If you’re travelling this summer and you’ll be travelling light with hand luggage only (in order to avoid the pesky checked luggage charges) chances are you will also have liquids in some miniature sizes in your hand luggage. Well, don’t forget to bring them in your own zippy/resealable bag.

You will no longer get them for free at the airport.

From now on, these nifty little bags will set you back by €1 for 2 bags, which if you buy your own Ziploc bag at the supermarket will cost a whole lot less. Or in terms of the big picture, why not even splurge a little at the pharmacy like Boots for a more durable small transparent resealable toiletries bag, which will hold all your miniature liquids for trips to come? I have one of those and it’s very convenient, ready to go whenever I travel, since I stock the contents in the bag and keep it handy to slip into my hand luggage. No more fumbling during packing, hunting high and low for resealable plastic bag or miniature shampoos and the likes.

You know, for a country that rolled out plastic bag levy all the way back in 2002 in order to curb excessive plastic bag usage and to help protect the environment, I am a tad surprised that the airport has been giving out free resealable bags for such a long time. Approximately 2 1/2 years, since the introduction of the liquid regulation back in November 2006. Many travellers take this facility for granted, never preserving the bags for further use beyond that one trip.

Anyway, all this is changing now. So pack accordingly and don’t get caught out by the new charges. Keep the resealable bag to the size of approximately 20cm x 20cm in dimension, or about 1L in capacity. Bon voyage!