airlines should rethink cabin bags situation

[aaatozedd]

AIBU to say I'm finding these days when I go on a plane;
-people bring too much cabin baggage and get arsey with the staff about it if told it's too much/suitcase too big etc

• there's not enough space in all the overhead lockers for all the bags
• people swing the cases around to get them in and out which makes it feel more cramped and dangerous that bags hit people on the head etc

I think airlines should go back to one charge for seats and that includes checking in a suitcase if you wish. So people can still bring cabin bags but have the option to bring a suitcase/check in luggage etc.

DH travels with hand luggage only a lot. He does 3-5 day trips a week so it's his workbag he has with him and a spare set of underwear and socks just in case he gets stuck somewhere.

Want2BeSuper: I have a very strong suspicion that the problems being discussed on this thread apply more on an August flight to Malaga tnzn to a Tuesday morning flight to Düsseldorf in February.

Just in case anyone wants to know what I travel with, as a member of staff ‘in the know.’ I travel on staff travel. I can sit in Club with my family or in First if I travel without children under 12. In either, I can bring approximately 90kg of luggage - up to 64kg in the hold and the rest as hand baggage in the cabin. So what do I actually take? Well, we usually take one big suitcase in the hold and a shoulder bag each in the cabin. If we are skiing we take our skis too. But for the most part - one large hold case and a shoulder bag each. One day this may bite us on the bum and we loose the case. It’s not happened yet though and I keep my fingers crossed.

When you are travelling everywhere on standby, and never knowing if you will get a seat, the ability to travel light and not need to have loads of stuff is a bonus. I’ve taken my kids to the airport before wearing the clothes they thought they were going to their cousin’s house in for the day plus their swimming gear in a drawstring bag - then put them on the plane and taken them to the Caribbean for 6 days. With a single drawstring swim bag each. They were 5 and 2 at the time.

Seriously - you can manage. Hold luggage is not the nightmare you think it is, and you don’t need that much in the cabin.

Just to clarify - that’s 90kg per person, so my family of 4 can take 360kg. That’s 8 heavy hold cases, 4 cabin wheelies and 4 shoulder bags. I can’t begin to imagine who needs that much luggage.

“it frequently gets lost, damaged or stolen.”

Wow. You must be extremely unlucky. OH has frequent flyer points for several airlines, and in all the years of travelling he has done, he has had one case go missing, which turned up 12 hours later. I have only met one other person who has had luggage go missing. I wonder what it is about your luggage that makes it a target for thieves.

Want2bSupermum I think it depends what time you travel as well. Last time we flew from Manchester we had an afternoon flight. I commented to a sales person in Boots how quiet it was and he said that arriving at lunchtime is the quietest time. Early morning and later afternoon are much, much busier. We have queued for over an hour to get through security during busy periods

We would usually try to do hand luggage only as a family. We have had 3 holidays over the years where bags went missing and it really disrupts a holiday especially if you are moving from place to place so your bags get to the hotel after you have left!
I love the policy of paying extra for overhead space. I am happy to pay extra for the space.

There is only one flight a day so I have zero choice. It's a 9am flight no matter what.

No.

When I’m flying to Paris for an overnight stay and a meeting at 9am I do not want to wait to pick up a suitcase when a small carryon contains everything I need for a one night visit.

If I decide on a weekend day somewhere, I’m perfectly capable of packing for one or two night into a small carryon size bag. I do not want to waste even an hour of my mini break waiting at baggage reclaim.

Yabu.

Airlines bring it on themselves by not being strict enough about the size/number of the cabin bags. But in essence I agree that a crackdown of some sort needs to happen

Yes. It isn't working. It might suit individuals on an individual level, but the last two flights I took showed that it isn't working on a systemic level. Airlines need to enforce

• the number of bags each passenger takes on the aircraft
• the weight of the bags
• the size of the bags (including those damn wheels)

Which is why the current Ryanair model is an excellent one. DD flew with them last month. The 5 of them had one shared large suitcase in the hold and a small wheelie case each that they handed over on boarding. They also had a handbag each that they could take on the plane. Nothing got lost, and they didn't have to wait ages for their luggage.

I love travelling hand luggage only then being at the back of the boarding queue and having them take it off me and putting it in the hold for free! Last into the hold often means first off at the carousel, I didn't have to pay for hold luggage and I keep a small shoulder bag with me for journey necessities that tucks neatly under my seat and gets in nobody's way at all. Plus no trying to get bags into overhead lockers feeling like everything's going to land on my head, and I get to stay seated while people wrestle with their stupidly large cabin baggage, then pick up my small bag and go. I always feel like I've beaten the system!

Yanbu op.

It's a problem caused by the airline pricing policy. I find we struggle to stay within the weight limits of the checked in hold bags for our family so we always end up with heavy stuff like shoes in carry on.

If we are offered the option of checking some of the hand luggage in for free then we do, but if they don't offer it, it needlessly gets dragged on to the plane.

Which is why the current Ryanair model is an excellent one

All I saw was a lot of stressed staff and stressed passengers fighting over who would have to surrender their wheelie cases to the hold. I also saw bags go on that could only fit lengthways in the hold and plenty had multiple small bags.... There was a lot of anger and stress and the plane took AGES to board (in fact, we were late taking off).

