A flight attendant has unveiled some important top tips for picking the perfect suitcase, in order to ensure everything stays safe during your journey.
Megan Homme, a flight attendant for an American airline whose TikTok handle @meganhomme has attracted over 360,500 followers due to her travel advice, shared insights into her luggage selection process after learning from past mistakes.
And in one of her popular videos, she has detailed her approach to picking out luggage, stressing the importance of choosing the correct bag material, reports the Express. While soft suitcases might seem convenient, Megan points out they come with risks, particularly if someone else’s luggage spills or bursts in the hold.
“You never know what is going to be in someone else’s bag, or what is going to be underneath the plane and what could leak on your bag,” she said, highlighting the potential hazards.
Baggage handlers have also chimed in on this issue, advising against packing liquids. An anonymous baggage handler contributing to a Reddit discussion warned: “Please don’t pack food or drinks in your bag. They rot, break, leak, open. It smells. Especially alcohol. Then I smell all day after picking up a bag that leaked on me.”
Besides leakage issues, Megan advises considering colour when choosing luggage, recommending dark-coloured suitcases to help conceal any scuffs from the journey. She said: “If your bag is going under the plane it is going to be scuffed up very quickly. I learned that the hard way.”
A third consideration is to ensure your suitcase has wheels. A fellow baggage handler shared on Reddit why having four wheels is crucial to prevent your bag from being tossed into the hold by staff.
With at least two, but ideally four functioning wheels, handlers can roll your luggage into the hold, safeguarding your belongings. However, if your bag lacks wheels, it will likely be thrown into the hold.
The baggage handler confessed that their “absolute least favourite” bags to load were those with seized-up wheels.