Safest way to get backpack from USA to SJPdP

[mustbjones]

Who can tell me the safest way to get my fully loaded (about 40L) backpack from the USA to St Jean? I worry about not being able to get it into an overhead compartment. Thanks.

 

[jpflavin1]

Re: Safest way to get backpack from USA to STPPP

Mustbjones:

I have an Osprey 46L pack and it easily fits into the overhead compartment.

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[Anniesantiago]

Re: Safest way to get backpack from USA to STPPP

If it does not fit, you're most likely taking too much, imo.
You'll be posting items back home or leaving them in the Free Box.
Would you mind sharing your packing list with us?

Anyway, you can always check it.
I'd have it wrapped first.
Good luck.
Most of the time, backpacks arrive.
On occasion they do not.

 

[nreyn12]

Re: Safest way to get backpack from USA to STPPP

If you are lucky enough to have a non-stop flight from the US to Europe, the chances are very good that a checked bag will arrive as expected.

You could try my very corny-but-effective trick that always gets a smile or giggle from the airline employee checking me in: I blow a kiss to my bag, tap it with my hand as it pulls away from me on the conveyer belt, and say 'see you in Madrid!" (or wherever else I'm going). I travel a lot and have never lost a bag. Coincidence?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Re: Safest way to get backpack from USA to STPPP

I travel a lot and have never lost a bag.

I am a believer in checked baggage. Passengers had dragged on so many carry-on bags on my last return to the U.S. that I struggled to get a 2" thick relief map into the overhead. Honestly, that is just plain rude. That said, British Airways/Iberia has failed to get my luggage to my destination with me the last two trips. It showed up several hours later, so it was not "lost," but it was very disconcerting. I was fifth in the complaint line on the last one, so they had lost about 5% of the customers' bags. The attendant conveniently spoke no English, so I was not offered even a toothbrush to get me through the night. Iberia was pretty good until the British capitalists took it over! :twisted:

 

[peregrina2000]

I'm sure I've said this before, and maybe I'm overly risk averse, but I would never check my pack. My first leg is always on a regional jet and it even fits in their small overhead bins. I realize that the odds are low that it will actually be lost, but delayed baggage coming from the US to Europe usually means at least a day's wait. That can be a real pain if you're planning to head up to your Camino starting point and start walking soon after arrival. In the days when I used to check my poles in a cardboard tube, on one occasion they did not arrive with me in Madrid. Luckily I had a four hour window to catch my train to Sevilla, so I was able to go buy a new pair in a sporting goods store.

Since that experience I carry on both my pack and my poles and don't have to worry about them not arriving. I know some have had problems carrying on poles, but I've done it now for three Caminos without a hitch. I check my pack and poles on the way home and so far I've not had more than a three day delay in getting them.

I realize it's just a question of odds, so to each his/her own. Laurie