94% of Spaniards plan to travel during these summer holidays, according to a report by the National Observatory of Outbound Tourism (ObservaTUR). To ensure a smooth trip, it is essential to prepare your luggage well and keep it under control at all times. EL PAÍS explores the applications and gadgets more useful for creating personalized packing lists based on the destination and duration of the trip, measuring suitcases with your mobile phone, tracking their location at all times and finding lockers to store them.
Create custom packing lists
The app PackPoint (available for iOS and Android) is used to quickly create a detailed list of everything that needs to be packed. The user indicates whether they are male or female, the destination, the date of the trip, the length of the stay and whether it is for business or pleasure. They also indicate whether they are going to do any activity, such as swimming, going to the beach, hiking, teleworking, taking photos or going to a fancy dinner. They can choose whether they mind repeating basics or whether they will have the option of doing laundry.
The app then makes a list of everything you need for your trip, organized by category and taking into account the weather. While for hiking it recommends taking a bottle of water, cream, insect repellent or a first aid kit – in addition to clothing – for photography lovers it recommends not forgetting the camera, memory cards, batteries, chargers or tripod. The user can mark everything that is packed in the suitcase. While the app also lists the items you need for your trip, it also recommends that you pack a bottle of water, cream, insect repellent or a first aid kit – in addition to clothing. app can be used for free, need to pay to customize the list.
Measure your suitcase with your mobile phone
Airlines usually have fairly strict regulations on carry-on baggage size. Some airlines such as Iberia either EasyJet incorporate a tool to measure suitcases into their own applications. However, the app The one that has worked best in EL PAÍS’s tests is Kayak (available for iOS and Android). In the “search” tab, the user has to click on the “measure your suitcase” option. The application advises to look for a clear place to leave the luggage and scan its top and sides. After taking the dimensions, it indicates which airlines accept the suitcase and which do not. Although this type of apps They are not perfect and require a little practice to properly measure a suitcase, but they can get the user out of a tight spot.
Track the location of the suitcase
The aviation industry boomed in 2023. It reached a record 5.2 billion passengers, “surpassing pre-pandemic levels.” This is indicated by Aviation data company SITA’s annual reportwhich highlights that the number of mishandled bags is 6.9 per 1,000 passengers. In 2023, 77% of mishandled bags were delayed bags. While 18% were damaged and tampered bags, lost bags accounted for 5%.
A small error in sorting or labeling can cause a suitcase to deviate from its route. There are gadgets that can be put in luggage to track its location at all times. Among the most popular trackers are the Tilethe Samsung Galaxy SmartTag or Apple’s AirTags. If a suitcase with one of these devices inside is lost, the user can access a app to try to locate it. In addition to consulting a map with the approximate location, you can make the device emit a sound. While Tile works with all types of devices, Galaxy SmartTags are only compatible with Galaxy devices and AirTags with Galaxy Watch Active 4. iPhone or iPad.
Find affordable and safe lockers
Luggage storage is useful for exploring a city without carrying your suitcases. app LuggageHero (available for iOS and Android) is used to find them. “More than 1,000 locations in more than 150 cities around the world” boast its creators. The lockers are located inside shops, hotels, cafes or other businesses. In the appthe user can enter a location, the day and the number of suitcases. He can also activate some filters such as whether the place is open 24 hours or has Wi-Fi. This way, he can consult a list of places to leave his suitcase, including the time, distance and price. A strong point of this application is that users rate the different luggage storage points.
When doing a search in Paris, the app The site shows several locations where you can leave your luggage for just over a euro per hour and around five euros per day. For example, a locker located one minute from the Pompidou Centre, which has a rating of 4.6 out of five with 293 reviews. “We left our bags while we went to an Olympic event before returning to the UK. The owner was very helpful. I highly recommend it,” commented one user on July 30. Reservations are made from a mobile phone. Upon arrival at the location, the user starts a timer on the counter. app and stops it when you pick up your bags. This way you can be sure that you only pay for the time you have spent. LuggageHero offers a $500 (around €460) guarantee on your luggage, although additional insurance is also available.
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