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Avoiding United’s $25 Second-Bag Fee
You heard about this, right?
The most obvious solution (besides packing light and doing laundry at your destination once or twice) is to stuff your stuff into one really big, heavy bag.
The risk, however, is that your one bag will weigh more than 50 pounds, causing you to pay an even larger overweight fee instead of $25 for the second bag. Thus, the Magellan’s scale pictured here, priced at $9.85, pays for itself quickly.
After years of refusing to check anything (or take anything that wouldn’t fit into a carry-on wheelie), my wife and I had a baby girl a few years back. Given all the gear she rolls with, we decided to cut down to a single, large suitcase for the three of us for all trips.
Thanks to this scale, that suitcase weighs 49 pounds each and every time we travel. One tip: At that weight, reading the scale is a two-person job, one to hold the scale (with the bag hooked onto it) and another to squint at the numbers. Magellan’s ought to be able to make this easier.
Anyone tried a bathroom scale for this job? I always figured that a big suitcase would block the numbers. That wouldn’t be the case if you had a doctor’s scale though…
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I just weigh myself, then pickup the bag and step on the scale and weigh in again. It is pretty accurate!
The bathroom scale works when leaving from home, but most hotel rooms don’t have them, and if you pick up a few things on your trip you can be overweight when you return. A portable scale is good both ways.
Best thing to do is: when they are weighing your bag at the counter, slip your foot under the bag and lift…that way, you can usually get at least 10 lbs off the net weight. Next thing they will do is charge us for food, cocktails or talking to an agent on the phone!
Last time I tried a bathroom scale I spent 20 minutes at my in-laws moving stuff between our two bags that were to be checked and our carry-on bags. Finally got the two checked bags down to 49 pounds each. We then checked in the next day and I learned the hard way that my in-laws are much heavier than their scales have led them to believe.
What happens when you forget to weigh your bag, arrive at the airport, and the check-in genie says, “You have to get rid of some stuff.” That is so ridiculous. What are you going to do…stand there and start tossing out your undies? Reminds me of all the cuticle scissors (which I always carry in my cosmetic purse inside my big purse) I have lost due to forgetfulness. I am impressed that you can get stuff for three people in one suitcase. Good for you! Wait until your daughter is a teenager.
