Daft question, but would an airline prefer to check a bag or put it in the cabin?

[CorvusPurpureus]

I know, this feels like a really dumb question.

I actually live overseas, but visit the UK maybe 2-3 times a year. So I'd usually have one check in case going in to the UK, & two heading back to Foreign Parts (second one is a slightly smaller one which flies in inside a bigger case, on return generally full of baked beans, marmite, M&S knickers & other UK purchases).

Last time I was here my case went AWOL in transit, eventually rocking up at my UK address a couple of days after I'd already left to return overseas.

As I was coming over this time on a fairly flying visit, I just brought a cabin bag.

I've now been reunited with my errant big suitcase, I've got my cabin bag & a 2nd, also cabin sized bag of overflow shopping.

My ticket back home from Heathrow covers 2 x 23kg suitcases in the hold, & a small bag in the cabin - which is fine, I can check the big case & one cabin bag, taking the other on board with me.

But honestly, it'd be less faff from my POV to check in all 3 bags. There's nothing in any of them I'd need in transit. It's the equivalent amount of stuff that I'd normally be checking in 2 big cases, just in 1 big & 2 little cases!

Which is easier for an airline? Take all 3 bags off me at check in or just take 2 & have me onboard with the 3rd?

I don't think it matters to them all that much, so maybe check only two in the hold and keep one with you? One less for them to lose.

Is it BA? They’ve always been happy to put my hand luggage in the hold at check-in (for free).
I think it means the cabin space won’t be as full!

Most airlines with free cabin bag allowance love it if you offer to check it out. It speeds up boarding and reduces arguments. If you're cynical, you can cheat the system and have someone else waiting with a second hand bag away from the desk though ;)

Never occurred to me to wonder what's best for the airline, do what's best for you. If you have check in luggage allowance and already checking in some bags, yes sure I'd check them all in. Less hassle to drag it around and fight for overhead bin space.

Yep, that was rather my hope - it'd be checking 3 bags rather than the 2 on my baggage allowance, but that's hopefully more convenient both for them (one fewer bag tripping people up in the cabin) AND me (I dump all 3 of my bags at check in & don't have to schlep a cabin bag full of dirty laundry around Heathrow for a couple of hours).

Ta!

It’s not a dumb question at all.

And the correct answer, sadly, is ‘whichever means we can charge the most money’. Baggage has become a massive revenue stream for airlines, particularly those which market themselves as ‘low cost’ and promote unrealistically low headline ticket prices. Their baggage policies are designed to maximise revenue, not to make passengers’ experiences better & more convenient. And those policies are changed very frequently in order to catch out as many passengers as possible, so they can be charged heavy penalty fees.

In my experience, airlines have been happy to check hand luggage in the hold. Loads of people take too much/too big hand luggage so there's never enough space in the cabin. I check everything I can, I don't actually need loads of things in the plane.

Just check with the airline. Some have a max number of actual bags. I recently had 2 small bags which were under the weight allowance but my ticket said only 1 actual bag. Granted that was domestic, but I didn't check and had to pay extra.

If you have check in allowance and are checking anything at all in, it makes sense to check in as much as possible because it means you don't have to get it through security, drag it around the airport or find space in the overhead locker.

We travel with Jet2 regularly and often have our small and large cabin bags and DPs bike. 90% of the time when we check in the bike, they offer to take the wheelie cases too, so I assume it suits the airline to do this.

Assuming there is plenty of room in the hold, the only disadvantage I can see for them is that it increases the number of bags that need to be loaded into the hold, but it must not be a significant bother for them.

Check it in the hold (free) if you can. There's always a shortage of space in the cabin in my experience

Check in 2 as usual, take the third as hand baggage. Then offer to put the third in the hood at the gate. They often want cabin baggage put in the hold, it speeds up boarding

Thanks all - I'll ask at check in.

My experience of this airline is that it's usually rammed with people interpreting 'one piece of hand luggage' as 'one bulging cabin bag, a rucksack, a Chanel handbag & something truly unexpected like a snappy Pekinese, dyed mauve' so hopefully they'll be glad to shove my scruffy holdall out of everyone's way in the hold.

In light of recent events it might be, maybe, worth considering is that checking just about everything in as hold baggage can potentially leave you short of essentials or nice to haves in the event of a big delay or disruption if the airline don’t get your bags back PDQ….

"I don't actually need loads of things in the plane."

It's what you need when your luggage goes missing that you need in the cabin.
Medication, documents (e.g. hotel, car hire, transfer vouchers) valuables, change of clothes for both of us.

