A poster has asked me about bringing bars of soap back from Spain in his hand luggage.
I'm not sure as I've never travelled with just hand luggage and all my stuff goes into the suitcase in the hold.
It's a special hand made solid soap and each bar of soap is approx 200/230 grms...... so it's neither a liquid, a paste, cream or an aerosol, and this particular type of soap is rather handy for those who travel light because it can be used as shaving foam and shampoo.
Is soap allowed in hand luggage and if so, is it restricted to one bar only.?

Cheers
Sanji

sanji,

You shouldn't have a problem there as it's not a prohibited item and not classed as a liquid or gel. You can take solid soap onboard the aircraft and you aren't limited to one bar.

Darren

Thanks Darren ...I wasn't 100% sure.

Sanji x

Just a quickie, do gas lighters have to go in hand luggage plz?

ONLY one per person and must go in the hand baggage,

Ok thanks!

Hello Everyone

Can anyone help me with this? Hubby just qualified as OW diver and holiday was booked before he qualified so we don't have extra weight for his diving equip. Does anyone take their regs in their hand luggage? Can you see any problems with him doing this (they weigh 4kgs so not over our hand luggage weight limit)?

Thanks in advance!

Strawberry Whizz,

Always nice to have some fellow divers onboard (Rescue Diver here ). As long as your regulators are packed securely, there's no reason why you can't take them in your hand luggage providing the bag doesn't exceed the airlines size or weight limits. The advantage of having dive qualifications, some airlines offer extra luggage allowance free of charge, for example Thomson Airways 5kg on production of your qualification card at check-in.

Darren

Hi Dazbo

Thanks for your reply. I will let hubby know! Interesting about what you say about extra 5kg as we rang Thomson to ask and they wanted to charge us £50 for the extra 5kg and £45 admin fee. We are aiming to squeeze as much as we can into our 20kgs (each) though as we have seaplane journey too. I am sure it will be do-able if I share some of my space and don't pack too many clothes

Cheers

Strawberry Whizz,

I travel most often with Thomson Airways because of the diving allowance. It used to be 10kg free of charge under First Choice, but it was reduced to 5kg 2 years ago when they re-alligned their luggage allowances under the merger. Not everyone knows about it, especially in resort at check-in so it's worth taking the printout of their sports equipment page on Thomsons website where the diving allowance is clearly stated. I had a 10 minute delay at Luxor in March explaining what the divers allowance was and it's the airline policy as it won't show on your booking. You tend not to have as much of a problem at main diving destinations as they are aware of it. You used to have to pre-book it but as long as you arrive at the airport with your certification card and log book at hand (check-in staff in the UK don't always request it) and tell check-in staff you have the divers allowance, you'll have 5kg extra at no charge. If that means one of your bags will exceed 23kg, it's not a problem, just take a smaller bag with the excess in. That's what I always do and as long as you have your paperwork, you'll be fine. I'll be doing the same in September when I'll be diving the Cozumel and Mayan Reefs
Darren

PS Enjoy the Maldives

Darren, thank you so much for your help with this. We've printed off the info from the Thomson website so that we can argue our point if we need to
My next post, for another thread, will be asking all about where you've been diving........

Hi,

Could anybody tell me is it okay to take an electric shaver/razor in your hand luggage, I will only be taking hand luggage and not hold luggage.

I have usually just put it in my hold luggage but to save on money am only carrying hand luggage this time and wondered if it's okay in hand luggage.

Any help is much appreciated!

I shouldn't think so as it has blades in it.

But to be sure, double check with the airline.

Adam

travel1,

An electric shaver is fine, but anything with an actual blade such as a razor isn't. That's one of the disadvantages of travelling with hand luggage only. You'll be able to purchase things at your destination though.

Darren

How do we stand with taking a can or cans (100ml or more) of Insect Repellent Spray in hand luggage ?

Chris

TFS1,

They'll be confiscated. The regulations for restricted items classes sprays and pressurized containers (aerosols) as liquids. If they are greater than 100ml, they aren't permitted.

Darren

Are there any issues with taking tinned food in hand luggage - I normally take a chunk of my favourite cheese without a problem. I was thinking of Baked beans, Ravioli etc.

I presume it's ok but thought it worth asking the experts !

Chris

ps when you are in Spain for a few months at a time its amazing what you miss !

I think they would be classed as liquid,
Liquids include:

* all drinks, including water, soup and syrups
* cosmetics and toiletries, including creams, lotions, oils, perfumes, mascara and lipsticks
* sprays, including shaving foam, hairspray and spray deodorants
* pastes, including toothpaste
* gels, including hair and shower gel
* contact lens solution
* any other solutions and items of similar consistency

snowyboy,

Thanks for your thoughts.

Given the lack of other comments I guess it's a difficult one to call unless of course you have got it spot on and nobody needs to add anything further !

Regards, Chris