Airline baggage fees - should I check or carry on?

Southwest airlines has been running a very productive add lately on TV about how they are not charging baggage fees to check luggage. However, since Southwest does not fly everywhere we want to travel, at some point will be faced with either paying the baggage checking fee or carrying on our luggage.

Someone asked me the other day in preparation for a trip what she should do. And after going over the usuals - are you bringing hiking poles, do you want to bring a pocket knife, can you fit all your clothes in a small enough bag - I realized there is one more thing involved. While the fees are certainly annoying, sometimes whether to carry-on or check-thorugh your luggage is not always about the money. Which is the bigger inconvenience to you?

Is buying trial-sized portions of everything or repacking what you have at home a big deal or expense? Will it be enough for a week? This was a tropical destination, so sunscreen was the biggest concern for quantity. Do you have time to stop and get sunscreen when you arrive and what will the cost difference be between buying it at your local superstore or getting it in beach town ? Are you someone who can live with fewer clothing changes and enjoys packing very efficiently? Are you making connections in other airports and are you ok with taking your luggage everywhere you go? Or would you worry more about whether your bag will get lost?

Personally, I do not like schlepping my luggage all around airports and through security and trying to find overhead space for it. And, so far, the fees have not been so exorbitant to make that outweigh paying for someone else to take care of my bag. I also don't get extremely stressed out about whether my luggage will make it. I assume more times than not it will all work out. Some may find they'd rather keep their luggage with them for sense of security and find the fees more distasteful than the other aspects taking check-on luggage adds.

So, next time you pack for a trip and run through the list of whether you could/should carry-on or check-through, also remember to do a self check-in to remember what type of travel personality you have. Because for some of us, the money is not the more limiting factor. Deb