For those who work for the airlines I have a question about carry on luggage.

I travel quite a bit, often several times a month. Normally I size my bag to the trip so I can carry on. I do this as I often have PPE required for the site visit and can't risk it getting lost. I've also had issues gate checking as they always manage to damage my bag some how. After replacing several soft side I finally went with a hard side, and made sure the dimensions fit the smallest commuter jet (baby jet) and have successfully stowed it on several airlines. It would ALMOST fit under the seat. It is smaller than the crew roller board bags in all dimensions.

I always check my reservation to see what aircraft I'm flying. I try to always have the appropriate size bag. Baby jet, baby bag. Larger jet, bigger bag.

Lately I've noticed a trend, on commuter jets and even some of the small Airbus like a 319 where the gate agents insist on gate checking EVERY bag telling passengers that the bags won't fit in the overhead. Clearly not true for many bags.

As an example I flew to Mexico City this week with one connection. The first was a CRJ200. I had the baby bag as I only needed 1 change of cloths and my normal backpack. They tried to gate check my bag but I took it on board anyway and it slipped right into the overhead as always. Not a word from flight crew.

On the return leg they did thing, but this time the luggage loaders were in the jetway grabbing bags. I walked by them knowing I'd had the same CRJ, possibly the same exact jet, the day before. One of them chased me down and grabbed my bag from me. He told me ALL bags had to be checked and walked away with it. I mentioned something to the flight attendant as crew roller boards (much bigger than mine) were stowed in the overhead. She shrugged and said she didn't know.

Why is this an issue? Other than the damage, and yes my bag now has some good scratches in it, it causes a back up at the destination. Every time it's 50 people standing in the jet way, blocking the egress path fighting through the crowd when they see their bag thrown up on the floor. It's chaos.

I understand people bring bags that are too big and must be gate checked. I've even done this when I had a long trip on a baby jet requiring a big bag and had to risk the bag damage. But why are they insisting on gate checking every bag and stating the bags won't fit in the overhead when they clearly will with space to spare?

Not an airline employee, but I did see the gate agent(s) requiring some passengers to gate check their bags the last couple times I flew; and we were flying on a 787 & a 737-800.

My assumption was that these were Basic Economy passengers & weren't permitted more than a 'personal item' to carry on the plane.

Not an airline baggage handler...but my two cents' worth:

Rather than be firm about those with oversize carry-ons, telling them they have to gate-check, and risking offending those with oversize bags, and the resultant social media faux outrage, they instead just say "all bags get gate-checked." Then everyone is happy and no one is discriminated against and it is daisies and fairy tales.

There's not enough storage for carry-on bags for every passenger. So on full flights, rather than risk causing a ruckus by telling some passengers they can have their bag but others can't, they simply state that all carry-ons must be gate checked.

(I'm not an airline employee, but I've had a gate attendant specifically explain this to the passengers before I boarded a very full flight.)

Flying is hell powered by kerosene.

Just another reason I'll never fly Southwest again and only 1st class (at least on domestic flights).

-Rob

I'm not sure about economy airlines as I don't fly those work. This is related to American, Delta, and United.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Flying is hell powered by kerosene.

^^^^This

I tend to see bags checked in the following instances:

1. Large bags on commuter flights.
2. Almost any hard-sided bags on commuter flights, regardless of size.
3. Later in the boarding process when the overheads are filling up.

I haven't noticed a trend to check EVERY bag. Yet. I almost always fly with something soft-sided that fits the overhead (which I know doesn't fit the PO's modus operendi), and with a bit of persuasion, will fit under the seat. I fly primarily American, with the occasional United and Delta route. Flying Frontier in late September (CLT-DEN RT), but upgraded to their "The WORKS" with free carry-on, seat selection and checked bag.

I do believe that if I were told my bad had to be checked that I'd claim I have several lithium batteries, medications, etc. that I can't check. (Which has the added advantage of being true.)

The airlines have brought this on themselves, so I have no sympathy for them. Packing more people into their flying tin cans. Overbooking. Charging for checked bags (and everything else). I fly because I must, not generally because I want to.

So another question about carry-ons - it's clearly published on websites what size is acceptable. They have those little bins by the gate to see if things fit. So why are things like guitars and fly rods allowed as carry-ons?

.

Explain the bag has Lithium Batteries. Although many types of batteries are allowed on commercial airliners, you may not pack a lithium-metal battery with over two grams of lithium. Smaller lithium-metal batteries and various sizes of lithium-ion batteries are allowed in your carry-on baggage but not in checked luggage.

Also, explain that your carry-on bag contains all of your medications. If you can, get something like a colostomy bag just to scare the airline employee with the question ~ If I need to change out my colostomy bag, where do want me to keep the filled bag until you return my carry-on bag?

