OH, MIL and Bloody Hand luggage. AIBU??

[KrayKray00]

Due to fly out on holiday this week.

Not married but for sake of the post will put MIL to simplify things and me and OH have been together 9 years.

Anyway, I am being told I am being unreasonable.

Both of my two children both have those trunkies for hand luggage they were gifts from MIL
They are big and bulky and actually don't hold a lot, in these I have packed an assortment of items to keep my children occupied on the 6 hour flight.

Here is the dispute. OH and MiL are telling me I cannot take a small backpack for my youngest (who is 2) in this bag I have put 5 nappies, nappy cream, a pack of wipes, light change of clothes and an empty water bottle ( no liquids through customs) they have told me I cannot take this bag as he already has hand luggage.

However every time I go abroad I take a large hand luggage bag and a small handbag (usually a cross over the body one)
MIL does too, so if we are allowed handbags then surely my 2 year old can have a small changing bag?

I thought it was done on weight anyway? His backpack is tiny and weighs next to nothing I said I would happily put it in my "hand luggage bag" and now OH is in a strop because he thinks MiL will have to pay fees if we go over our allowance (booked in her name).

I don't want to keep getting the bloody "trunki" out and unpacked every time my son needs baby wipes or a nappy change.

AIBU or are those actually the rules? Sorry for the long post but holidays are bloody stressful!

Trunkies are cumbersome to travel with and not al all practical. You'd be much better with a small backpack each for the children that can go under the seat in front and be easy to get at.

I don't understand why MIL would have to pay for your baggage problem anyway. It would be your bag, so surely you'd pay it, not her? Surely your husband or you would immediately offer to pay if it were your fault? So no need to worry about her getting fined.

If you do have to pay extra luggage charges at the airport, not that you should do if you read the rules for the airline you are travelling with and are able to follow them, you pay there and then at the airline desk. It isn't retrospectively charged to the card that was used to book the flights.

Trunki's are pointless for plane flights. They are cumbersome and it's difficult mid flight to get anything out of them. Ditch the Trunk's and use backpacks that can be stored under the seat so the children can access items.

It depends what airline you're flying. I know the more budget ones, like EasyJet, Ryanair, etc., often say only one piece of hand luggage, so if you bring a purse and then also a backpack, you have to be able to collapse them into one (purse will need to go in backpack or vice versa). I'm a big believer in not carrying stupidly bulky things onto flights though and I would personally skip the trunkis. When we flew (long haul, 11 hours) this summer, I packed on bag for my daughter and I. It was a big backpack and all her toys, changes of clothes, snacks, my purse and things, etc. fit in there. That way I wasn't struggling to carry her, plus my own bag, plus her wheelie suitcase as well if she got tired and didn't want to walk. We had a long wait to get through customs on the other end and we were very grateful to not carry all the extra stuff.

Airlines differ. I haven't RTWT, so forgive any duplication - take the backpack, buy something from the airport (newspaper from WH Smith??) and get a plastic bag. Put the backpack in the plastic bag - you are allowed bags from the duty free area on the plane.

Give the bag to your MIL or OH and let them deal with it, who the fuck do they think are telling an adult what to do?!

Agree that they've got stricter in recent years.

I was almost caught out a couple of years ago with easyjet. The guy was going up and down the queue saying we all had to fit our handbags in our hand luggage. Mine was filled to the brim and I was panicking how I was going to do this. Fortunately he discovered I had prebooked seats and could board early with my child, along with having the bigger allowance of hand luggage and handbag. I left the rest of the queue struggling to squash everything in one bag.

Since then I've seen them checking several times.

Those who say it depends on the airline: it really doesn't.
I fly several times a year, always with one budget airline or another. Honestly, nobody ever cares, as long as my carry-on bags are small enough. They DO care very much about oversized bags. But small bags? Nah. I have before now had my handluggage case, medium sized habdbag, shopping bag (cloh one) with food, plus booster seat. Nobody blinks an eyelid. Who would? There is literally nobody who polices the hand luggage. Probably because once you are in the departure lounge, you could buy 20 litre-bottles of whiskey and an entire wardrobe and you would also bring that onto the plane.

Lucky you! I have previously been required to put small handbag in hand luggage (duly weighed and measured). It depends on the airline!

Plus on another thread - I think it was Thomasons - even purchases post Security had to be put in the single piece of hand luggage (which was why ordering and picking up at Boots) wasn't an option for that poster.

When I flew with TC in June the hand luggage allowance was 6kgs PLUS one small handbag or brolley or overcoat (I think there were other things). So basically you're allowed. If the child is 2 on the date of return then he's normally not considered an infant in the eyes if the airline so will also have a seat and 6kgs. They weighed our hand luggage, I had a small suitcase thing which came in at 5.8 kilos and my handbag which is the size of an iPad.

