International Airline Employee says "Plan your trip"

by Michele van Rensburg.
(, South Africa.)

Travel has always been a passion for me as my career started with an international airline and of course the advantages were the free airline tickets and free experience trips the airline sponsored for top travel agents in the country.


No matter where in the world you are travelling to there is a common problem which affects much more travellers than one would know i.e. overweight baggage.


It is a growing worldwide problem where the suitcase you’ve packed is fairly full when leaving the country for your overseas holiday trip and gets even fuller when you're needing to return home.


Part of the problem lies in poor planning, women commonly experience this when travelling as we often feel we need to pack clothing for all sorts of occasions and situations, from casual clothing to formal wear to beach wear where as men can't seem to tell the difference and would pack in different types of trousers for each occasion!


My first hot travel tip for the ladies is, count how many days you are on holiday for, then pack a complete outfit per day.


Use your itinerary as a guide to what sort of activities you will be doing while on holiday as you'll know what type of clothing to pack according to this. It is useful to plan what to wear each day by looking at the day’s activities as well as your evening activities. Try to pack at least one trouser or skirt that will go with any top, shirt or blouse, I would recommend black as it matches everything. Next pack in shoes that are again easy to wear with a casual outfit or a night on the town! Be sure to pack more tops than pants or skirts as most people notice the top you're wearing but won't tell that you've worn the same trousers a few days ago.

My second hot travel tip would be related to bringing back shopping at the end of your trip. My advise is to pack into your luggage an empty foldable bag, I have a great soft rugsack that is soft enough to roll up (so it doesn’t take up much space in my suitcase) and when travelling back home, if I don’t have enough room in my suitcase to pack anything more, I use the soft rucksack and check it in as hand luggage.


My last hot travel tip is: If you’re caught in a sticky situation where your luggage weighs more than the airline’s baggage allowance at the airport, don’t give into the pressure of paying the airline’s excess baggage rates but rather ask the check-in person to refer you to a company that sends unaccompanied baggage.


These companies will save you a fortune in excess baggage charges as they will send your excess luggage or extra items as cargo. Certain airlines will refer you to their cargo division but it’s best to find an airfreight agent to handle this, even better is finding an agent that specialises in sending personal effects. You will save money and you could even have your excess baggage delivered to your home at a fraction of the charges you would have had to pay the airline at the check-in counters! Written by Michele van Rensburg, South Africa.