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:

Lately I've noticed a trend, on commuter jets and even some of the small Airbus like a 319 where the gate agents insist on gate checking EVERY bag telling passengers that the bags won't fit in the overhead. Clearly not true for many bags.

It's not that it won't physically fit (unless you're on an ERJ or CRJ); it's that it won't fit because every other schmuck on board has jammed his life possessions in the overhead, and instead of taking the time to put it in properly, put it sideways, taking up one or two other passenger's overhead space. It won't fit because there's no room.

My regular bag sees heavy international travel and has been going for about 12 years, always checked, or I drag it on board and drag it off myself. It won't fit in the overhead. I have smaller gear that fits under a seat when flying as a passenger, or in the overhead.

If you can gate check and won't be changing aircraft, you have a much lower chance of anything getting lost or damaged, and it will be usually last on board, and first off, which is good for you, especially if you can recover it in the jetway.

Crew gear is usually stowed in the crew closet, aircraft-depending. If you were flying in a CRJ, not much bigger than a pencil box will fit up there.

I'm not aircraft personnel but fly a lot.

The main reason is all of these people with carry-on's REALLY slow the boarding and unboarding of the plane down as everybody and their brother is trying to fit carryons into this bin or that one is full, this one won't fit. So it makes people with very tight connections (or if the plane is running late) miss their connecting flight. And, you also get someone sitting 6 aisles away from the bin their carryon is in.

Also it pisses off a lot of other passengers, I usually always get an aisle seat because I'm 6'3, I inevitably always have some idiot playing tug of war with a carryon that won't fit into or out of the overhead bin, directly over my head, and 1/4 of the time they drop it on my head if I don't stick my hand up to deflect it.

It is totally the airlines' fault. As soon as they started charging for checked luggage, both my wife (who travels every week) and I both commented (and complained to the airlines) that this was going to cause everyone to try to carry on everything, slowing down boarding and deplaning, which it has. All to try and make a few more bucks. As I keep telling companies, you can't win a pissing match with your customers.

You may be missing the point of separating the charges.

Charging for luggage doesn't mean that the airline is greedily trying to suck down your travel dollars. It does mean that the airline offers a lower cost to those who choose not to check bags.

The aircraft can carry X amount of weight, be it fuel, passengers, mail, or passenger's luggage. That weight has value, whether it's the standard weight of the passenger or standard weight of luggage.

If you don't want to travel with luggage, and some people don't, then they don't need to pay for luggage...which they'd be doing if the charges weren't separated out. Separating charges allows an operator to offer options.

Last time I flew I shipped everything except what I needed for the flight to my destination hotel. On the return, I mailed dirty laundry and all home. I'm tired of games. And, it was cheaper than checking bags.

I have a small bag that I use if traveling alone for short trips that will fit on even the smaller plane. When they try to check it I just tell them that it has my medical device in it (true) and that has always ended the conversation.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
Last time I flew I shipped everything except what I needed for the flight to my destination hotel. On the return, I mailed dirty laundry and all home. I'm tired of games. And, it was cheaper than checking bags.

I have done that several times as well. With enough notice it's very viable way for business.

I do the same thing. Especially when I'm training, and have extra gear. It's a pain to lug on the airlines, so I bundle it up in a cardboard box and ship it home before I head to the airport.

Just to clarify this was on airlines that did not charge for a carry on bag, and EVERY bag regardless of seat assignment, flyer status, or bag size was checked, with the exception of the roller boards of flight crews catching a ride to a different airport.

Just FYI...there are some "Regional" airlines (like the one for whom I used to fly) who's company policy per the FAA is that NO roll-a-board bags will be allowed in the cabin of the EMB-145 aircraft (exception being the crew's bags stowed in the designated crew closet). Because you may have been able to carry on and stow your roll-a-board bag on some flights with that airline and/or airframe means the Flight Attendant might have been or was actually violating Company/FAA regulation to avoid the passenger confrontation. I don't know what that policy might be for airlines that fly the CRJ-200 POS, such as Skywest, e.g.

The general rule of thumb was that if it was a "hard framed" bag with wheels, it had to be gate-checked. If it was a soft-side bag with wheels, it was good to carry on, the premise being it can be "conformed" to fit the overhead since it's soft-sided. I had several flights during my tenure there where we told a passenger his/her "hard-frame" bag couldn't be brought on board, but we were ASSURED it would fit. Guess what? Either before departing or at the destination, the passenger literally broke the overhead bin trying to get their bag in or out, thus causing a massive delay for everyone else on board. Didn't matter the last friggin' airplane they were on was a B737 or bigger. This is when I began to LOATHE the "me me me me...it's all about ME!" crowd (regardless of their age) in which we now have to co-exist.