carry-on garment bag for suit ?

[KatieJune]

okay, so I've heard to carry-on your suit so as to not lose it - but how do people carry them on? Any decent garment bag (even the ones without wheels) are larger than the size restriction allowed by most airlines for carry-ons (most airlines say 45 inches max - most garment bags are 50)

How have other people dealt with this in their interview travels?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Colba55o]

Any decent garment bag (even the ones without wheels) are larger than the size restriction allowed by most airlines for carry-ons (most airlines say 45 inches max - most garment bags are 50)

Well at the risk of being indecent 😀 I have good one from Target with no wheels that folds and fits in an overhead easily. Its is soft and has a shoulder strap.

What annoys me is that I can't always fit all my clothes into it and now that airlines are charging for luggage, I'm forced to check a small (what would have been carry-on bag) unless i want to put the stuff in my bookbag.

 

[DonStracci]

I always end up checking a bag because of the liquid cosmetic things I use. I have to admit, I do sometimes put my suit in the checked bag, with the understanding that I might end up finding an H & M or something when it's lost and purchasing another suit.

 

[Still Kickin]

Wow, how timely. I have just spent the day looking at garment bags. There were a whole bunch of them that claimed to be "carryons" and I thought looked more like the size of a standard suitcase. And they look kind of "space inefficient" - like a big giant package with not much contents inside.

I'd love to get one of these:
http://www.skyroll.com/
but they're pretty darn expensive. They sell them at the Men's Wearhouse. They didn't have the rolling one in stock (they said it costs $199), but they had the small one ($99). It's the only garment bag I've looked at so far that I thought had a sensible design. But it was still a little on the small side. (And the strap length was kind of awkward for me, I could see it falling off of my shoulder non-stop...) But if it had been like $50 I would have bought it.

I guess part of my issue is I'm going on a 4-week trip so would like to be able to pack as much into my luggage as possible.

(I did look at the "little" ones at Target, too, but thought I wouldn't fit a whole lot into them & wasn't sure if I'd be able to fit everything else I want to take into a single checked suitcase.) (NO WAY am I paying to check *2* suitcases!)

(Question about the Target one: Does it hurt your shoulder to carry it when it's full?)

 

[rmm262002]

I borrow my dad's Travelpro carry on that has a compartment within for folding a suit. It's great -- the same brand that flight crews use. I sound like an ad, but it's really good. This seems to be a newer version of it: http://www.ebags.com/travelpro/flig...oseout/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=69195
Somewhat pricey, but knowing my dad, there's probably a way to find something like it for less money.

 

[Samoa]

eBags is a great place to buy luggage, just in general. I got a soft carry-on garment bag for about $25. Holds my suit and an outfit for the dinner. I wish it had a shoulder strap, but otherwise I've been very happy with it.

I also got some lightweight hard-sided luggage for about $60, that I love. Like others have mentioned, I take along lots of girly stuff that necessitates checking at least one bag. Plus a purse for the dinner, a professional looking messenger bag for the interview. Extra shoes, workout gear. Super warm coat. And the suitcase is big enough to pack the garment bag for the flight home.

The carry-on garment bag is probably unnecessary. The only time I've ever lost my luggage was when I scheduled a connecting flight with less than 30 minutes layover. At O'Hare. Which was dumb.

 

[KatieJune]

thanks for all the good responses!

Can you usually just put a garment bag in the closet at the front of the plane....or do you have to put it in the overhead?

 

[capitalfloog]

Wow, how timely. I have just spent the day looking at garment bags. There were a whole bunch of them that claimed to be "carryons" and I thought looked more like the size of a standard suitcase. And they look kind of "space inefficient" - like a big giant package with not much contents inside.

I'd love to get one of these:
http://www.skyroll.com/
but they're pretty darn expensive. They sell them at the Men's Wearhouse. They didn't have the rolling one in stock (they said it costs $199), but they had the small one ($99). It's the only garment bag I've looked at so far that I thought had a sensible design. But it was still a little on the small side. (And the strap length was kind of awkward for me, I could see it falling off of my shoulder non-stop...) But if it had been like $50 I would have bought it.

I guess part of my issue is I'm going on a 4-week trip so would like to be able to pack as much into my luggage as possible.

(I did look at the "little" ones at Target, too, but thought I wouldn't fit a whole lot into them & wasn't sure if I'd be able to fit everything else I want to take into a single checked suitcase.) (NO WAY am I paying to check *2* suitcases!)

(Question about the Target one: Does it hurt your shoulder to carry it when it's full?)

I have a Skyroll (the non-rolling version) and used it for all my interviews. Works perfectly, and I was able to pack everything I had in it - including my dress shoes.

