Have you thought about ways you can save money on baggage fees? Intrigued by those Space Bags commercials? This year, the inflated price of airline tickets had travelers figuring out ways to cut costs and save on air travel. The last thing a traveling family wants to hear after purchasing several high-priced tickets is that they have to pay extra for checked luggage. Space Bags help you fit more clothes in your luggage and could help you save money on extra luggage fees.

My husband and I strategized for two days on which bags to take on a six-day trip for our family of four to the Cayman Islands. Our strategy was focused on getting the most bang for our buck:

1. We didn’t want to be saddled with carrying and keeping track of multiple pieces of luggage, AND
2. We weren’t interested (at all) in paying extra baggage fees for each piece we checked in.

In the nick of time, a package from Space Bag to Go arrived at my doorstep for review. Talk about perfect timing and an eager reviewer – I was more than ready to put their product to the test.

Here’s the story – in pictures:

This is the kids’ suitcase before using Space Bag to Go.

These are some of the contents that are in the suitcase – I took them out for illustration purposes (shoes, toiletries, pampers, clothes for 2 boys):

All of my three year old’s clothes fit into the smaller of the two bags. The bags were easy to use with illustrations printed directly on them. Just fill the bag to a certain line with clothing; seal it up like a sandwich baggy sliding the plastic fastener across the top; then roll the bag up and expel the air from it, effectively creating air-sealed clothes. No silly vacuum needed!

These were the end results:

And here you go – the final packed suitcase with extra room for some of mommy’s stuff!

Something else you may want to know:

All the major airlines except Southwest and Jet Blue charge a checked baggage fee. Using Space Bag to Go doesn’t make your bags lighter, just more densely packed. They are definitely the way to go if you’re trying to get as much as possible in your carry-on and still legally get it on a flight.

However, if you choose to use Space Bags for your checked baggage, be careful – they will condense items and provide you with tons of extra space but you may be tempted to fill that space past the 50-pound baggage limitation. We sure did. Luckily, we had extra space in our carry-on AND American doesn’t charge for checked baggage for flights from the United States to the Caribbean (so, we scored all around) .

If you’re bags are over 50 pounds, you’ll have to pay an overweight baggage fee, which is usually more than twice the regular fee! Even Southwest and JetBlue can’t give you a pass on this one. Additionally, if your bag weighs more than 70 pounds, according to airfarewatchdog.com, many airlines won’t even let you check it – you may have to ship your luggage as cargo. Yikes!

Moral: Pack light and use Space Bags To Go in your carry-on. [I did not get paid to say that – I really like this product.] You can also check out my video tips for Packing a Suitcase for another way to help you maximize your baggage space.

For your chance to win a set of Space Bags To Go, share your packing tips in the Comments section. One lucky winner will be chosen at random. Contest runs from August 4, 2011 to August 11, 2011. Winner will have 48 hours to respond, otherwise a new winner will be chosen. Happy Packing!