk of our vacation money ! We were poor college students with no credit cards and little cash and the airline could not tell us when the luggage would arrive. Luckily, my mom & dad were in the area and "floated" us a little and treated us to a few meals. Luggage arrived a few days later.

Anyway, from that point on, we always have a carry-on each with all toiletries, underwear, a change of clothes, medicine, bathing suits. Knock on wood, we have made many trips back and forth to Florida (always a direct flight; that helps) without a luggage problem.

 

[DisneyBound4Ever]

Oh My, that would be an almost worst nightmare...thanks for the tip!!

 

[jjsmom]

We laugh about it now, but it's always in the back of our minds when we fly.

 

[Beverly Lynn]

I was 5 mths pregnant when Northworst lost my bags on the way home from a trip to mississippi! I had gone to my best friends house and we drove to jackson and went shopping and got all kinds of clothes for my yet to be born baby(just found out the day before the trip it was a girl). NW was having all kinds of problems and the only reason I flew them was they were the only carrier into the hick town I had to go to.well I finally made it home but my bags didn't and in them were all those clothes we had bought and all of my brand new maternity clothes! those things are expensive! I had to go out and buy all new clothes!
by the way if they do lose your bag on the way to your trip you are entitled to so much amount per 24 hr period. and they must deliver your bag to wherever you are staying as well.