How many suitcases for family of 4 abroad?

[BobbyO]

Going on our first family holiday abroad for 2 weeks in the sun. There are 4 of us (me, husband, 4yr old and 8yr old). We are allowed 20kg each. Just bought 2 large 28" cases. Will this be enough? Was thinking of getting a medium 26" as well. The two large we have just bought look massive now we've got them home. Would we be better with 3 or even 4 medium 26" instead? Thanks

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Hello, this thread is a little old and some of the recommendations might be out of date. Whether you’re looking for cheap and cheerful family luggage or you’d like to invest in a quality cabin bag, take a look at our round-up of the best suitcases (according to Mumsnetters) for more up-to-date advice. MNHQ.

Doesn't it depend on your travel philosophy?
I don't see the point of travelling light unless you are backpacking and have to carry it. Why skimp and penny pinch on what is an expensive treat by taking so little you have to wash your knickers every night? .

If I am allowed 80k of luggage then that is what I will take.

I take 4 big cases for 4 of us although with teens we are the same as 4 adults.
It's not just clothes it's all the other stuff. I would certainly pack gallons of suncream. It's not only dearer abroad but often you can't get the same type. Water toys, beach tent for tinies, snorkels, lots of books for all of us, electronics and chargers nearly a case full.

I don't take that much, but then I am ex military and prefer travelling light. My SIL on the other hand probably brought 4 x 20 kg last time she came to stay with us. Ridiculous!

take the 80kg of luggage. Sod the aviation fuel - but good luck carrying it all because no other bugger will! 14 pairs of knickers don't weigh that much. I'm big on suncream but you don't need kilos of that either. You should be covered up anyway - rash vests keep the sun off and allow you out of the shade between 11 and 3.

I used to be a holiday rep, always easy to spot the British guests with their tons of luggage. And so many said at the end of the trip that they hadn't used most of what they brought!

ilovepowerhoop Mon 03-Mar-14 09:31:14
oh no, we need all the hand luggage bags for the tablets, kindles, nintendos, etc required for the flight. No way they would all fit in one bag

When DH and I go on holiday for 10 days we usually take 1 laptop, 1 digital SL with extra lens, nintendo DS each, several books (usually including a travel guide or two), 1 other camera...

...we still manage to go hand luggage only so I have NFI why you need so many suitcases for 4 extra days!!!!

Oh, and I wear something different each day and I never wear everything. You only have to lug the stuff you don't use everywhere if you take so much extra stuff, and worry about it walking at the airport.

wait until you are dragging 2 kids and their related crap with you and then you will see why we need extras! TBF they get their own bags to carry so one person doesnt have to carry everything.

You still don't need THAT many suitcases though! Seriously. You make a rod for your own back, having all the suitcases AND the children. You only need so many clothes. THREE suitcases? Thats just you not being strict with yourself as much as the kids.

whats wrong with 3? they are not giant cases. I take toiletries, medicines, suncream, etc as well as clothes/shoes, etc so they take up space.

Why are you picking on me anyway - others on the thread take just as much

it's just bags

for a holiday, a nice thing

not a matter of life and death, or anything to get upset about or start feeling "picked on"

it was my post that was picked out and commented on several times

I know its not life and death, thank very much

looking forward to my holiday in June with my excessive 3 cases and 4 bits of hand luggage

"I think that 2 large cases will be ample."

We tend to take three medium cases between the three of us as it is easy to go over the weight limit with large cases. Not all airlines allow you to "share" your luggage allowance so check with the airline. As we never fly with Ryanair we don't pay per case. We are also used to packing light and the check in staff commented on how light our cases were when we went to Italy last year. (22 kilos between the two of us for a week)

I always take a suitcase per person which they wheel themselves and really light hand luggage as lugging that for hours is the worst/worse bit.

We took 2 suitcases and a holdall for a 10 night stay for 3 of us. I need to feel organised to be able to relax, so take lots of lotions and potions, plenty of clothes and entertainment. We managed the luggage just fine. We flew with jet 2 and had 22kg of allowance each, plus hand luggage, we had loads to spare. Wore all the clothes too. Enjoy op.

