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Original poster

To not understand easyJet's obsession with putting hand luggage in the hold.

207 replies

NameChangedForTheDay · 28/09/2019 11:11

Something that's been puzzling me for a while is what is easyJet's (and possibly other airlines?) obsession with trying to put cabin bags in the hold?

Last few flights I've been on, they've cited not enough space in the cabin, fair enough, even though we were probably half way down the queue, so not even the last to board.

Last weekend when we flew, we booked seats up front / speedy boarding and were one of the first 20 to board, and they were saying to leave bags by the steps to go into the hold. Yet there was plenty of space on the overhead lockers.

Then yesterday, we are at airport and the app was giving me notifications encouraging me to do a bag drop and "go hands free"!

I don't get it!

After all these years of being encouraged to travel light, I've gone from being that person with the heavy label stuck on my huge case that's going in the hold, to being able to holiday for a week with just a cabin bag and I've enjoyed the freedom of not having to wait at baggage reclaim.

Yet, they now seem intent to to back to the 'old ways'.

Anyone here work for easyJet that can enlighten me? Other opinions obviously most welcome. 😁

OP posts:
LolaSmiles · 28/09/2019 17:14

Remoteisland
As I said, if that's because the airline allows 2 bags then that's fine.

The issue I have is when airlines say ONE bag and then people insist on turning up with a handbag/laptop AND their cabin bag as people doing that creates the problem on this thread.

MyRaGaiaStarFishPieA · 28/09/2019 17:26

It's not a 100ml limit at all for liquids. You can take up to ten 100ml bottle of fluid as long as they are in a sealed white plastic bag ( think it's 20x20cm). So I buy 100ml altruism suncream from Amazon and just pack dry cosmetics into one plastic bag and the separate100ml liquids into another.

Another way is to use your holiday as a reason to replace some cosmetics or try new ones and order your cosmetics and giant bottle of suncream to be collected after security. You are allowed to take duty free on board so that's an easy way too.

MrsFezziwig · 28/09/2019 17:30

I thought duty free had to go in the overhead lockers to reduce the danger of bottles flying about the cabin in case of emergency?

CampingItUp · 28/09/2019 17:33

Clear plastic bag, not white!
Re-sealable, not permanently sealed.

Check the Govt Regs here: www.gov.uk/hand-luggage-restrictions

MyRaGaiaStarFishPieA · 28/09/2019 17:35

@MrsFezziwig it does have to go into the overhead lockers , or under the front seat depending on what it is and how large etc.

bridgetreilly · 28/09/2019 17:38

Last Jet2 flight I was on, one of the overhead lockers was so full that the edge of someone's bag got caught in the latch and then the locker couldn't be opened so they had to call an engineer, and we were delayed.

That's one reason they don't want everyone putting maximum size bags in the lockers. Remember after 9/11 and the Heathrow bomb scare when we were only allowed handbag size hand luggage? I'd be happy to go back to that, tbh.

Roselilly36 · 28/09/2019 17:39

We always take a very small case onboard these days, much easier than the scrum at reclaim IMHO.

Personally I don’t think carry on delays anyone, we fly with easy jet every year and what delays people is being separated around the plane, then wanting to swap seats etc.

TonTonMacoute · 28/09/2019 17:57

It's those solid cabin bags with wheels that are a real pain in the arse. They take up too much space in the lockers, because you can't bend or squash them, and the owners are often really rude and careless with them when you get off the other end. There is always one who barges through the crowd, dragging it behind them with no care who they barge into or trip up.

SerenDippitty · 28/09/2019 18:07

We always put our luggage in the hold and take small flight bags (plus handbag in my case) on the plane. Apart from anything else I don’t want to have to drag it around the terminal with me, and any liquids can go in my case so I don’t have to worry about security

Oblomov19 · 28/09/2019 18:16

I don't want my hand luggage going in the hold either. I don't want to then queue and wait for my bag to come onto the carousel.

riceuten · 28/09/2019 18:25

Because everyone faffs about so much when putting hand luggage into the bins, blocking the aisles so it takes aaaaages for everyone to board

This, in spades. You only notice the difference when you fly with an airline where the customers are mainly business people, that you board and are ready within about 10 minutes. People who have been sitting in a lounge for 40 minutes waiting to board SUDDENLY discover an urgent need for that book/hair band/bottle of water that requires them to rummage through their hand luggage whilst blocking the aisle. Perhaps you could have extracted this whilst you were waiting to board ?

