To think it cannot be mandatory to be asked to check in hand luggage at the gate

[NameChanger401]

I was about to board a flight today and, as often happens, an announcement was made asking passengers to come forward to check in hand luggage as flight is full and not enough space. The announcement said ‘we reiterate this is a mandatory requirement, without priority boarding group must check in hand luggage if requested’.

i usually wouldn’t mind, but today I realised I (stupidly) didn’t have a separate bag to my small suitcase. It contained items I really wouldn’t want to check in - laptop, power bank (don’t think this is allowed), valuables and medication. I therefore basically ‘hid’ away from the gate and came forward at the last minute when I thought enough people had had their bag confiscated (there was plenty of overhead space on board thankfully). However, it got me thinking if I could politely refuse (but didn’t want confrontation which is never a good idea at a boarding gate).

I'm not sure it is. They sell more space than they have because they can, and it brings in more revenue.

Overbooking flights by selling more tickets than they have seats is completely normal, so why wouldn't the same apply to luggage?

Ultimately they have the keys to the aircraft and they will only turn on the engine when the luggage and passengers fit safely in the cabin.

This happens pretty often on internal
US flights. You can often pay around $20 extra for priority boarding which gets you on the plane with your bag. I almost always buy that.

If I haven’t, and I’m in a late boarding group, I bring a smaller bag and am ready to decant some of my bigger bag’s contents into it, including laptop and any meds.

I flew BA last week and our allowance was 23kg checked bag, large cabin bag and a personal item. We had 2 bags to check, a back pack and a handbag.

At the gate they took cabin bags off anyone in boarding groups 4+.

Didn’t affect us, but still annoying. I nearly had to bring my work laptop with me, that would not have gone into the hold.

Yep, the number of ground staff jobs that went as T5 became more and more DIY was scary (and was always the plan).

You can take a personal sized bag on board (40x25x 30 I think) so they will give you a carrier bag if needed. I carry a large handbag that fits under the seat, it’s only the larger bags at risk - take a folded cotton bag in future just in case

Yep, As far as BA go AFAIK even the basic economy HBO fare allows two items of handbaggage

Sorry if what follows is is teaching sucking eggs but it's pretty easy to avoid too much drama.

The tactic a lot of people use is to always have two bags. You stick essentials (ipad, power pack, passport etc) in a briefcase/shopping bag sized bag that will go under seat, and put the less essential items in the larger bag.

Then, yes it"s PITA if the big bag gets selected for the hold but not the end of the world and you don't have to indulge in repacking at the desk, jetty head or even at the aircraft itself.

This is only a problem because so many people have been taking the piss for years lugging far too much stuff into the cabin with them in hard sided wheelie cases

I think the idea is that by people like op complying and maybe taking a carrier bag with bare essentials it frees up enough space for people like you!

we saw it on a flight we were on they asked lots of people to send their luggage to the hold and let families with babies/toddlers keep theirs.

This is why I nearly always pay for priority boarding, as then they don't take your bag, though I didn't when I last flew with Finnair but they called us first to board even before priority because I had small children - didn't think airlines did that any more!

That a good idea.

This is the best comment on here and should be pinned to the top of this thread if that function exists.

I think some airlines are operating with a degree of cowardice.

They want to offer everyone the illusion that they can take their 55 cm hard shell case into the cabin, but as a PP said, with 200+ people trying to do the same thing, and a few bringing oversized cases that get ignored...

... well it's pretty clear what will happen. The first people through in the priority boarding classes will get a shot, and they'll then take cases off the rest.

I really wish airlines other than Ryanair would crack down on some of this. I've seen absurdly large cases being stuffed into the overheads, and poorly done, by people who can barely lift the cases and who position them awkwardly so the case is right above their seat. Then get very funny if you gently move the case over to put your soft sided holdall in.

It's absurd and I think the whole policy needs rethinking.

I love how BA have got everyone brainwashed into thinking they are anything but a basic airline simply because they fly long haul and possess a few Dreamliners 😆

On jet2 and EasyJet you can now pay to guarantee your cabin bag will be in the cabin with you. Don’t pay and it may need to be put in the hold.

