Travel Thursday: Do You Really Have to Check Luggage?

Gadling, a travel blog, has a good article this week outlining six reasons not to check luggage:

1. Security has made checking bags a major hassle
2. The price of checking a bag
3. You can't trust the airlines (or the baggage handlers, the TSA, fellow passengers or the airport staff)
4. Retrieving your bags takes too long
5. The great unknown of where your bag goes
6. Why check when you don't have to?

In related news, The Toronto Star had an article yesterday morning about a cat missing because its cage was dropped by a Westjet baggage handler at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, validating my long standing decision never to take my dog on a plane.

Fortunately, things worked out for the cat and its owner, with The Star reporting last night that the cat was found, "a little greasy, a little dirty and a little worse for wear, but otherwise safe and sound."