Norwegian are incredibly generous on hand luggage - either 10kg or 15 depending on ticket plus an extra handbag. And big dimensions too.

Thomson were very stingey last summer. At the boarding gate watched a few people being made to shove handbags and duty free inside their hand baggage as they were so strict on one bag and one bag only

A tip I only learned recently:

Whatever your normal handluggage is for your airline, you are also allowed a carrier bag of shopping from the post-security shopping mall in departures. Tjis doesn't count towards your handluggage allowance within reason. So the things you want easily accessible, take them in your own carrier bag, then once through security go to WHS and buy a newspaper, getting an airport carrier bag in the process, and put your bits and bobs for the flight in there.

Obviously you can't stuff it too full, it needs to be able to go under the seat in front, but tissues, wipes and snacks should be OK.

It really depends on the airline (and of course check in staff who may or may not be bothered to implement the rules). I've seen plenty of cases where people have been forced to stuff all their bags into one. I had also never seen any weighing of hand luggage, until I recently did, and people were forced to check their bags in. It happens.

For people who have not RTFT, OP is flying with Thomas Cook and already copied their rules, which are not hard to find.

Hand luggage is based on size. Generally, you're allowed one piece per person but you can take a laptop bag or similar so they'll often allow a small handbag or similar as well as actual hand luggage. Most airlines are pretty accommodating when you are travelling with small children too and I think they would see a small nappy bag in the same light, so it will probably be fine. But, if you are concerned, shove the small nappy bag into one of the other (larger) pieces of hand luggage then just whip it out when you get through security.

The attitude about MIL paying blah blah is irrelevant. The person who arrives has to pay any extras, not whoever paid for the ticket. You pay for it on the spot. Also, I'm pretty sure you can't pay for extra hand luggage anyway. You can pay if you go over your weight allowance for bags in the hold, but hand luggage is a set thing.

If you check in hold luggage, they often weigh your hand luggage there unless it looks really light (small backpack for example) or it is Thomas Cook or Thomson? with a low limit like 5/6 kg.

Mine was once judged too heavy by Thomas Cook, so I took my phone, kindle and purse out of my bag and put them in my coat pockets - lucky to be flying in winter so still had a big coat on. All was fine and the stuff went back in my bag when we got round the corner from the check in desk.

Look it's very simple Ive flown 6 times in the last year with a baby/toddler you each get ONE piece of hand luggage be it a Trunki OR a backpack pick one only! You as an adult also only get ONE piece of hand luggage the rule about a lady being allowed a handbag as well went out ages ago it's ONE PIECE PER PERSON and it must conform to cabin size rules.

I'm inclined to agree with you, most airlines allow one carry on and a handbag. Your children will have the same allowance.

I hate trunkies on flights. Stupid things that need to be taken down so you can open them - I much prefer the hostess-style zip around hand luggage.

Anyway - your point - so long as the small backpack fits into your handbag, then just do that.

I fly longhaul with DSs every year, and they have one bag each, I have 3. A backpack, a handbag, and a bumbag (for passports and money). We've only every ONCE been told to fit the bumbag into another bag, and that was easily done - every other time, it's been fine to have them separate. Admittedly this is longhaul, and rules are sometimes more flexible than on shorter flights, but so long as you CAN fit one bag into the other then I really can't see the problem, and I have no idea why your DH is being an utter arse about it.

Oh and nappy cream only counts as a liquid insofar as it cannot be over 100ml and must be in a small clear plastic bag it IS allowed in your hand luggage

MuncheysMummy that's not correct for OP

•In economy class, adults and children between 2 and 12 years are allowed to bring one piece of hand baggage weighing up to 6 kg free of charge.

•You may also bring one of the following items on board with you; a small handbag, a laptop/tablet including case or an umbrella.

I've also been asked several times if I've wanted to check in my larger hand luggage into the hold free of charge. It wasn't a problem when Ive said no thank you but can imagine they would be getting more desperate for people to agree nearer the end of the queue.

Clearly Muncheys is lucky enough to not have travelled on some really rigid (cheaper end) airlines!

You're probably right. Check the details on your tickets and then print out the airline rules for them.
Even most of the budget airlines allow one hand baggage item and one handbag. We've just returned from holiday, with hand baggage allowance, DS had his little case and a rucksack over his shoulder. I had a small wheelie case and a shoulder bag.

There is literally nobody who polices the hand luggage this is not true on the cheapo airline on which I just flew, all hand luggage is one per person so one bag full stop and it is tagged with an identifying tag at check-in, plus all child items were tagged even if they were allowed (e.g. child seats). So, a handbag and a handbaggage case would not be allowed. Everyone puts the bag in the case then gets it out later.

Check with the airline. Some are hot on this, some are not.