Inkitecture

We have a fun announcement today - we're releasing our second app into the wild. It's called Bag vs. Bin, and you can check it out at http://www.bagvsbin.com/.

I know what you're thinking (or at least I think I know what you're thinking. I know what I'd be thinking if I were you) - what exactly is it? That's probably best answered with a story. All 3 of us Inkitecturers (Inkitecturites? Inkitecturians? Inkitects? There we go, that's the one) have day jobs that require us to travel at least 4 days a week, every week, as long as we're not on one of those vacation things everyone keeps talking about. We typically travel by plane, and to save time and hassle we only use carry-on bags whenever possible. The way service standards are plummeting in the airline industry today, the fewer opportunities you give the airlines to touch your stuff and mangle/lose/steal it the better off you'll be. The problem is that even if you're trying to be a considerate flyer and get reasonably-sized bag that fits easily in the bin and doesn't monopolize the entire freaking space, it turns out that it's not that easy a task. Every airline, aircraft, and luggage manufacturer seems to have their own standard for what fits in a bin, and of course they're all slightly different. The linear inches measurement seems to be a common one, and it's not a bad idea, but it doesn't account for the different shapes and sizes of bags, nor the often-weirdly-sized doors on the bins themselves that can make it impossible to actually get your bag *inside the bin*. Plus, have you ever tried to measure the dimensions of your bag? Most bags have curved surfaces, rounded corners, weird bulges, etc. that make it hard to figure out the true linear measurements. The primary alternative, the "big metal box" (I guess they're actually called "sizers", but I like my term better) is more foolproof, but it doesn't do you any good when you're trying to plan a trip, buy a bag, or pack. You can check before you get on the plane, and that's great, but it's a classic instance of "too little too late".

So in frustration with this whole mess, we decided there had to be a better way. What if you could look up ahead of time whether your bag would fit on a given airline/aircraft? It would save a lot of hassle, both time and money. No more struggling to fit your bag overhead because you didn't know ahead of time, or buying a bag that looks great but turns out not to fit in 95% of overhead bins. Personally, I'm a big fan of SeatGuru for getting the inside scoop on the best seats, especially for long flights when the difference between a good seat and a mediocre one is multiplied many times. That site provided a lot of inspiration for Bag vs. Bin.

I guess that was a pretty long intro, so let's get down to brass tacks. Bag vs. Bin is like SeatGuru but for your baggage instead of your butt. You can either write or search for reports of passenger experiences carrying bags onboard different airlines and aircraft. Search by bag/manufacturer, airline, or aircraft, and you'll see a list of reports with handy little red/yellow/green icons indicating whether the bin battle was successful or not. You can drill down further and see comments on the experience, maybe even handy tips or notes, depending on what the writer has chosen to share. At the same time, you can share your own experiences and make them available to other travelers who are in the same boat. It's a community driven site, but we're hoping to turn it into *the* place to go for this sort of information. We're starting out trying to scratch our own itch here, but the hope is that others will find it useful as well.

So please, check it out - http://www.bagvsbin.com/. We'd love to hear what you think. Feedback, questions, comments, concerns, whatever. Feel free to comment here, use the feedback link in the header at Bag vs. Bin, or shoot us an e-mail at info@inkitecture.com.

Thanks and happy flying!