Luggage for a Six-Month Stay: Planning the Car

A typical arrival is one or two large cases and a cabin bag — three or four units, comfortably within a Standard car's budget. A long-stay arrival is often two or three large cases each, sometimes for more than one traveller, plus cabin bags and the odd oversized item like a duffel of bedding or extra bags picked up specifically for the move. It adds up fast, and it's worth counting properly rather than guessing.

Each large checked case counts as two units, each cabin-sized bag as one. Two large cases and a cabin bag per person is already five units — for two people travelling together, that's ten units before anything oversized is added, which is beyond a Standard car's 6-unit budget and at the limit of the SUV / XL, which takes up to four large cases in 10 units.

• Standard, Electric and Business: 6-unit budget — 2 large bags + 2 cabin bags, or 4 cabin bags
• SUV / XL: 10-unit budget, up to 4 large cases
• Minibus: 18-unit budget, up to 8 large cases

It's common not to know the exact bag count until the day of departure, especially if you're still packing right up to the flight. If your estimate is close to the edge of a category's budget, it's worth booking the next size up, or contacting us to adjust before you fly — moving to a bigger category ahead of time is simpler than a surprise at the kerb.

Six months later, the luggage picture at the end of the stay often looks nothing like it did on arrival — belongings accumulated, sometimes an extra bag or two bought specifically for the move home. Book the departure leg as its own decision when the time comes, rather than assuming the same category that worked on arrival will still fit; it's worth recounting properly rather than guessing based on the outbound trip.