 

[peerie]

I used a simple thin plastic suit bag that came with one of my old suits. It was just enough for the suit and dinner before clothing and I could fold it over. It was very low tech and about 30 cents worth of plastic but it worked just fine.

I also had a small duffle that I could use for the other things; sometimes I checked it and other times I could put it overhead and the suit bag under the seat. I got around the two bag limit for carryons by stuffing my interview bag/handbag into the duffle just before I got on. 🙂

 

[Still Kickin]

That TravelPro bag looks really beautiful.

I know I have very particular tastes, but after running around all day looking at garment bags and now spending a couple hours on the web in my continued quest, I thought I'd at least share some links in case I could save someone else wasting this same amount of time. (And like I said, I have particular tastes, so if you're like "What?" when you look at these, they're probably just not your thing. But if they are your thing, I hope I'll have helped.)

"Category One"
Suit-Packing Items that then get placed inside your Suitcase (or roll-aboard mini suitcase):
Eagle Creek "Pack-It" Garment Sleeve
(I already have Eagle Creek Packing Folders and Packing Cubes. I should have known they would also have a packing solution for SUITS...)
E-bags Professional Series Garment Sleeve
Wally Bags 19" Garment Packer
Wally Bags 22" Garment Packer

"Category Two" - Tri-fold Garment Bags
Like the traditional "fold-the-suit-in-half" garment bags, but they fold it into 3 sections so fold up into a smaller overall "package"
Armor Gear Hang-A-Roo Garment Bag
Pathfinder Revolution Tri-Fold Bag
Eagle Creek Velocity Tri-Fold Bag

"Category Three" - "Roll-up" Bags - Akin to the "SkyRoll" I posted earlier. Some roll up into a duffel bag.
Traveler's Choice 2-in-1 Garment Duffel
Travelon 3-in-1 Garment Bag
Australian Bag Outfitters Roll-Up Garment Bag

Now let's just hope I can find a place to buy one of these locally in the next 2 days! (Don't have time to wait for delivery so internet sales option is not going to work for me.)

Good luck everyone.

EDIT - Adding a "Category Four" - VERTICALLY oriented roll-aboard Garment Bag
Traveler's Choice Vertical Carry-On Garment Bag

 

[drbetty]

I have a Skyroll (the non-rolling version) and used it for all my interviews. Works perfectly, and I was able to pack everything I had in it - including my dress shoes.

I'm also a big fan of skyroll, and have used it for 2 wk-trips (just kept rewearing and washing clothes). I was initially hesitant because of the $200 cost but considered it worthwhile because it is easy to carry-on and would cost less compared to the cost of multiple luggage check-ins. I think the suitcase comes with a lifetime warranty, too.

A tip for maximizing use of outfits for ladies: bring a cardigan that can go with many tops (which don't take up much room) to maximize # of outfit combinations!

 

[Still Kickin]

I'm also a big fan of skyroll, and have used it for 2 wk-trips (just kept rewearing and washing clothes). I was initially hesitant because of the $200 cost but considered it worthwhile because it is easy to carry-on and would cost less compared to the cost of multiple luggage check-ins. I think the suitcase comes with a lifetime warranty, too.

You have the one with wheels? And thanks for providing your "financial reasoning", makes me feel a lot better about whatever I'm going to end up spending later today...

A tip for maximizing use of outfits for ladies: bring a cardigan that can go with many tops (which don't take up much room) to maximize # of outfit combinations!

Great tip, thanks!

 

[CaMD]

thanks for all the good responses!

Can you usually just put a garment bag in the closet at the front of the plane....or do you have to put it in the overhead?

Depends on the airline. Virgin, though otherwise awesome, doesn't have a closet. Northwest is just *rude* and despite having an empty closet in front told me that I was not allowed to use it, unless I was traveling 1st class. (After many flights this month I vote NWA the airline that goes most out of it's way to make me feel like cattle.)

 

[Ashers]

I've found that keeping my suit in a plastic garment bag (eg. from a dry cleaners) or one that comes from a store and in my roll-aboard is fine, as long as I remember to take it out and hang it up as soon as I get to my hotel or wherever I'm staying.

This thread just reminded me to take my suit out of the roll-aboard where it's not been for 3 days, and it's slightly wrinkled. It's been fine for up to 2 days before.

I used this technique for velvet and satin clothes before, and it seems to work well.