Radical concept, I know.

riceuten · 28/09/2019 18:28

I don't want my hand luggage going in the hold either. I don't want to then queue and wait for my bag to come onto the carousel

Some airlines - quite a few, actually - have a system where the hold hand luggage so labelled goes in a small compartment at the front and is unloaded first, so you collect it as you leave the plane (usually left on a table or a trolley next to the stairs)

Brefugee · 28/09/2019 18:28

Naughty, yes, but bollocks to waiting an age for my luggage to appear after the flight.

they give it to you as you go down the steps, it's really efficient

Abraid2 · 28/09/2019 18:32

30 years ago, hold luggage was included and not charged extra. Why would I pay the extra fee if I can fit what I need in a free carry on?

Thirty years ago cheap flights weren’t on offer as they are now.

cyclingmad · 28/09/2019 18:50

That is why my hand luggage is always use a rucksack and not a cabin case. I am never asked to put my racksack in hold but anyone with a cabin case is targeted! Best of all if there is no space up top it can go under the seat.

millimollimandi · 28/09/2019 18:59

We fly with easyjet and go away for long weekends - we can both get all our stuff in a cabin bag. What REALLY pees me off is the ones that think that they can get away with using any size cabin bag - some of which are patently too big - and they do! I have never had anyone check my cabin bag for size. Perhaps they should and stop allowing people to take the piss.

LaLaLanded · 28/09/2019 19:02

Happened to me with DS recently - cabin bag went in the hold as the plane was too full... it all happened very quickly and I didn’t realise until we landed back in London that the passports were in it!

Getting back through passport control was stressful. I don’t mind having to put bags in the hold for reasons of space, but they really should remind people to remove anything they might need rather than just ushering you through as quickly as possible...

KatharinaRosalie · 28/09/2019 19:09

Just to “save” 15 minutes at the collection belt.

I fly sometimes several times per week, and there are 1-2 airports (in Switzerland) where you can claim it's 15 minutes. Last trip to Italy, waited an hour. Not to mention if you have a short connection - if I have the bag and I make the flight, the bag makes the flight. If I have to run through airport, the bag won't make it.

ChardonnaysDistantCousin · 28/09/2019 19:15

15 minutes saved at the collection belt is 15 min not spent at the fucking airport.

I've perfected the art of travelling with only one bag and being one of the first to leave the plane and the airport.

cardibach · 28/09/2019 19:23

It’s not just to save 15 minutes though, is it? It’s to save the cost. If airlines didn’t charge extra for hold baggage, more people would opt for it.

VicSynix · 28/09/2019 19:23

The last easyJet flight we were on, two of our party had their hand luggage put in the hold. We waited 45 minutes at Bristol airport for the luggage to be unloaded. So yeah, I'm going to continue not putting luggage in the hold.

CampingItUp · 28/09/2019 19:51

But surely what is being discussed in this thread is the luggage that has not been paid for as checked baggage, but us out in the hold anyway, at the door, because there is not room in the cabin.

If they make you do that, and they now warn you that they might, then you can’t ‘continue not putting baggage in the hold’

It seems the budget flights now:
Charge for full sized checked bags
Charge for a guarantee that your Cabin Bag will be carried in the cabin
Offer free cabin sized bags on the understanding that it might get put in the hold at the gate.

StCharlotte · 28/09/2019 20:00

Just to “save” 15 minutes at the collection belt.

Or the £100 we've just spent to put bags in the hold for next year's main (fortnight) holiday. And that's just for two of us.

We flew BA to Venice earlier this year. All good on the way out but Venice is of course a major shopping destination (much of it being glass). It was mental coming back.

I saw a gap in the overhead a few rows in front of us and suggested to DH that we put our bags up. He said there would be room nearer our seats but then I saw someone coming back down with a case so they were obviously full further back. So we put ours up and they were the last before everyone else's went in the hold. Lord knows what happened to all the Murano stuff that came on after us...

stucknoue · 28/09/2019 20:08

My bugbear is the huge amounts of hand luggage on trad airlines. When I last flew ba 23kg was included in every ticket yet people had wheels cases and bags on the plane, a cheeky person tried to move my coat and small bag from the locker above, no!

AnxietyDream · 28/09/2019 20:49

I find it interesting that most people on this thread are blaming the other passengers for problems with too much hand luggage, when it's the airlines that make the rules. They could easily change the sizes allowed in hand luggage, or make the rule 'one bag' not 'one bag + handbag' etc.