All we had were two backpacks. Now ordinarily we'd put them in the overhead. We were asked not to and we complied happily - but we had paid for hold baggage plus extra as well as to choose our seats and priority boarding and all that it cost buttons because we booked months in advance ...

YetAnotherSpartacus sadly, some people are too thick to understand the rules, or are too bolshy and self centered. DD said it wasn't a problem on her flights. It sounds like some airlines need bouncers to deal with these kind of passengers.

It sounds like some airlines need bouncers to deal with these kind of passengers

Yes, I agree actually. Personally, I'd also be making the 'oversize' passengers pay for whatever is oversize and the same for those who try to sneak in extra bags as well.

I liked the Austria story earlier.

I flew Ryanair last month for the first and last time.
The flights cost about £200 and I ended up paying the same again in baggage costs. £40 per case (we took 2 cases for the 3 of us) there and back came to £160, then I ended up paying more again for the Priority passenger thing so we could get some hand luggage on the plane - the size of the bag you're allowed to take on without buying the priority tickets was just to small for all the stuff we'd need for us and DD. The ipad wouldn't even fit in it. And you can't just pick one passenger to have some hand luggage, which would have been enough for us. You have to pay for all passengers you're checking in. So 3x priority, there and back. It came to about £190 for baggage in the end.

CF's if you ask me. If airlines would allow a decent amount for proper hold luggage and include it all in the price up front, then maybe people wouldn't feel the need to try and 'cheat' and take as much as possible in as cabin baggage.

I'll avoid Ryanair in the future.

The Ryanair model works well and I haven't seen any issues with it. Staff work their way down the queue, tag bags, and explain where to leave them. Certainly not seen any stressed staff or customers. There shouldn't be people fighting over whose luggage guess on the hold - it all does unless you've paid for it not to.

Recent jet2 flight, family of 5, paid for 2 hold cases and took 2 wheelie cabin cases, small (regulation size) at airport they asked if we wanted to check in the 2 little ones for free so we did as we would be having to wait for the big ones anyway. I think most airlines would prefer you to check in most of your baggage, I’d much rather of had 3 large suitcases but the additional cost puts me off (£45 each way per case). If I were travelling for a weekend away I’d only take a small case in the cabin. Flights are cheap but the ‘extras’ are not... £3 for a tea, you can pre book meals with jet2 for around £9 but halfway through flight they declared all food half price on board! I’d be unhappy if I’d already paid for pre booked food, years ago flights abroad were unobtainable to regular income families, now the majority can afford to travel once a year/every other year but you have to manage the extras to enable this, some people just over do it with their cabin allowances and it’s up to the airlines to manage this and to expect some courtesy and respect when loading the lockers

I'm terrified now.
In August I'm flying on my own (1st time for 21 years) to Paris to visit son.
Going with Air France, I had been looking at the cabin sized wheeled cases but do you all think I should get a softer holdall type of bag?

I will be travelling light, couple of tops and trousers, no toiletries unless make-up counts (does it? can I take hair straighteners?) I can have a handbag too - phone,passport, purse, make-up, glasses, wet wipes tissues in handbag.
The idea of a bunfight over space terrifies me.
What would happen if there was no space for my bag?

Oh, Planet! Relax! PARIS!!!! Be excited and ecstatic not scared!

Remember no liquids (inc. make-up) over 100ml and no sharpies. I've never met a hair straightener so I can't comment.

The stewards will help you find a place for your bag I'm sure just make sure it is big enough to bring back all the lovely loot from Pareeeee

Thanks @YetAnotherSpartacus I am excited but I'm terrified too.
Ridiculous, at my age (It will be my 58th Birthday the day I travel ) I seem to get less confident as I get older.
Hair straighteners - electric flat irons for flattening hair

When I've travelled before on a plane where overhead lockers where getting full, they walked down the line of people waiting to board and asked/told people that their cases would need to go into the hold. In which case they tag it, and you hand it over just before you get on the plane. You can keep your handbag with you. it costs no extra and you just pick it up at baggage reclaim after you land. I love it when this happens personally!

My gripe with Jet2 is that they say smaller hand luggage must go under the seat whereas the big case type can go in the overhead locker. We normally take small to medium size bags. Why should we have less legroom than people who have huge suitcase handluggage? If they made it the other way round, or everyone has to put them under the seat in front then it would discourage people from bringing such huge bags in the first place.

I've never seen them refuse to allow items as hand luggage even though some of them are surely far bigger than the "allowed" size.

I always think the "policing" of the amount of overhead baggage is a bit random.

I have been pulled up for hiding a small handbag inside my coat (as well as having baggage) and told to squeeze it into my trolley case. Fair cop. But then I saw a woman with a large rucksack as well as a case swanning past. This was on Easyjet. I recently flew FlyBe and they didn't seem to care if you were hauling a ten-tonne case behind you.

It seems that those with over-large hand baggage wait to get on last such that the plane is almost scooting down the runway, so they can't have their luggage confiscated and get away with it.

It is also most irritating when people keep wanting to go in the overhead lockers during the flight. Fgs, SIDDOWN!!!

Thank you TheFifthKey I wouldn't mind that, I'm so infrequent a flier that even hanging around in an airport seems exotic and exciting to me.

I'll probably be at the end of the queue waiting to board too as I don't like to shove my way in either.