You don't really need physical documents nowadays though, surely most stuff is electronic? I don't remember last time anyone wanted an actual paper.
But in any case, even with stingy low cost airlines, you still get a small bag that will fit your essentials like medication and change of clothes.
I mostly travel with hand luggage, to skip the wait both for check in and luggage belt - but if you are checking in stuff anyway, might as well check all 3 cases.

Depends on the airline I suppose if you would get this option for free. However, I recall years ago (can't remember if it was one of the low cost carriers) where a staff member walked the queue and asked if anyone would be willing to put their cabin bags in the hold free. Ryanair do charge for cabin bags with their priority ticket, not sure about the rest of them.

I also read somewhere that Ryanair allocate priority seating + cabin bag overhead only for the number of overhead spaces IYSWIM. Don't know how true that is though. I always check my bags in anyway, big or small. Much less stressful than worrying if there is enough space above, and also lugging a 10 kilo bag + underseat bag all through the airport and often (unless there's an airbridge) up and down the aircraft steps. Can't be bothered with that anymore, but each to their own!

Airline (Egyptair) cheerfully checked it all in!

I understand comments re missing stuff, but the thing is, I was returning home to Cairo, so I have toiletries etc - in fact there were none in the bags as I also keep a well stocked bathroom in the UK.

For a holiday I'd definitely have a cabin bag of essentials - in fact for anything less than a week I'd not be checking a bag in.

All my bags were clothes & shopping, so nothing I'd have had a problem without for a few days.

The flight was rammed so I think they were grateful not to have my crap in the overhead bins!

I understand comments re missing stuff, but the thing is, I was returning home to Cairo, so I have toiletries etc - in fact there were none in the bags as I also keep a well stocked bathroom in the UK.

Then you’re unusually well placed relative to most passengers and you’d possibly be OK for everything except for an en-route diversion that results in an unplanned night-stop?..Rare I know but it definitely happens from time to time..

It might seem extreme to cater for that possibility but if you fly a lot it’s maybe worth considering - It can be a bit grim (and smelly) if you end up with a big delay, somewhere odd, no access to hold bags and you haven’t got at least a change of underclothes and a toothpaste/toothbrush stashed away in a cabin bag.

Spare pair of pants in my handbag, to be fair, & it's a direct flight, so if I got stranded it'd just be a delay at Heathrow, which could probably manage to sell me a toothbrush 24/7.

But agree that for a non direct flight/if off on holiday I'd have a cabin bag with the essentials.

Do what is best for you - if you’re checking in bags you’ll be waiting around at the luggage reclaim anyway. Can you check in 3 items though (the max I’ve had at business has been 2?)

What do with BA is turn up with my cabin case and then when they offer at the gate to let you on early if you relinquish your case to the hold I do that. All the cases are put into a special area and haven’t had one go missing yet.

You may well know this but some may never have considered the following, a C&P from BA.com

“If your cabin bag is checked in or removed at the gate and placed in the hold, you must remove all spare batteries and power banks and carry them with you in the cabin.”

FWIW if traveling light I stick all precious/restricted stuff (laptop, power bank, passport etc) in a small bag that will go under the seat in front of me so that if my wheelie gets taken by the gate team for hold loading I can just hand it over and don’t have to start rummaging through it to extract items.

Yep always have a second small bag with essentials, valuables and PowerBanks etc.

I'm not sure why you would be concerned about which is easier for the airline, which is a multi-million pound business. Really, you are not inconveniencing the staff either way, it's their job, and you have paid a lot of money for the choice. Personally, my question would be "Which of these options is the airline — and, just as important, the baggage handling system at the departure airport and anywhere you might be transiting through — least likely to mess up".

Anyway, if the ticket says "two pieces of luggage up to 23kg each", you will not be able to check in three pieces, even if they only weigh 15kg (or even 5kg) each. Weight is a consideration, but so is space. You will be charged extra for the third piece.

You could maybe try seeing whether the cabin bag fits inside one of the larger bags, so that the airline only sees two pieces. They don't care if part of the contents of one of the bag is another bag. This will probably only take up a modest amount of the space in the outer bag.

Or as PP have said, you can take the cabin bag with a day's change of clothes for when something goes wrong, which could be lost baggage but could also be a flight delay or diversion for some other reason. Always have a plan B when flying. (Also, there are quite a few items that you are not meant to check in, notably any electronic devices that have a rechargeable battery. So you might need a cabin bag to keep all of those together, depending on how much tech you are taking.)