I hope you have a lovely time, hoops

If you are flying from Manchester, I will look out for you as the harassed mum with far too much "stuff"

We are going with Jet2 this year. What are they like?

thats funny, we are indeed flying from Manchester so i will look out for you shaking your head in disgust at all the silly people with so many bags they dont know what to do with them

I have flown with jet2 a few times. They are fine.

hoop

I think the most important thing to think about is how you're going to get your luggage to/from the airport. We drive to the airport and couldn't fit four suitcases in the boot or even, due to the rigid shape, three. Instead, for four of us, we take one large suitcase and two wheeled duffle bags. DP can have one of the duffel bags on his bag, trundle the other two & I deal with the DC and hand luggage. For hand luggage, we have a changing rucksack (DC2 isn't two yet), another rucksack with DP & my stuff in and then DC1 has her own mini rucksack. I do like having a large suitcase as then we can bend those cylindrical swimming floats into it, fit a box of Duplo and some board games into it and know they won't get damaged. Like others, we spread our stuff across all of the cases.
How light you can travel depends on how messy your DC are and how dirty you're prepared to look in restaurants! Both DC were still pretty messy last year 3.5yr & 12mths) so would need a clean t shirt at least for pretty much every meal as it was AI so we were always eating "out". I had packed light (6 t shirts per DC) and ended up spending a lot of time hovering around the hotel's washing machine waiting for a chance to use it. And DS still ended up flying home in his PJs having puked all over himself on the journey to the airport.
I'm going on holiday to have a nice time. Why wouldn't I take some extra stuff so the DC are easier to look after & I get to have fresh clothes to wear and so look & feel nice.l

I always want to pack light but just fail miserably. There are 5 of us and we take a buggy and car seats too! At least this year there will be no nappies and swim nappies!
We normally self cater in a villa so do have washing facilities but I seem to take loads, swim suits, day time shorts/vests/beach dresses, dresses for evenings , sandals for during day, wedges and sandals for night plus all the toiletries, accessories ..the list goes on.

This year I am taking the kindle so that will save the 6 books I get through! Determined to take less this year-we hire a car and there is only so many bags you can fit in the boot !

DH is away for five weeks and just took hand luggage. We all travel light these days, there is less washing when we get home and the bags fit in the car at the airport.

I do use hotels with washing facilities or a laundry service just in case, plus I can do some hand washing or buy more clothes if we run out.

RedToothBrush With all due respect, if you don't have kids, you have no bloody idea how much extra crap you may need. It doesn't matter if an adult forgets an extra cardigan, as they're adults. Forget the extra hoodie for a child, and it can be the difference between a good evening out and it ending up in tears. Because cold, tired children cry.

4 year olds are still not necessarily 100% dry at night, particularly while on holiday, so need extra pjs. You need the change of tshirt for when they get ice cream everywhere. And on and on and on.

My 4 are all over 8 now, and I can pack for 2 weeks away with 2 small-medium suitcases and hand luggage for all. I used to take everything but the kitchen sink when they were little.

2 medium suitcases plus 2 pieces of hand luggage (the children share) seems about right to me. I've done it on less though.

I don't pack light, I don't want to wash my knickers on holiday and I don't care what others do - lol

X2 medium suitcases - skiing
X1 medium suitcase - summer
X2 rucksacks only - travelling hand luggage only

Generally I just take my hand bag as hand luggage, and dh takes his shoulder bag with laptop and whatever

That's x2 adults, x2 children (2 and 4).

We generally hire car/ use taxi at either end and you generally fit x2 medium cases max in boot. Personally I would swap large for x2 medium as large are easy to overfill on weight.

I say pack everything onto your bed, then look again and you can usually easily half the amount.
Ie one swim wear each really is enough, they dry in minutes. You really don't need 6 pairs of shoes. Our max is 3, one worn, one flip flops and one smart. Usually just wear smart though and pack flip flops. Cardigans etc, wear one and pack one. On summer hols they will only be worn in eve if ever anyway, 2 is plenty.

Oh and we still pack enough pants or the week without washing! How big are your pants?