The ‘single biggest source of delays’ at the check in counter and how to avoid it
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Even as someone who travels for work, I still make mistakes sometimes though I hate to admit it. On a family trip earlier in the year I ended up being the person at the check-in counter that everyone in line ends up hating.
The reason the check in line moves so slowly all has to do with the bags. iStock
I’m not used to having a luggage allowance of 40kg (we were travelling in business class) and I wrongly assumed this meant our suitcases could weigh up to 40kg.
Of course, this is incorrect. Work Health and Safety protocols dictate one single bag on almost all commercial airlines can’t weigh more than 32kg in total.
So there I stood at the counter with the staffer telling me my bag is too heavy. I had to shuffle to the side and awkwardly open our cases, do some reorganising and even the weight out across them all to meet the requirements.
In the end, no items had to be thrown in the bin. But I was still embarrassed. And as it turns out, this happens way too often.
If you’re standing in line and feel like it’s barely moving, chances are it’s not people scrambling for their documents, or not correctly filling out required paperwork, but simply packing too much.
In fact, Laura Avital, a former ticket agent at New York’s JFK Airport recently spoke to Travel + Leisure and said that “overweight bags are the single biggest source of delays at the check-in counter, for you and everyone behind you”.
It can also be one of the biggest unexpected costs of your travels.
A small portable scale can save you from check in counter embarrassment. iStock
So how to avoid it? Obviously, the answer is simple.
“Weigh your bag before you leave the house and don’t start unpacking in the airport,” Laura said.
Sometimes when travelling you might not have a set of scales on hand. That’s why I now always pack a small portable luggage scale. You just hook it onto your packed bag and lift with your hands.
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Another thing you can do is consider what exactly it is you’re packing. I’ve always been guilty of a common mistake that’s adding more weight to my bags than I need. That’s too many shoes.
“The three shoes rule is great for families having to share luggage space and follows one very simple step – simply put, only pack a maximum of three pairs of shoes,” an expert from M&S Kidswear previously shared with the Express.
“It’s an easy but effective hack to prevent chunky shoes from taking up the majority of your suitcase.”
