Wife uses the vacuum ones and it saves plenty of space. I don’t bother but if going to colder climates and the snow I’ll buy jackets etc from Macpac and the likes that fold down to nothing.
If in Asia I make good use of the laundry’s and they have this amazingly ability to iron, fold and wrap clothes into something half the size 
I’m usually not too fussed as we always have extra luggage limits so end up taking half a cupboard worth each
You’re talking compression bags that you roll-up to remove the air, right (as opposed to the vacuum bags)?
We had compression bags, but they were el cheapo versions which slowly leaked. Even still, you could get things nice and flat and save a heap of space, just as long as you zipped the case up before they took on too much air. Of course they’d expand over time, but would be constrained by the case itself.
Most of our holidays over the last 15 years have been to warm climates, so we haven’t packed bulky clothing and haven’t needed compression bags. We’re going to Seoul in November though, so I’ll need to look at investing in some decent compression bags.
They sell them in sets like this and they have a double zipper system to compress. You either roll or fold clothes.
Ooh fancy… haven’t used anything like that. The ones we had were effectively large double-zip lock plastic bags, which you’d roll up to remove the air…
K-Mart, Daiso et al. sell them. Inexpensive, and do work to a point (albeit with limitations).
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I’ve used both versions. The roll down ones were great for a huge bulky novelty item we wore on an Antarctic cruise.
The zipper ones are also good but jury is out on whether they reduce space hugely. If she likes to use packing cubes then get some. 
We used to use these, only on the last few days to put your stinking jocks & clothes you won’t wear anymore, Does save space
Don’t bother anymore
Dhead son is in the Philippines, 1st day checks his 3 credit cards in ATM Booth for transaction fees (no withdrawals)
Next day all 3 accounts milked for the daily max. (lucky) $1000 each. The hassle he is going through with the banks, I don’t wish on anyone
Commonwealth Bank has already denied refund, virtually saying he is a thief. I’m sure the others will knock him back too.
Costing me a fortune to keep sending him monies
Am putting together itinerary for 19 nights / 18 days in Sri Lanka next Feb. Cultural stuff & hiking in the highlands are priorities. Beach & safari less so.
Leaning towards -
- 3 nights / 2 days Colombo (the Navam Perahera parade coincides handily).
- 3 nights Sigiriya.
- 1 night Kandy via Dambulla caves.
- 6-7 nights in the highlands, hopefully doing contiguous stages of the new Pekoe Trail multi day hike.
- 4-5 nights some combo of Yala, Tangalle, Galle (maybe not Yala).
- 1 night close to airport.
Will likely hire drivers ad-hoc and take occasional train rather than hire one driver for the trip.
Thoughts welcome from those who have been.
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Can anyone (calling @Aceman …) share the lounge options for travelling Malaysian Business class MEL - KL - Paris (and return)? Do Malaysian have a lounge or do you just go to another OneWorld (Qantas)? One.
We flew Malaysian Business last year before swapping to Turkish. The thing I remember about the business lounge was that there were no dunnies other than Muslim-style.
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You may not be thinking of Sri Lanka as a safari type location, but don’t neglect that.
I was Sri Lanka years old when I realised peacocks fly… pretty well!
We had similar matter when we did a staff meeting in Penang. 5 of our group went through the same with their Aussie Banks after using credit cards at a restaurant and bar. We took it immediately to Banking Ombudsman and eventually got their money back. I had to fund them for the whole week, just like taking my kids on holiday !
Do you have any One World or Qantas status as that will also help the decision
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There are Western toilets in all Malaysian Airlines lounges
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Had to rebuild it from scratch…silver status
We were in six airports…KL, Istanbul, Porto, Madrid, Istanbul, Jakarta.
Could it have been Jakarta?
Depends what lounges you used at which airports but Jakarta does a have a couple of lounges with non Western toilets
In Melbourne I’m pretty sure Malaysian Airlines will direct you to the poorer Marhaba lounge but you should have access to the Qantas business lounge which isn’t flash either TBH.
In KL you will have access to the Malaysian airlines lounges which aren’t bad.
Paris is a mixed bag and it changes dependent on which pier or terminal you leave from but they generally use Air France lounges which are ok but nothing special
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Thanks.
Just a chance to chill before the flight.
FFS it’s a long haul to Europe