 

[SaintFrances]

I have now just finished flying to 8 interviews. I was originally stressing about the suit thing and researched all the different options. The simplest and cheapest, yet still very effective thing to do is to simply fold your suit and pack it in any standard roll-aboard type luggage. As soon as you arrive at the hotel just steam up the bathroom with the shower for about 10 minutes with your suit hanging up in the steam. Any decent suit will pop right back in to shape almost immediately. Mine is a low-end suit from Jos A Banks and my suitcase is a 15 year old cheap roll aboard from JC Penny's. For each of my 8 interviews I used the above technique and my suit looked just as good as if had been dry cleaned and pressed. Also it doesn't matter how you fold your suit. I have tried both carefully folding to avoid wrinkles as well as just throwing it in there any old way. Either way - the suit pops right back in to shape. Trust me and stop stressing over this issue. Don't carry a garment bag as it is bulky and many times there is no place to hang it on the plane - so it just gets stuffed in the overhead or under the seat anyway. A cheap rollaboard and and a steamy shower is all you need.

 

[SaintFrances]

Depends on the airline. Virgin, though otherwise awesome, doesn't have a closet. Northwest is just *rude* and despite having an empty closet in front told me that I was not allowed to use it, unless I was traveling 1st class. (After many flights this month I vote NWA the airline that goes most out of it's way to make me feel like cattle.)

True dat! At least they still have free drinks though. I was on a near-empty plane from NWA last week and they refused to allow anyone to change seats. Gimme a break - who cares! I was on this regional jet from NWA and there was a serious icy cold draft coming up from the floor boards. I told the stewardess about it and she threw me a towel to "plug up the hole." Why is there a hole anyway?

 

[Still Kickin]

Hi all. Well, I doubt anyone cares but I decided to go with the Eagle Creek Pack-It Garment Sleeve. (After all my running around town & web searching I'm just glad to finally have found SOMETHING & wanted to share my "achievement" with someone else!) If anyone is interested in the Eagle Creek thing, you can go to the Eagle Creek website and there's a function to find local retailers, which pointed me to several nearby shops. (Then you can call ahead to see if they specifically carry the Pack-It Garment Sleeve.)

I was originally stressing about the suit thing and researched all the different options.

St. Frances - based on your experience, I can see I did total overkill on researching this thing, then. So typical of me - I spend all this time debating something and at the end it turns out it really didn't matter one way or the other after all!

OK, even though it's off-topic, I just had to do my own whining about the last time I flew Northwest, about 10 years ago, flew to England. (I have avoided them since.)
(1)On the way over we were in the back row. So we'd just gotten our meal when they came around to pick up everyone else's meal trash. We then spent like the next couple hours with our tray tables down & the meal trash on them before we finally pressed the "call attendant" button to get the trash removed...
ON THE WAY HOME:
(2)The plane I was on had no individual vents to adjust the "AC". The whole plane went through cycles of ridiculous heat and then being very cold.
(3)The fuse that controlled all of the reading lights in my section of the plane kept blowing, so I couldn't read. (The first time it took them forever to figure out what the problem was.) Then it blew several more times & I had to "call attendant" to bring it to someone's attention. (Most of the people on the plane were asleep so I guess no one else really noticed or cared.) And since it seemed like I was the only person who cared if I had a reading light, I felt bad to keep bugging them about it - I think I finally gave up & sat in the dark.
(4)An automated annoucement came on that said something like "Attention Ladies and Gentlemen, there is smoke in the cabin. Please remain calm and return to your seats. If you see any flames, please extinguish them." This was followed by someone getting on the microphone and telling us that there was NO smoke or fire, and an "electrical short" had somehow caused the announcement to erroneously play. (That was the final straw for me!)

 

[Winged Scapula]

Off topic of course, but on the NWA topic:

- I spent nearly 7 hours sitting on a tarmac. They had no food on the plane, would not give us any drinks. Nor would they let us off the plane to hang out in the airport until they got permission to fly.

- One guy was flying from Baltimore to Chicago for a meeting. He missed the meeting because of the delay and lived in Baltimore. They still wouldn't let him off the plane to go home, citing some "security" issues and he ended up having to fly to Chicago and turn around and come right back home (ie, it was a one day meeting that he missed).

