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Original poster

Baggage allowance - is 20kg enough for family of 4..?

30 replies

DottyDotsofBloodOnTheFloor · 28/10/2011 19:33

'cos it's bloody expensive so I'm hoping 1 x 20kg allowance will do? We travel fairly light and will be going to Spain in the Spring, so hopefully t-shirts, shorts, crocs, rather than big boots and jeans!

It's our first holiday abroad since having the children - 11 years and counting - so I have NO CLUE, but just booked for 1 suitcase to keep the costs down...

OP posts:
TeamDamon · 28/10/2011 19:36

To help you put it in perspective, when we went to Greece for a fortnight, we had 70 kg for a family of 3 Shock Grin

We didn't need all of that but there is NO WAY we could have done it on 20 kg.

DS's books alone took up most of his luggage allowance Hmm

orienteerer · 28/10/2011 19:40

No

gushofbloodtothefloor · 28/10/2011 19:40

It will be tight, it's amazing how quickly the weight stacks up.

Wear your warmest clothing and heaviest footwear on the plane - maybe not the most stylish way to travel, but needs must!

Don't forget hand luggage - you can usually have 10Kg of hand luggage each, so get the biggest bag allowable.

And they do have washing machines abroad Grin

Original poster
DottyDotsofBloodOnTheFloor · 28/10/2011 19:42

eek! good job ds's don't like reading Grin forgot about hand luggage - will have to use that for our books.

OP posts:
MmeLindor. · 28/10/2011 19:42

No. Not unless you hardly take anything.

How old are the dc?

You can save by not taking toiletries and putting heavier things in hand luggage. But it will be a close thing.

Original poster
DottyDotsofBloodOnTheFloor · 28/10/2011 19:44

Hmm. It's possible I should have paid for another 20kg... Hmm

OP posts:
Original poster
DottyDotsofBloodOnTheFloor · 28/10/2011 19:45

sorry - they'll be 10 and 7 when we go.

OP posts:
hairypotter · 28/10/2011 19:54

I'd be pushed to manage on 40kgs min tbh. We had 65kgs last week for the 4 of us, plus 3 lots of 5kg hand luggage.

TeamDamon · 28/10/2011 20:47

Hand luggage is usually 5kg, isn't it? So that's 40kg altogether. But it will still be tight...

MarshaBrady · 28/10/2011 20:53

We just did it. Sort of by accident rather than design.

Dh swears by packing lightly so took hardly anything.

Ds1 and 2 are younger than yours so their clothes are smaller Grin

And I had quite a few dresses and stuff and shoes so felt I had enough. But only because I spent every day in a bikini.

On the way back we scraped in at 19.6kg

So in answer to your question, given age and season and the fact that your dh probably doesn't have some world record to break on packing lightly, I think no. You'll probably need more.. next up is 40kg isn't it.

Original poster
DottyDotsofBloodOnTheFloor · 29/10/2011 16:30

OK - I'm going to do a trial packing run with our current (very old heavy) suitcase to see how near I can get it.... Grin

OP posts:
SecretSquirrels · 29/10/2011 16:39

I thought you meant EACH.
I take 4 suitcases for four of us. DCs are teenagers which actually means they need less because they don't mess stuff up.
You would have to buy a lot of stuff there, toiletries and sun creams weigh a lot but cost 5x the price abroad.

Putrifyno · 30/10/2011 21:54

No! 20kg per adult should do it. I would not even try to get away with less than that.

QuintessentialShadyHallows · 30/10/2011 21:58

It is doable.

We went to Nice for 2 weeks. We have 2 boys, aged 6 and 9.

We had ONE suitcase for all our clothes and toiletries. The boys had a small rucksack for hand luggage each. They were told they only got to pack the toys books, games etc, they could fit in the rucksacks.

I had my handbag, and dh his laptop roller suitcase.

You honestly dont need a lot. Make sure they kids were long trousers, long sleeved t shirt and a hoodie for the journey. Then you should not need anything else warm at all, and can just pack undies and tshirts/shorts.

Putrifyno · 30/10/2011 22:06

One suitcase for 4 of you for 2 WEEKS!

QuintessentialShadyHallows · 30/10/2011 22:07

But be prepared to use a launderette! Not possible unless you are prepared to do some washing...

QuintessentialShadyHallows · 30/10/2011 22:08

I should add, we had also packed NAIS clothes, as were going to a 10th wedding anniversary in London on our return....

Waswondering · 30/10/2011 22:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

tassisssss · 31/10/2011 17:19

We had 3 bags each pretty close to their 20kg limit and 5 pieces of hand luggage.

We did, however, manage to fit 2 mini micro scooters in there.

Family of 5.

(if you're looking to keep costs down do consider whether paying for a second suitcase and putting the car booster seats in it might be cheaper than hiring boosters for your car hire (assuming you're hiring a car). Just a thought as we were RIPPED off last summer when hiring big car seat, booster and back and normal booster cost about £70.)

TabithaTwitchet · 31/10/2011 17:29

I usually only book one 20kg suitcase - we are a family of 4. BUT we also take as much hand luggage as we are allowed (we fly easyjet, and there is no weight limit for hand luggage, just a size limit).

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 31/10/2011 21:11

We've done it before - 2 adults and 2 teenagers for 2 weeks in Greece with 2 bags with a combined weight of 27kg. We each had a carry on bag too and put most of our books in those, as the books were the heaviest things we were taking. The key is to not over-think the shoe situation, I think. One pair to wear on the plane and a pair of flip flops or other light sandals each for packing.

tassisssss · 31/10/2011 23:07

or just add the extra £20 to the cost of the holiday and take as many shoes/games/scooters (we once took 3!) as you like!

golfbravo · 17/11/2011 16:07

Easily done considering you have hand luggage too!

Lizcat · 20/11/2011 18:44

Easy 17kg for the three of us for two weeks. I only used 15kg when I went to the states for 8 weeks it was 19kg on the way back due to the massive text book I bought.

LauryTheLamb · 05/12/2011 15:28

I don't think 20 is enough. You might get it into 40kg. If you go over then they make you pay a lot at the airport.