Who Carries a Luggage Scale with them? Recommendations?

[knick1959]

We made a luggage balancing mistake this week that cost us $35 extra, and it was a dumb mistake that could have easily been avoided, as a second bag was well under 50 pounds. I turns out our final hotel (the Moana Surfrider in Honolulu ... yes I am bragging a little ) had a scale we could use to fine tune, but it proved to not match the airline's weight (but we were still ok that time).

I will have to assume that hotels cannot be counted on to have a luggage scale for customer use.

Recommendations for portable scales that are reliable? $35 one time isn't too bad, particularly when a majority of the trip was on points. Still, it could have been avoided and I'd like to do better in the future.

Thanks in advance.

 

[italdesign]

I was very close to the max weight allowance of Air Asia a few times. I just weighed it on a unused counter and shuffled stuff until it was <= the allowance.

 

[HariOm]

I don't usually carry one with us but we've got two models of the Balanzza luggage scale that work well and are certainly small enough to carry. On the "Mini" model the hinges of the cover for the battery compartment broke and now we keep it held on with a rubber band and it still works fine. Looks like they now make a rechargeable USB model as well. In any case we've used these scales for dozens of flights and never gone over. We usually allow a two-pound "margin of safety" just to be sure, though the check-in weight has always been within the limit. YWMV.

 

[GetawaysRus]

I've used the EatSmart Precision Voyager Digital Luggage Scale
for several years without issue. Can show weight in pounds or kilos. #1 in its category on Amazon. Inexpensive, lightweight, doesn't take up a lot of space in my carry-on.

 

[Paul]

Waste of packing space. If you need a scale, use above suggestion to use empty scale at check-in.

$35 is cheap. Sitting at airport now and adjacent gate had Spirit boarding agent reminding people that if they boarded without purchasing carry-on in advance it was $100. Which is more than the flight cost...

 

[Someone]

My wife picked up a cheap one from LL Bean for about $10 several years ago and it has held up. I don't see it on their site now though.

Definitely worth the $10 to avoid arguments among the young ladies in my family who tend to overpack.

 

[EddieLV]

I don't usually carry one around since I normally pack a carryon 90% of the time. However, I need one for my wife who insists on a check-in luggage. I bought one a digital luggage scale for $3 on Amazon. It's similar to this one:

 

[craig d]

There are plenty of good shipping scales on Amazon, what I do is weigh at home and underpack (so I have room for goodies) then after a trip do a best guestimate of what I've added. Never had a prob before. Else, step out of line and transfer to my carryon lol

 

[knick1959]

There are plenty of good shipping scales on Amazon, what I do is weigh at home and underpack (so I have room for goodies) then after a trip do a best guestimate of what I've added. Never had a prob before. Else, step out of line and transfer to my carryon lol

Leaving home is never the problem for us. It's always coming home with goodies. My wife, for some reason, feels the need to buy books about the area we're in while we're there. I tell her I can get them on Amazon and have them shipped for free. "It's not the same!" No, it's not; we don't have to carry them home! On the way back from the last trip we had a very heavy carry-on, by design. And we thought the checked bags were ok and somewhat even. Not!

I usually feel pretty anxious checking bags for some reason. I will have to try to simmer down next time and consider moving out of line if needed. Part of my problem is not thinking ahead here. I should put the heavy bag on the scale before I hand the agent our papers. Still, with our own small enough scale we can know exactly what to expect at the counter. And, we can better gauge how close we're coming to maxing out weight as we pick up more things.

I didn't bother to take a carry-on bag this trip, which would have been helpful on the way back. I won't make that mistake again! However, it worked out, sort of. Which raises an off-topic question:

While in Hawaii, my wife suddenly decided she wants to learn how to play the Ukulele, which meant we had to buy one there because it "wouldn't be the same" to buy one when we got home. So we had this small-but-obvious, non-packable instrument w/canvas case. The sales lady claimed we could carry it on as a "third carry on - instrument"; this was allowed by the airlines. As it was, because I didn't have my own carry on, our bag count was ok even counting this. Finally, the question:

Are musical instruments treated as an exception to the "one carry on" rule in any/most cases? Or was the sales lady simply selling to us?

PS - and since I'm rambling, there have been at least 2 occasions where I've taken a picture of a book or recorded the ISBN and title in Evernote, only to find that the book was NOT available on Amazon, or was but at an outrageous price. I try to live-check on the spot, but when cell phone coverage is spotty that sometimes doesn't work. Anyone passing through the Lima airport anytime soon? .

We do buy our fair share of books at the local stores. When your bag is too heavy, it's time to try and buy later.

 

[Hanoi IG]

We have such a scale-Camry EL10 costs about 10$ Amazon Prime. So far I just use it at home though in truth we are generally quite a bit under the limit as nearly all of our flight are international. The scale is easily portable in a purse or other bag so you can surely take it with you. We never buy much on trips but if you do you can know if you'll be overweight.

We used to carry an IKEA big zipper bag as some airlines check each bag rather than your total weight. We were able to repack some items to avoid a charge.

 

[Someone]

@knick1959 - you think books are bad, my ladies think it's awesome to collect gallon ziploc bags of shells, sand, and even rocks almost everywhere we go.

We've left bags and bags of sand behind in hotel rooms and condos more times than I can count.

Best part is they all wind up on a shelf in the garage never to be seen again (by them) I clean up the garage each fall and a few bags tend to, um, "go missing" ;-)

 

[knick1959]

@knick1959 - you think books are bad, my ladies think it's awesome to collect gallon ziploc bags of shells, sand, and even rocks almost everywhere we go.

I hear that. My wife did gather up a large baggie full of Maui beach sand per request of some one in the family. It was a little lighter once dry, but still surprisingly heavy. That did contribute to our $35 mistake.

My tall hand-carved tiki guy was heavy, but he was carried on .

 

[knick1959]

So. I purchased a luggage scale a month or so back. THEN forgot to take it with us 10 days ago when leaving for Utah. And we purchased souvenirs that required creative packing.

I asked the hotel clerk if they had a luggage scale. They did not. HOWEVER, he did suggest the scale in their fitness center, which worked great. I never would have thought of this on my own. Fitness centers (with scales for humans) are probably more common than luggage scales!

We were able to shove books and riff raff into our checked bags, confident that we were below max weight.

 

[Hanoi IG]

Our two bags weighed 13 and 16 KG respectively and we were allowed 2 bags EACH at 30 kg so we are never in trouble. Guess we don't bring enough.

 

[currid7]

We grabbed a cheap scale from Amazon and I just keep it in my luggage at home. It's usually more handy for telling how much room I'll have in the bag to pack souvenirs. We don't tend to buy much (our souvenirs are photos we take and maps / tickets usually), but it's good to know how much room I have in the bag heading over there.

 

[Felix]

I never had issues with weight since I am minimalist and dont pack much of anything to begin with.

 

[Josh000]

Two alternatives (a) test first at the airport w/ a scale at an unmanned counter or (b) use the hotel bathroom scale. stand on the scale with & w/o holding luggage. subtract the difference to approximate luggage weight.