Shortly after that the airlines began making changes so that passengers no long stayed on the plane for more than 3 hours and without food/drink. I like to think that my lengthy letter to NWA was part of that change.😡

 

[John Deere Gree]

I have now just finished flying to 8 interviews. I was originally stressing about the suit thing and researched all the different options. The simplest and cheapest, yet still very effective thing to do is to simply fold your suit and pack it in any standard roll-aboard type luggage. As soon as you arrive at the hotel just steam up the bathroom with the shower for about 10 minutes with your suit hanging up in the steam. Any decent suit will pop right back in to shape almost immediately. Mine is a low-end suit from Jos A Banks and my suitcase is a 15 year old cheap roll aboard from JC Penny's. For each of my 8 interviews I used the above technique and my suit looked just as good as if had been dry cleaned and pressed. Also it doesn't matter how you fold your suit. I have tried both carefully folding to avoid wrinkles as well as just throwing it in there any old way. Either way - the suit pops right back in to shape. Trust me and stop stressing over this issue. Don't carry a garment bag as it is bulky and many times there is no place to hang it on the plane - so it just gets stuffed in the overhead or under the seat anyway. A cheap rollaboard and and a steamy shower is all you need.

That's what I do.

I got a cheap ($24 cheap) American Tourister Carry-On rolling Suitcase. For the interviews I flew to, I just folded my suit on top of all my other belongings, and took it out as soon as I made it to the hotel. I left the suit in the plastic dry cleaning bag since it helps reduce wrinkles, and I never had to iron it, since I'm lucky and have a suit that doesn't wrinkle.

I had done the carrying garment bag for my med school interviews and hated every minute of walking through the airport with it.

As far as people complaining about airlines...name a (Domestic) airline and I can give you bad story about them.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

- One guy was flying from Baltimore to Chicago for a meeting. He missed the meeting because of the delay and lived in Baltimore. They still wouldn't let him off the plane to go home, citing some "security" issues and he ended up having to fly to Chicago and turn around and come right back home (ie, it was a one day meeting that he missed).

You should have told him to complain of crushing substernal chest pain. That would have gotten him off the plane right quick.

 

[Winged Scapula]

You should have told him to complain of crushing substernal chest pain. That would have gotten him off the plane right quick.

Oohh...and I could have pretended I was a real doctor and needed to escort him to the hospital! 😀

 

[DrVanNostran]

Bump, any new recommendations on carry on garment bags?

 

[adagio]

Great thread!!

I was wondering if its allowed to simply place the suit on a wooden hanger, put the thing in the garment cover (not the nylon, but the fabric one where you can fold it in half) and then simply carrying it on the plane ... is it allowed guys?!

 

[adagio]

I am concerned that with this new airline regulations, they might not let me get my suit on the place if i am carrying it.

 

[wannabeOBGYN]

My friend just bought a nice coat and carried it on the plane in one of those garment bags you get at nice stores and had no trouble. He just waited till the overhead compartments were almost full and then laid the garment bag on top of everything else so it wouldn't get crammed between suitcases and filled with wrinkles. I would think carrying on a suit in a similar garment bag should be fine. I did that for all my med school interviews and never had an issue. Like some of the older posts said, as long as you hang everything up in your hotel or wherever you're staying as soon as you get there, you should not have a problem.

 

[adagio]

Hi WBO, good luck on your ObGyn match!!

With the current trend of (no-mercy) when it comes to flights (its totally understandable with all the terrorism sick stuff in the world) i didnt want to jeopardize my flights.

Thanks for clearing the matter up. I am glad to know that we could take the suit in its garment bag on a hanger on the plane.

 

[nitemagi]

Wow, how timely. I have just spent the day looking at garment bags. There were a whole bunch of them that claimed to be "carryons" and I thought looked more like the size of a standard suitcase. And they look kind of "space inefficient" - like a big giant package with not much contents inside.

I'd love to get one of these:
http://www.skyroll.com/
but they're pretty darn expensive. They sell them at the Men's Wearhouse. They didn't have the rolling one in stock (they said it costs $199), but they had the small one ($99). It's the only garment bag I've looked at so far that I thought had a sensible design. But it was still a little on the small side. (And the strap length was kind of awkward for me, I could see it falling off of my shoulder non-stop...) But if it had been like $50 I would have bought it.

I used a skyroll for all my residency trips, with the exception of a full coastal swing. Works well, but only for 2-3 day trips.

 

[LMarie_MD2b]

As a female, I was interested in a SkyRoll, but concerned about capacity for toiletries and other 'essentials', especially for trips when I'm gone all week long. I just got bought the SkyRoll on wheels, and am really happy with it--I think it will be great for longer trips while still keeping my suits pauci-wrinkled. I should be able to fit both of my suits and all undershirts in the garment bag, leaving room for everything else in the suitcase compartments.

Also: Men's Wearhouse is having a Buy-One-Get-One event on accessories, including these bags. So if you know someone who could use a great piece of luggage, you could get a $250 bag for free! (I did--now my husband has a good business travel bag, too.)

