Comment by cmenge | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cmenge | Hacker News Reader

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After my luggage went missing for the first time recently, my key takeaways are:

- If at all possible, avoid checked luggage - it's overpriced, slow and unreliable. No news to pro travellers I guess

- Luggage reimbursement is capped at a relatively low figure that hasn't increased in decades (sources vary, jurisdiction unclear when international which just adds to the point). In any case, if you're traveling with a fancy Rimowa, the luggage itself is worth that... Never put valuables in checked luggage

- The whole process seems increasingly stupid to me. A lot of conveyor belts, tracking systems etc. just to get a bag that I can carry by my own, all because the space in the overhead compartments is limited - manufacturers are working on larger compartments recently

- Some airlines are nearly impossible to contact - you might be asked to call a number in <random country> and then wait in line for 2, 3 hours then the call drops randomly (looking at you, Aegean)

- I appreciate this might be unavoidable for families, i.e. when you carry luggage for multiple people, or when you need a set of suits etc. But still, keep the Rolex on your wrist

The whole process seems increasingly stupid to me. A lot of conveyor belts, tracking systems etc. just to get a bag that I can carry by my own, all because the space in the overhead compartments is limited - manufacturers are working on larger compartments recently

On the contrary. Increasingly humongous bags being wrestled into giant compartments makes boarding and deplaning a stressful and lengthy process.

I totally get why travelers don’t want to check bags given the status quo, but the stupidity is that the system works so poorly that they don’t want to check rather than that there isn’t enough room in the passenger compartment for everyone’s belongings.

Cargo should be able to safely and efficiently travel separately.

Or people could simply not bring enormous bags when they travel.

You don’t need to bring your whole wardrobe, I can comfortably pack everything I need for two weeks in a small backpack. I’ve met some people who pack all their life belongings when they travel and it’s ridiculous, how can you even enjoy the destination when you are weighed down with so much random crap.

People across different stages of their lives for all different reasons. Some are healthy twenty-somethings looking for adventure and pictures for social media. Some are moving to a new home. Some are traveling with infants. Some are traveling for work and have equipment. Some need to travel with mobility devices or medical equipment.

Different strokes.

Apparently you’re not a bowler. And what if I’m a pro golfer? What if I suffer from needing to play a guitar? There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

You don't change your clothes?

You got a point there. Maybe I'm more annoyed by the implementation (cost, lack of reliability, absurd waiting times) rather than the idea itself.

I ship whatever I may need that's going to be needed. Got the habit from shipping equipment to onsite work sites. I figured hey, I'm shipping this expensive equipment to install and I'm going to be there a week+, might as well throw in the clothing, toys, etc I may need.

I travel light anyway and get by with carry-on unless it's a planned vacation then I ship to the destination.

YMMV!

Don't carry too many valuables on you because did you know? That civil asset forfeiture can happen at airports. If you're carry-on luggage during security inspection, encounter suspicious amounts of assets, the homeland security officer can tell the local police and the DA can decide to seize your valuables under the assumption that it's about to be used for drug transactions. Of course they don't need any proof to do this, and good luck getting it back from the courts.

As for baggage, at this point, I'm almost more tempted to send things ahead of time through USPS or UPS or another logical channel with a much higher reliability. But then again, I haven't really traveled in seven years because airports are such horrendous horrible places now, airlines are thicket of fees and other means to game ticket prices.

It's reasons that I really wish the car self-driving industry would stop concentrating so much on robo taxis and very difficult to drive cities, and instead concentrate on safely implementing self-driving over highways over long distances. That way I can just have my car drive me while I sleep overnight. I think this is a replace most air trips under 1000 miles.

I believe what you're after is high speed rail

I've had good success with shipping luggage to my destination, instead of checking a bag for the gorillas to destroy, lose, etc.

I can also declare the value of my shipment, as opposed to the "we don't really care" compensation the airlines are forced to pay.

What if during boarding, you walked through the cargo compartment of the plane yourself, which consists of huge lockers you can store your baggage in, then proceed to the seating area?

Lockers would be an inefficient use of cargo hold space. The added weight would also be costly to fuel consumption.

Do you know how the plane walls near the floor start to come back in? That is because the passenger floor is well in the bottom half of the tube. The photos I've seen of baggage handlers have them working on their knees or sitting on the sloping floor.

This shows the process: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hjV8xRdmzp4

The plane would never take off.

Line drops could also come from your own provider. For example, Mint-Mobile kills the connection at one second after 59:59.

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