I’ve learnt my lesson and pack less to take with me on holidays to leave space for more items on return. When needed I buy an extra suitcase and pay a fee for extra luggage when I think it’s worth it

I was thinking mail back some of the lighter bulkier items.

All I can suggest is buyng another suitcases and be prepared for the extra fees at the airport or by sending the items home through the mail.

My daughter and her friend was upset she got charged for extras coming back from a holiday and airline said it was because her hand luggage was big and extra stuff etc. So be careful with that as they are checking handbags now so look at their restrictions on their policy guide . Everyone is becoming sneaky !

yeah these are great tips. travel sized things are great

I roll my clothes up inside each other to conserve space. I also get rid of bathroom bottles and throw away razors. Put chunky objects like shoes in hand luggage if you’ve got the room. You could also look at posting stuff back to your house if it’s excessive and you can’t leave anything behind.

I always take a larger suitcase than I need for the outgoing trip. Even if it’s only half full I still take it. That way I have heaps of room for anything I buy along the way.

They seem to have changes policies and now weigh large hand luggage, so sneaky now . Maybe next time don’t pack too much and even have an empty suitcase , that way when they are full coming back , there wont be any excess. It is just so tempting to love getting souveniors when holidaying especially if overseas .

Beware, I know a lass who ended up with excess weight she put the water in the baby’s bottles instead of just the baby formula and they were included in the weight of her hand luggage. Had she had a large handbag and squeezed them into that she may have been OK. For those travelling in future try to have your case underweight when you leave here. If you have to have special shampoos, take only the amount you think you will use. I did that recently had only one use left in it – I was travelling locally by car so it didn’t matter. I would send old clothes etc home. Don’t take all new ones. However if they are too new you make have a dispute with customs if you get somebody too fussy. It happened to a lady I worked with. She wished she had sent them home slightly dirty. That would have proved they had been worn and not as new as Customs tried to claim. She had been to a country where 2 seasons overlapped from hot on 3 day stopovers to cold at their destination. She sent her summer clothes home.

Great tips, as we are going for a holiday this year and was also wondering the same thing!

Don’t fold your cloths lay them flat in your suitcase. Leave behind shampoo bottles etc. If you have access to vacuum bags they would also be a good help.

Vaccume bags for clothes (or even the ones that you can roll to get the air out), pack things inside other things, so if there are containers or boxes with gaps, fill those with things that will fit. If you have room in your carry on, put some in there as well to avoid the excess weigh charge.

look for some videos on youtube for folding tricks etc. i have seen one where the suitcase was overflowing and after packing tricks, they had heaps of room.

I have always been lucky travelling with a baby as the airlines were good at letting me take extra. But pack a few heavy things in hand luggage and wear heavy shoes and coats dont pack them!

You could mail some things back to yourself (though probably not the things you care most about). Consider leaving stuff like toiletries behind, unless they’re really expensive. Minimise packaging; if the presents for your baby are still in their packaging, take them out.

I agree with posting items back home as it can be considerably cheaper if posted at economy rates. As silly as it sounds, I saw a program where people wore some of the excess items of clothing onto the plane! Then they took them off and used them as pillows and blankets during the flight!

It is a good idea to do that even within Australia. However the cost of postage has just increased considerably. A friend with a young baby came home for Christmas. I asked her in advance when she needed/would like for her baby. She asked me not to be offended, that she would prefer gift cards and buy was needed after she went home to save weight. I did however come to an arrangement and buy her a couple of outfits I knew she would definitely need whilst here. It saved her having to face the heat as we had several days close to or 40c

I wasn’t aware you already had full suitcases till reading your post.
If I were you, I would be posting as much as I could back to hour home address as you will find that postage won’t cost as much as excess baggage.
When we travel, we always have our bags half full or take some clothes that we don’t necessarily want to bring home again, so we can lighten our luggage before getting the extra gifts and clothing overseas.
Hope this helps you.