 

[nitemagi]

Thinking longitudinally, I highly recommend eagle creek products such as the hovercraft and tarmac:
http://www.eaglecreek.com/bags_luggage/lightweight_carry-on/Tarmac-22-20286/
http://www.eaglecreek.com/bags_luggage/lightweight_carry-on/Hovercraft-Upright-22-20236/

A little pricy($250), but very well built, with great compartments, and guaranteed for life no matter what. Even if the airline F***'s it up, they'll still replace it.

And always remember you can deduct expenses for interviews from your taxes.

 

[Buzz Me]

I always packed my suit in my carry-on (rollaboard). Turn the jacket inside out and fold it around other clothes (also fold the pants around other clothes) to prevent wrinkling. When you arrive at the hotel, hang them up in the bathroom when you take a shower to help steam them.

 

[wannabeOBGYN]

Hi WBO, good luck on your ObGyn match!!

With the current trend of (no-mercy) when it comes to flights (its totally understandable with all the terrorism sick stuff in the world) i didnt want to jeopardize my flights.

Thanks for clearing the matter up. I am glad to know that we could take the suit in its garment bag on a hanger on the plane.

Thanks! 🙂 Good luck to you as well.

 

[wannabeOBGYN]

I always packed my suit in my carry-on (rollaboard). Turn the jacket inside out and fold it around other clothes (also fold the pants around other clothes) to prevent wrinkling. When you arrive at the hotel, hang them up in the bathroom when you take a shower to help steam them.

Why turn the jacket inside out? I've never heard that before.

 

[2012mdc]

My friend just bought a nice coat and carried it on the plane in one of those garment bags you get at nice stores and had no trouble. He just waited till the overhead compartments were almost full and then laid the garment bag on top of everything else so it wouldn't get crammed between suitcases and filled with wrinkles. I would think carrying on a suit in a similar garment bag should be fine. I did that for all my med school interviews and never had an issue. Like some of the older posts said, as long as you hang everything up in your hotel or wherever you're staying as soon as you get there, you should not have a problem.

Yeah I think I'm going to go this route. A nice garment bag that will handle 1 or 2 suits and a few shirts and a decent sized backpack to carry undergarments, toiletries, and my dress shoes

 

[pixella]

When I traveled to med school interviews 5 years ago, I had my suit in the plastic dry-cleaning bag and hung it in the little closet on the airplane. On only 1 flight did they make me keep it with me (held it in my lap). Does anyone know if that's still likely to be viable these days?

Thanks!

 

[adagio]

It depends on the flight to tell you the truth. I was able to hang my clothes using Porter Airlines, but not southwest or United!!! I would recommend that you buy this (I purchased it and i am happy with it, and it will help you a lot ..make sure your suit in a nylon bag first, then put it in this bag, and you are set to hit the road ... Best of luck

http://www.amazon.com/Olympia-Delux...JBPC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319061275&sr=8-1

 

[pixella]

Hmm. Thanks, but I'm only flying once, and will be driving to all the other interviews. That garment bag is cheap but I'd still rather not spend anything. I guess I'll just fold it around other clothes like other people mentioned, in my carry-on, and hope it doesn't wrinkle.

 

[adagio]

Well, you are going to travel again for conferences hopefully when you get into your residency 🙂

If you dont want to buy anything, get a good garment bag (usually good suits come with one) and fold it in half, and hang it in front of you (either on the food tray, or down where they put magazines and stuff), I did that, and had no problem with it.

Good luck

 

[pixella]

Very true, however as a resident I will have income! (I know, not very much, but still, a little bit > 0). Thanks for the suggestions 🙂

 

[adagio]

you are more than welcome
you will do well.

 

[turkeyjerky]

For my first interview this week, I just folded my suit in half in my suitcase; then I hung it in the bathroom for a few minutes after I got in. Worked out fine, w/ maybe 1 or 2 tiny wrinkles in the back.

 

[LifeLeaf]

look up traveler's choice luggage with garment bag on Amazon.

Its a carry-on with a garment bag built into the top compartment which is really convenient. It is even expandable size with a zipper to make it into a check-in if you need to carry a lot. If you put ur suit into those plastic bags from cleaners and then put it in there you will avoid almost all wrinkles

 

[adagio]

Good suggestions. Good luck on your trips

 

[DrBowtie]

look up traveler's choice luggage with garment bag on Amazon.

Its a carry-on with a garment bag built into the top compartment which is really convenient. It is even expandable size with a zipper to make it into a check-in if you need to carry a lot. If you put ur suit into those plastic bags from cleaners and then put it in there you will avoid almost all wrinkles

I have this bag. It works well although it doesn't fit in the overhead compartment perpendicular to the plane, only parallel.