BA don’t bother giving you the option, they’re horrendous these days

Agreed @CountryQueen about the poor offering from BA.

Again I think they just need to move with the times. Other airlines recognise that people have shifted to wanting to have their (large!) cabin bag with them, but these airlines also are honest and realistic about how everyone can't have that option, so they use paying for it as the differentiator and the guarantee.

BA are claiming that they can offer it to everyone, and then hitting people with the reality of things at the gate - not great in my opinion as leaves people in this panic etc. I think far easier to be upfront about how it works

This happened to me once on a work trip. It was early and I was grumpy. Told them I needed to decant my work stuff to have in the cabin. They agreed that was reasonable but were equally eye roll-y and grumpy. It was a several hours flight and I needed to work.

So I asked them to find me a carrier bag I could take into the hold. They huffed and tried to find one. I then sat on the floor in my suit, opened up my case (right in the queue so no one could easily get past or had to step over 😜) and rummaged. For ages.

They then decided that it was too painful and I could, after all, take my case on board 😬 purry much all of the overhead bins were empty 🤪😡

To be fair this wasn't a situation where everyone was being told, they just picked on me. And I did need my laptop etc to work on. And my meds. And a change of clothes in case they lost my bag. And my toothbrush. 😬

I hate flying and all the shit about bags and their size. It's all just penny-pinching and disorganisation by airlines and people taking the piss with huge bags that they know are oversized.

That was my annoying part @AuditAngel - I was inaccurately in group 5 anyhow In the first place.

They challenged all the women only regarding taking their bags. Men with holdalls and a laptop bag sailed through.

I’m so done with BA. They’ve been trading off an old reputation for years.

Omg yeah @itsmeafterall - that’s exactly it! They picked on some women at the end of the queue allowing men to sail past. Then they stopped a lad about 18 who had the same suitcase but then let him board with it.

Was yours a very short flight out of T5 Heathrow or are they just sexist on every flight?

This happened when we went to amsterdam with the children for a weekend. I think we had two airline approved hand luggage and some hand luggage

everyone in front got through and then we were behind a couple that were told that they had to hand the baggage over on the the tarmac, dh argued much to the mortification of the children and I, we were told it was necessary as there was no room on the plane

dh walked past everyone handing their bags on and put the luggage in the virtually empty overhead lockers

@AuditAngel BA have several options for luggage on short haul though. Checked in luggage isn’t standard on all flights at all. They have Economy Basic with NO hold luggage. They clearly know how many have booked this option and need more luggage in the hold. There’s usually people who will do this and they do allow a lap top bag separate from cabin case. Their cabin case is generous too. It’s a case of packing sensibly because so few use hold luggage on some flights.

TizerorFizz I’m aware of the options available. We fly to Spain regularly and usually fly EasyJet. This year some flights were cheaper with BA, then a friend booked for me using her friends discount which saved me £400 and included checked baggage compared to the prices I had obtained using large cabin bags only. As a result we all had checked bags and only a small personal item. Nothing was taken from us (5 of us on 2 separate flights).

if I have checked bags I always volunteer my cabin bags, i quite enjoy not having the stress of trying to get space in the overhead bins.

Someone’s already praised this comment and I will too.

I get really fucked off with people taking suitcases and really big bags on as hand luggage. So many times I’ve seen people take over lockers with them so that others have to look for space away from their seats.

The airlines should get stricter about this.

Aircraft don't have keys.

Some do, I've started one with a key like starting a car, having to turn the key at just the right speed to start the engine.

Well you don't usually have to turn the key to start an airliner but here's a (slightly redacted) door key for a big Boeing.

Have you stopped to think about why?

We are a family who fly hand luggage only. Full on ND family who struggle with the chaos of airports and this is how we make it work as best we can.

We always stay within the designated sizes and we always use soft shell suitcases (we find these compress a bit better and take up less room in the overhead bins). We are travelling within the rules of the ticket we buy…so instead of ranting about us, consider why we choose this way.

As a side note BA are shit! Just absolute shit and I would always pay to fly with a different company if it’s an available option.

Sorry I have my terminology wrong, it’s not soft shell we have. The ones we have are literally fabric suitcases with a frame and wheels. Soft shell it seems are firmer.