Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Aridane · 29/09/2019 14:33

a cheeky person tried to move my coat and small bag from the locker above, no!

Small bags are supposed to go under the seat in front of you!

Aridane · 29/09/2019 14:38

Why take a separate bag for glasses, passports etc? Just wear a jacket with pockets

Wouldn’t really want to take a jacket with me for a week in the sun!

And my cardis etc have shallow unsecure pockets that would be a disaster waiting to happen...

PurBal · 29/09/2019 14:38

My husbands carry on is bigger than mine but because mine is on wheels mine always gets put in the hold.

I have been told by staff to take anything out that I need so the last time I flew with them and they asked me to check my hand luggage I literally took everything out and put it in a carrier bag which I then put under the seat in front. Because I use most of the stuff in my carry on. They stowed an empty bag.

Aridane · 29/09/2019 14:42

Although it is more convenient not having to go to baggage reclaim, it must be a right pain to have to wheel those cases all through the airport instead of a small rucksack or handbag

It really isn’t!

Aridane · 29/09/2019 15:13

@PurBal - I guess get a small squidgy hold-all - better than a carrier bag Wink

diddl · 29/09/2019 15:16

"My husbands carry on is bigger than mine but because mine is on wheels mine always gets put in the hold"

That's strange if it's within the size limit.

Have they run out of room for carry ons & are looking for sturdier stuff to put in the hold?

Emmett1234 · 29/09/2019 17:40

Why would you take up space in the over head lockers when you're handbag should be put under the seat in front of you it makes me mad when people think it's ok to take up locker space with handbags coats and jumpers it's just selfish

Honeyroar · 29/09/2019 17:53

I’d never put a bag with valuables out of sight in the overhead locker. There have been a few occasions where things have been stolen from bags in the lockers. I’d definitely keep tickets, passports and money in a smaller bag under the seat if I was travelling.

rookiemere · 29/09/2019 18:10

So now it's selfish to use the overhead lockers for the purpose they were originally intended for Hmm. I fail to see that it's fair that someone with no huge carry on bag should be forced to keep their coat and small bag squashed up at their feet.

Abraid2 · 29/09/2019 18:16

I put my coat in the locker because it’s either there or on the dirty floor. I think that’s normal, isn’t it?

diddl · 29/09/2019 18:30

I think that a lot of people keep coats on or folded on their knee don't they?

The purpose of overhead lockers has changed now though hasn't it?

If someone has paid to put a small carry on in, I don't see why a coat or handbag that could be elsewhere should take up that space.

familycourtq · 29/09/2019 18:37

Small bags are supposed to go under the seat in front of you!
I am tall with big feet so find this very difficult to do.

familycourtq · 29/09/2019 18:39

There have been a few occasions where things have been stolen from bags in the lockers.
Never heard of that - and I have flown a lot - do you have a link?

MrsWicket · 29/09/2019 18:40

Flights where practically everyone has cabin luggage do my head in. Getting stuck behind people arguing with staff at boarding when they are told there’s no more cabin room and luggage’s has to go in the hold. Stood in the plane aisle waiting for everyone to squeeze their luggage in and then complaining when it’s not above or near them Hmm On our flight back from Tenerife this summer the captain had to announce that the plane only had room for 90 bits of cabin luggage and there were 170 passengers - there’s no room for everyone, so half of it has to go in the hold whether you like it or not.

fluffiphlox · 29/09/2019 18:47

I just wish there was a standard across all airlines.

MarchionessOfCholmondeley · 29/09/2019 19:12

Nowadays I'm guilty of taking everything but the kitchen sink in hand luggage, but that's due to a bad experience when we missed our connection at Rome airport. Alitalia shipped me and 3 small kids off to a hotel with no luggage.

None of us had pyjamas, toothbrushes or change of underwear, deodorant etc. The next day we boarded our onward flight feeling pretty grim. Not an experience I ever want to repeat. (Even if they did give me a €2000 than I paid for the flights for the delay)

MrsFezziwig · 29/09/2019 22:19

Marchioness
I generally check in a hold bag, but after a few unfortunate experiences I now pack the items you describe in my cabin bag. Small deodorant & toothbrush/toothpaste etc will go in resealable bag, change of underwear & possibly clean top - wear pants & top you travelled in on the first flight as pyjamas.
TBF a profit of €2000 would go a long way towards the inconvenience of missing my connection!

origamiwarrior · 30/09/2019 07:48

If someone has paid to put a small carry on in, I don't see why a coat or handbag that could be elsewhere should take up that space

But (whether paying extra, or built into the ticket price), I have paid exactly the same to take my modest-sized rucksack as the person who has taken a maxxed-out wheelie bag.

