Start with the heaviest and most rigid items — shoes, a toiletry kit, anything solid — at the base of the case near the wheels. This end takes the most impact during handling and benefits most from a stable, heavy foundation rather than settling loosely during transit.
Packing cubes of folded or rolled clothing go next, ideally layered by when each item is needed rather than by type alone, so the first thing needed at the destination isn’t buried under two weeks of clothing.
Fragile or crushable items — electronics, a hardside vanity case, anything easily bent — belong on top, where the least weight presses down on them and where they’re reached first without unpacking everything below. A liquids bag and anything needed for security screening should sit in the most accessible spot, regardless of where this order would otherwise place it.
Check with your airline and read the label before you follow anything here. Lithium battery watt-hour limits, liquids allowances and lock policies differ by carrier and by country, and change over time — the figures published by the airline or security authority you are actually traveling with take precedence over anything written on this site. A power bank or spare battery is carried exactly as its manufacturer and your airline specify, never estimated. We report what is published — a watt-hour rating, a size limit, a lock's official recognition — and this site describes the equipment only: nothing here is a guarantee about what a specific checkpoint will allow on a specific day.
Last reviewed 26 August 2026