Luggage scales, in particular portable luggage scales, have become for many people an almost indispensable part of their travelling and holiday planning.
The reason is a very simple one, that more and more airlines are using excess baggage as a reason or excuse for charging additional fees to their passengers or customers.
One of the reasons it is such an effective way for airlines to charge people, is that if you are at an airport and are trying to check in your baggage, if it is overweight then there is very little you can do about it.
Being at a check-in desk, and being told that you will be charged because of excess weight in your luggage leaves you with very little choice.
You cannot simply start unpacking your luggage, although there may be times when you might be able to transfer it to another traveller such as a family member, but that is fairly haphazard.
More and more, airlines are using things such as excess luggage charges, both for luggage that goes in the hold and hand luggage, as a way of making up for money they are losing by advertising cheaper flights generally.
Portable Luggage Scale
This is the main reason that portable luggage scales have become so important. Not simply when you are going travelling abroad, but more often when you are coming back. It is often the coming back where you have bought stuff overseas that increases the weight of your luggage, and means you’re liable to incur additional costs.
The first thing to do, is to check exactly what your luggage allowance is in terms of weight, both for main luggage and hand luggage. Obviously the less you take, the more room you have to bring stuff back with, and the less chance there is of having to pay additional costs upfront. This can be checked via the airlines website in advance
Lightweight Luggage
Next thing is to weigh your luggage with nothing in it. This will give you an idea of how much all luggage weighs, and whether or not it is worth investing in more lightweight luggage. There is a huge market in lightweight luggage nowadays, largely for the above reason. The lighter the luggage, the more you can put in it and avoid having to pay charges.
Knowing how much your luggage weighs, and what your allowances are in terms of airline weight allows you to know how much you can pack, and check that you do not exceed your allowance.
There are a number of different types of luggage scales available, and some of the most popular can easily be researched online. It is worth having your own set of criteria about what is important to you, especially regarding the practicalities of being able to check how much the luggage weighs.
Suitcase Scales
Some luggage scales will be hand held, others will be able to use some type of support to weigh the package. It is also important that the scales are accurate, and that they are able to be easily read, often in poor lighting.
Beyond that, the choice of luggage scales is largely a personal one, and it is worth you can experimenting with a view to see which works best for you. That is not always possible, and often reviews of luggage scales will give some indication of how easy they are or not to use, especially if an individual has mobility problems or any problems doing any type of heavy lifting.
Pink Luggage
If you do decide to change your luggage or suitcases, it is worth thinking about a set of pink luggage. Over the last few years, many manufacturers of luggage and suitcases have developed novelty and very different designs from the traditional ideas of suitcases and luggage. One of the main reasons for this is that it can be extremely helpful in helping the luggage to stand out both at baggage reclaim, and in fact much easier to keep an eye on on luggage trolleys.
Whilst pink may not be everyone’s favourite colour, it does stand out from everything else, and has quickly become a colour of choice for many people, meaning that there is actually a huge range of different types of versatile and lightweight pink luggage to choose from, well worth looking at.
Best Luggage Scale
Like when deciding to buy any type of product, there is always the question of which one is the best. To answer this clearly, you need to know what your own needs are. If you fly one long haul flight every five years, your needs are going to be different to someone who flies using budget airlines every few weeks or months. Most luggage scales are reasonably cheap, and that is an important factor.
You are buying something to primarily save yourself money, so it is pointless spending any significant amount on such a product. The important things for most people are those mentioned above, where it is light and easy-to-use, is easy to read and, most importantly perhaps, accurate and reliable.
You will find that most luggage scales are digital or electronic nowadays, and so the clarity normally depends upon the size of the digital read out monitor.
Some people find reviews of products helpful, other people tend to think they are mostly written either by people who have had real problems with the product or by people who are either paid or courage to promote it for some reason.
Electronic Luggage Scale
With any electronic luggage scale, reviews can only give a fairly limited impression of how good they are not.
If you do look at reviews and comments on-line, you should soon pick up whether or not any particular set of luggage scales has problems in terms of reliability or readability. If enough people are flagging something up as problem, then it is likely that this product is probably worth avoiding.
Other than that it really is a matter of personal choice.
Travel Scale
It is also worth bearing in mind the type of luggage or suitcases and backpacks that you prefer to use.
Some types of travel scales are more focused on a traditional type of suitcase, others work better for backpacks, and some work best for what I normally referred to as sausage type bags.
It is also important to consider whether or not you have other types of equipment in addition to a suitcase or package that you need to take with you flying, and how easy it is not to weigh these items.
Some best selling luggage Scales include
