Suitcase or holdall??

dustyhalo

Hi,

We're due to go on holiday in May to Spain for 2 weeks. We are a family of 5 (2x adults & 3x kids- 1 of which will be 15 months old when we travel)

We don't have any luggage yet, and thinking about what we have to take with use and taking into account suitcase weights when empty and weight allowance when full I was wondering whether we should buy suitcases or holdall/sports bags.

We've been pricing suitcases up, but unsure what sizes to buy...how many will we need (do the older children need suitcases as large as ours??) Our youngest will only get 10kg allowance-the rest of us get 20kg.

If we got holdalls for all of us, would they pack everything that we're likely to need for our hols-im guessing they'll be quite a bit lighter than a suitcase so would give us more to play with weight wise??

Has anyone ever used holdalls rather than suitcases??

Thanks in advance :-) x

pleasedelete

We travel extensively and always use wheeled large holdalls- originally samsonite and now Eastpak. The only downside is that when full they exceed the weight limit per case on many airlines. We tend to fly 1st or club and so get a large limit per bag but on the occasions that we travel on a budget airline we have to make sure that the bags are only half full.

So look at what the maximum weight per bag can be and can you combine limits? so is it 20x4 plus 10= 90 that can be split between bags (but check the max per bag) or is it 1 bag each up to 20kg.

dustyhalo

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated :-)
We are allowed 20kg each but our infant is only allowed 10kg. According to First Choice, we cant pool our luggage allowance, so each suitcase or holdall will have to be no more than 20kg per person.

peachyprice

Any shape as long as it has wheels. Lugging holdalls and juggling tickets and children is a nightmare. At least with wheels the older children can actually help.

90 Kilos is actually a huge amount of luggage, probably far more than you need.

HOWMUCH

Holdall and roll your clothes up less creasing

Bennifred

Another vote for wheeled holdalls. As well as being lighter, they are easier to squish into small spaces - car boots, etc.

pleasedelete

dustyhalo wrote: »

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated :-)
We are allowed 20kg each but our infant is only allowed 10kg. According to First Choice, we cant pool our luggage allowance, so each suitcase or holdall will have to be no more than 20kg per person.

There will be a maximum each bag can weigh though. usually 23 or 32 Kg depending on airline but it does vary so check. My bags would easily weigh 50kg if stuffed full.

If you put plastic dry cleaning bags between clothes they crease less- just the basic free covers that come from cleaners.

Guys_Dad

I have both but in your circumstances I would use 4 wheeled suitcases for adults at least. One distinct advantage is you wheel them in front of you and they don't get in the way of holding hands with slower toddlers and it is easier for one adult to wheel w such cases than dragging 2 of the 2wheeled variety.

also, half filled holdalls are difficult to control so get some bubble wrap if you are in this predicament.

ferf1223

another vote for 4-wheeled cases...when we got ours it was a revelation...we will never go back to the 2-wheeled variety.

Paulaviki

We bought the really lightweight suitcases they sell in matalan. So much better than our old suitcase which was really heavy. Holdalls are fine but remember you'll have carry them and 20kg is quite heavy!

martindow

We all tend to take too much stuff away. Generally you should lay out what clothes you think you need and then put at least half of them back in the cupboard. I would think you should only be taking a fraction of the 90kg allowance.