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3 tips to avoid the baggage surcharge at the airport

When you go on vacation by plane, it's always the same dilemma:you want to find a cheap flight, but often, low-cost companies charge quite a lot for checked baggage, which means that in the end... ends up paying a price almost equivalent to that with a "classic" company. The travel comparator site Skyscanner has developed a guide to cunning and not paying extra baggage at the airport. Here's what we learned.

1/ Count on cabin baggage

It is not always known, but most airlines allow passengers to board the plane with one or two cabin bags. Thus, at Air France or at Iberia, you are entitled to a cabin suitcase and an accessory (a handbag or a laptop case for example). Remember to check the authorized dimensions for cabin baggage (otherwise, you may have to check it in and pay the high price at the airport) on the airline's website. The only problem? Who says cabin luggage says that you cannot take your beauty products in full size, for example. But hey, it saves a lot of money... Good to know:if you travel with one piece of baggage in the hold and one in the cabin, you don't hesitate to put heavy things in the cabin baggage, in order to avoid overweight on the suitcase in the hold (and the supplement that goes with it).

2/ Travel light

We all do it:we go on vacation for two weeks and when in doubt, we want to take our whole wardrobe. And it's often the same scenario on arrival:you don't wear half the clothes you brought! So, it is better to prepare the suitcase well. Depending on the weather on arrival, we adapt the choice and quantity of clothes:if we plan to laze on the beach for two weeks, don't bring three jeans or two sweatshirts! We take one of each in case it gets ugly and that's enough! It is always possible to do laundry on site, even abroad, so we avoid loading up for nothing...

3/ Go shopping on site

If you love shopping when you're not at home (like us, we admit!), here's an excellent reason:to avoid paying too much for luggage, we leave with a half-empty suitcase and we go shopping on the spot. In some countries like Vietnam or Indonesia, it can be totally worth it! And if we overdid the shopping or bought heavy objects, we think of making a package that we send home, it's often much cheaper than the extra baggage that the 'we risk paying.

We're off! There's more to go on a trip!