Are you planning to travel and might be picking up a few things along the way? Do you want to know if hotels have luggage scales to help you keep your luggage within airline limits? You’ve come to the right place, for we've researched the answer to this question.
Not all hotels and motels have luggage scales, but most do. Hotels that are popular with travelers have a higher chance of having luggage scales.
Let’s talk more about how to find out if your hotel has a luggage scale that you can use in the succeeding sections. You'll also learn about the different techniques to weigh your luggage when there is no luggage scale available.
Read on!
What is a luggage scale?
A luggage scale is often a portable scale that you can use to weigh your luggage more conveniently. Modern luggage scales are typically digital, although you can still find analog scales.
Luggage scales in airports and hotels commonly have large flat bases to accommodate different suitcase sizes or several suitcases at the same time.
Portable luggage scales, on the other hand, can fit inside your palm. These small scales are also mostly digital although a few are analog.
Portable luggage scales are designed to be supported vertically. You need to hook or strap your suitcase on the bottom end of the scale and then wait for it to display the weight.
Once you lift the scale and your suitcase above the floor, you will get a weight reading.
Why luggage scales are important to travelers?
Having luggage scales available at any time allows travelers to know how much they are carrying before they leave for the airport. This prevents unpleasant surprises at the airport when luggage is weighed.
You can prevent unnecessary fees if you weigh your luggage and distribute the weight better before you go to the airport.
You can always do this at the airport if your suitcase is over the weight limit. However, you will waste your time at the airport moving items from one bag to another. You will also be wasting the time of other passengers in the line.
Having a luggage scale handy will help you to plan what you will bring with you. You can pack your things better as you focus on the weight of what you’re putting into your suitcase. Better luggage planning leads to stress-free travel and peace of mind.
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How to find out if a hotel has scales?
Not all hotels have luggage scales that travelers can use. You can check the website of the hotel for information on whether they have scales for travelers. You can even call them to inquire about this information.
You can then decide whether to book a room at that hotel or not after you find out whether they have luggage scales or not.
If a hotel does not have luggage scales, find out if they have bathroom scales.
Can I weigh my luggage on a regular scale?
There are two ways to weigh your luggage for your trip.
- The first way is to use a handheld luggage scale. This is the simplest and easiest way for you to weigh your luggage.
- The second method is using the bathroom scale.
In case you’re wondering, yes, a bathroom scale works the same way as a luggage scale. However, it is less convenient to weigh your luggage on a bathroom scale because you’d have to carry your suitcases to the bathroom to weigh them.
Moreover, using a bathroom scale to weigh your luggage can be challenging because the platform of a bathroom scale is often barely big enough for your two feet. Unfortunately, the base of suitcases is almost always wider than this.
The bigger the capacity of a suitcase, the wider the base. If your suitcase doesn’t fit on the platform of your weighing scale, carry the suitcase while weighing.
You can use a digital scale to weigh your luggage by taking your weight first and then setting the bathroom scale’s base to zero. Carry your luggage, then take the weight reading from the scale. This is the weight of your luggage.
If you’re using an analog bathroom scale, take the total weight of you and your baggage. Next, take your weight alone. Subtract your weight from the first weight, and you get the total weight of your baggage.
How to weigh your luggage without a scale?
If your home doesn’t have any weighing scale that you can use to get the total weight of your suitcase, you can use the following techniques to weigh your luggage before you travel to the airport.
The Gym
You’re not going to the gym to give your sweat glands a workout. However, since most gyms have a weighing scale to help people monitor their weights, you can use the same scale to weigh your luggage.
This technique is useful for weighing carry-on luggage. However, if you have heavier luggage that you plan to check in, it might not be feasible to carry it to the gym to weigh it.
You can call your local gym ahead of time and ask if you can use their scales for your luggage.
The Supermarket
Many supermarkets have scales near the entrance. You can park near the entrance of a supermarket with a scale, then bring your luggage inside to weigh them. Use the technique for weighing luggage with a bathroom scale if the platform is not big enough for your luggage.
Post Office
If there is a nearby post office, you can bring your luggage there and use one of their scales to get the weight of your luggage. Most post offices have scales that customers can use to know the weight of the package that they are planning to send.
You can use the same scale to weigh your luggage. Ask around where the weighing scale is if you can’t locate it yourself.
Phone App
This is perhaps the coolest solution to weighing your baggage without the use of a weighing scale.
There are phone apps that will turn your phone into a weighing scale. A downside of this method is that your phone must have an accelerometer for the apps to work.
An accelerometer is a sensor inside some mobile phones that detects incline, vibration, and of course, acceleration.
Keep in mind, however, that these apps will only be able to give you an estimate of the weight of your luggage. You will need to weigh the items inside your suitcase one by one because you need to place the items on your phone’s screen.
You should treat these apps as “in development” apps and not final versions. No phone hardware is made specifically to measure weights. Thus, the apps that convert your phone into a weighing scale will not be able to get the exact weight of your things.
Airport
The final option is to leave early for the airport and weigh your suitcases there. There are several weighing stations in the airport so that travelers can check their luggage before their flight.
These weighing stations are commonly not free, though. They charge a minimal fee to weigh your luggage.
If there is an empty check-in desk, ask if you can use the weighing scale there to weigh your luggage.
You need to leave earlier than usual so that you will have enough time to move items around in case you need to.
If you don’t have any extra space in any other bags when one or more suitcases are overweight, you will have to discard some items before your flight.
Conclusion
Not all hotels have luggage scales that their customers can use. Call ahead before booking so that you can be sure that the hotel has what you need before you book a room.
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