An incident three years ago changed the way Diane Schwenke travels.

After her flight from Denver was canceled, Schwenke, Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce president, tried to retrieve her suitcase with all her personal items inside but was told she couldn’t have it because she had checked the suitcase at the ticket counter before her flight.

“Never again,” said Schwenke, who travels 12 times a year on business and pleasure.

“I am the packing queen,” she joked.

Schwenke is not the only Grand Junction woman sacrificing the space inside a checked bag.

Kayla Arnesen, Rocky Mountain Health Plans’ director of marketing and communications, and Heather Benjamin, spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department, fly with a carry-on bag only whenever possible.

“Mostly, it was a huge incentive to carry on when airlines started charging for checked luggage,” said Benjamin, who traveled to Las Vegas on May 28 with a friend.

With the clothes she is taking spread across her bed at home, Diane Schwenke packs for a trip to Portland. Photo by Gretel Daugherty.

Last year, the U.S. airlines industry reaped $1.15 billion from the baggage fees, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The first fees were instituted in February 2008. Many domestic carriers, including United, Delta and Frontier, charge at least $15 to check one bag per flight.

The maximum size of a carry-on bag for most airlines is 45 linear inches, which is the total height, width and depth of the bag, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Although a carry-on bag is smaller, in some cases significantly, than a checked suitcase, the trio of local women said airlines passengers, especially women, can pack everything they need for one week or less in one carry-on suitcase.

The first rule, they said, is sacrifice. There isn’t space in a carry-on bag to pack five pairs of shoes, a multitude of accessories and 10 outfits.

“It’s a process,” Benjamin said. “If you don’t plan, you end up overpacking things you don’t end up wearing, and that’s fine if you want to wait for your bags and pay the fees.”

Instead of taking brown shoes, black shoes, tennis shoes, flip flops and more pairs of shoes, travelers must limit themselves to two or three pairs of shoes, including the pair worn onto the plane, the women said.

Doing that was difficult at first because “I’m a shoe person,” Benjamin said.

Schwenke wears her tennis shoes onto the plane because they take up the most room in a suitcase. When she travels for business, she wears professional clothes but tennis shoes on her feet.

“I could go right into a meeting, and the only embarrassing thing about the way I look will be my shoes,” Schwenke said.

But she is able to change her shoes immediately after the flight lands because her suitcase is right there.

Arnesen, who travels monthly for business, packs two pairs of shoes at the most. Then she packs outfits to match the shoes. On some trips, she takes navy and white clothes. On other trips, she wears black and white.

“Pack similar colors to mix and match,” Arnesen said. “Then, jewelry always works and shoes always work, and you have options.”

White tops go with any pant or skirt color. Black pants and skirts go with nearly every top color. From there, outfits can be made more professional or casual depending on the need, Arnesen said.

“Have a neutral color and build off it,” said Schwenke, who typically gets four or five outfits into her carry-on suitcase. “Layer. Wear the bulky stuff on the plane.”

In addition to clothes, toiletries also need to be packed, and airport security measures make packing carry-on toiletries more difficult, the women said.

All toiletries must fit in a single quart-size transparent plastic bag. All non-flammable liquids and gels must be in containers measuring 3 ounces or less.

Each woman had a different way of dealing with toiletries.

Arnesen keeps her travel-size toiletries packed and ready to go all the time.

Schwenke and Benjamin put their plastic bag of toiletries in a carry-on side pocket to make it easier to access in security lines.

“I use hotel products,” Schwenke said. By using free hotel products, she doesn’t pack shampoo, conditioner or lotions.

But “I am fussy about soap, so I buy little sample sizes,” she said.

Arnesen purchases travel-size toiletries for about $1 from Target or Wal-Mart.

Benjamin has sensitive skin, so she can’t use just any brand of face wash, lotion or sunscreen. She always packs those. For other toiletries, she waits until she arrives at her destination and purchases them.

“You can get free stuff at the hotel or hit a drugstore once you get there,” she said.

Arnesen and Schwenke even save enough room to pack what they would call “luxury items.”

Schwenke takes her curling iron. Arnesen always packs a blow dryer because hotel ones rarely meet her standards.

“I can’t have bad hair days,” Arnesen said.

Thinking and planning what to pack may seem like a headache, but it’s worth it in the long run, the women agreed.

“I like to do weekend trips,” Benjamin said. “I don’t want to waste time waiting for baggage.”

Helpful travel sites

Guide to airline fees:
http://i.slimg.com/sc/sl/graphic/u/ul/ultimate-guide-to-airline-fees.pdf

Federal Aviation Administration guidelines and tips:
www.faa.gov/passengers/prepare_fly/baggage/

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) prohibited items list link:
www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm

Email MELINDA MAWDSLEY