So you have the situation where I place my rucksack above my seat in the locker and the wheelie-bag person from ten rows back, with a huge fuck-off hard case, pulls out my rucksack, holds it aloft and says "whoever this belongs to, can you put it somewhere else, I can't fit my case in".

Then I spend the rest of the trip with it stuffed at my feet, so unable to move my knees beyond 90 degrees, while the wheelie-bag person stretches out in relative comfort.

Justbecause1 · 01/10/2019 09:52

@happycamper11 I went up to the baggage desk once prepared to pay for the hands free service to check my hand luggage and the guy said if I didn't particularly want the priority boarding then he would take it in for free. I don't know if its policy but Ive been up and asked a few times since and have never been turned down yet Smile

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 01/10/2019 10:09

Hence this is why Jet2 are doing well, their holidays include the luggage

Another reason is that they employ their own baggage handlers directly rather than using the agency provision at the airport. This means they can control staffing levels better and aren't competing with other airlines for their allocation of staff if an unplanned arrival lands or they have multiple spins. They can load and unload more efficiently, hence not being too worried about the number of bags that are loaded into the hold. In contrast at BHX alone, they are the only airline using in house staff for this, all other airlines (including Emirates, BA and so on) use agency supplied by the airport. It is a shrewd business move to control as much of the process as they can and offer something different.

PookieDo · 01/10/2019 10:24

When they come down the giant boarding line asking for people to step forward to put luggage in the hold and get on the plane first, I always agree. With 2 kids in tow I don’t see how it really makes things any worse. I get to sit down quicker!

If I know I have put it directly into the cage next to the plane ie carried it to the plane by myself and seen it being loaded from my seat I feel less worried it will get lost. Usually in baggage reclaim it’s enough time for everyone to go to the toilet and sort out transport home, it hasn’t been any significant length of time I have waited. Luggage is usually lost when you hand it in to the check in desk IME

I actually hate how people behave in airports it’s horrible. Exiting the aircraft becomes a massive jostle then people are virtually sprinting down the corridors in the airport to get out. It’s like being at a busy tube station almost a low level panic.

northernruth · 01/10/2019 11:27

@origamiwarrior in that instance, you should be allowed to leave your rucksack in the overheads - that's clearly something you've paid for and are entitled to insist on

SerenDippitty · 01/10/2019 11:51

I actually hate how people behave in airports it’s horrible. Exiting the aircraft becomes a massive jostle then people are virtually sprinting down the corridors in the airport to get out. It’s like being at a busy tube station almost a low level panic

I think people are generally much more impatient and intolerant of waiting than in the past.

PookieDo · 01/10/2019 11:54

Agree, it’s really unpleasant
I understand people want to get home or Make transport connections but the last flight I was on was on a Sunday night and the airport wasn’t very busy, there was no queues at the train station and plenty of taxis around
Didn’t stop everyone shoving one another out of the way and wheeling their cases across your feet whilst they weaved their way through 150 people getting off one plane, just so they could be 25 seconds in front of the rest of us!

GinDaddy · 01/10/2019 12:51

The charging for hold luggage has sent some people into a right tailspin (if you'll excuse the pun). They perceive it as an act of aggression from the airlines and as such, are going to squeeze every cubic inch they can out of the free storage.

Is this wrong? Yes, if the airline has set a personal size allocation for baggage

The reality however is that people do what they can get away with, not what they've been asked to do.

And many know that if challenged about their hand baggage size? They can do the classic angry Brit thing, threaten to stand there until it's sorted, whip out their smartphone, cause a minor PR ripple, and the airlines' name is dragged through a forest of tweets

For some staff it's probably just easier to overlook the minor infraction...until suddenly you have ten of these massive cases, and less room for those of us who read the website

Personally I would prefer it if airlines were rigorous about the baggage sizing thing. Make people realise that the stuff on the website isn't some hopeful manifesto or dream, it's how the airline can maximise their chance of running efficiently and minimize delays

Swipe left for the next trending thread