A flight attendant has revealed how to select the perfect bag for your upcoming travels that will ensure all your belongings stay safe inside the hold of the plane.
Megan Homme, who works for an American airline and posts videos under her TikTok username @meganhomme, has amassed 360,500 followers as a result of her viral travel hacks.
In a recent video, she explained how she chooses her own bags after being forced to “learn the hard way” from several mistakes she has made in the past.
The first thing to be aware of is the material from which your bag is made. While soft suitcases may be easier to manoeuvre, they can cause problems if someone else’s bag leaks or breaks open 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,” Megan explained.
Baggage handlers have revealed previously that people often pack liquids in their carry ons and this can cause issues.
Posting to a Reddit forum, the anonymous baggage handler said: “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.”
It’s not just liquid leaking that you need to be wary of when selecting a bag though – colour is another important aspect.
Megan recommends getting a dark coloured suitcase to minimise the risk of it being visibly scuffed once it emerges from the hold.
“If your bag is going under the plane it is going to be scuffed up very quickly. I learned that the hard way.”
The third thing to keep in mind is getting wheels on your suitcase. Another baggage handler also posted to Reddit explaining why having four wheels is important to avoid your bag being thrown into the hold by workers.
If your luggage has at least two, but preferably four working wheels, this means handlers can roll it down into the hold which will keep your items safe.
If you’re wheel-less, then your bag will almost certainly need to be hurled into the hold.
The baggage holder said their “absolute least favourite” bags to load were ones with wheels that have seized up.