quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
Bags for flying probably aren't standardized because the maximum size of carry on bags is dictated by the individual airlines and it varies a bit.
<snip>

I suspect that Aglifter was wondering why the airlines didn’t get together to set a common luggage standard. At least those in North America, possibly the Western Hemisphere. Doubtful that the EU would go along, unless we chose their standard.

Here's another thing compounding the problem.

I just completed 6 flights. 2 were on an Airbus 330-200 and 4 were on A Boeing 717-200. The luggage compartments on those two different types of aircraft were completely different in size, so we don't even have standardization of luggage compartments between planes.

quote:

Originally posted by NavyAgShooter:
You can get an entire wardrobe into an old style canvas parachute bag. But don't label it as a parachute bag if you're using it for carry-on. Some people might get the wrong idea.

If I travelled with a jump rig (2 parachutes), I used to bundle it in dedicated bag, but have carried the rig as is on board, without a problem, including internationally. They did ask a couple of questions in Australia, but generally, not much concern at all.

Standardizing luggage seems to make sense, but ignores a free economy, and the fact that many passengers may travel just once, or so infrequently, that their gear may not be decided on the basis of what's best for air travel.

Most basic bags fit acceptable dimensions, but the dimensions and the way they're calculated vary among airlines, especially internationally.

My main bag weighs almost 25 lbs empty. It's steel-reinforced and fairly heavy duty, and has held up for fifteen years or so now. It doesn't fit in the overhead, though.

The problem comes when one gets on a regional aircraft with smaller overhead space. What's standard to fit in the overhead of a 737 or 777 won't necessarily fit in a CRJ or ERJ regional aircraft; if one has to make connections and some of them involve smaller aircraft, it doesn't really matter if the baggage is standardized to large aircraft overhead luggage spaces.

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Why have overhead carry on at all? Everything gets checked. TSA line wait times are cut by 80%. Boarding and deplaning times are cut by 50%. Start building aircraft with more belly cargo space and no overhead.

Because there’s zero chance that I’m giving my laptop bag to the baggage handlers.

I never check a suitcase though as I always carry a knife at minimum in my bag. I’ve been a frequent flyer for over 20 years now and have only had one bag not arrive one time, and they was delivered later that same day. Bag check is pretty reliable.

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Why have overhead carry on at all? Everything gets checked. TSA line wait times are cut by 80%. Boarding and deplaning times are cut by 50%. Start building aircraft with more belly cargo space and no overhead.

1. There are many things that need to be with the traveler while aboard the plane, and under the seat is not enough space to accommodate all of it. I am not going to put my 17" laptop and my camera gear into checked baggage, and it is imperative I have my medicines with me at all times.
2. The overhead bins don't take up any space that could be used for anything else. (Airliners are built with cylindrical shapes for a reason, and that creates the space the overheads use.)
3. While boarding time (TSA checks, primarily) might be reduced, I doubt much improvement in deplaning would happen--most folks have retrieved their carryons while waiting for the line to move.

flashguy

Efficient, perhaps, but do we really want some central authority standardizing luggage or even the size of luggage?

A) I was referring to checked luggage, so the processing could be more automated. (Watched a "How America Works" episode on Airports.)

B) Surprisingly, ice cream packages are fairly standardized, precisely so machinery has an easier time handling them.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
3. While boarding time (TSA checks, primarily) might be reduced, I doubt much improvement in deplaning would happen--most folks have retrieved their carryons while waiting for the line to move.

flashguy

I agree completely about no improvement in deplaning and I'll also say it wouldn't make much difference in boarding either. Some, but not much. The problem as I see it is that people don't live in the moment and as a result it takes them forever to get on the plane and get in their seats.

Pale Horse, you must live right.

I have had luggage not make a connection I did, I’ve had luggage make a connection I didn’t. I’ve had a bag be delayed two days on a direct flight from Chicago to Orlando. In a normal year my wife flies around the world, I’m certain she wouldn’t give up carry ons for standardized checked luggage with the promise from the airlines the checked luggage would always get there on time, which it is supposed to anyways.

The problem with standardized luggage is that their will still be oversized, overweight, oddly shaped luggage, like golf clubs, for example.

I have little experience with air travel, only having done it a few times, the last in 1994, so correct me if I'm wrong …

quote:

I'd rather have the choice as to what type of bag I use--size, weight, color, all of it--then some Soviet style standardized piece of luggage that every single person has.

Everyone's bag(s) looking the same, I would think, would make it difficult to tell yours from theirs on a carousel. That would make for some awkward moments.

Standardize the bags?





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i55v-5WRADk

Some enterprising luggage manufacturer or distributor could generate a lot of traffic to their website by publishing a table of measurements for carry-on bags for various airlines.

That would be a public service.

The manufacturer or distributor could also indicate which of their products meet each airline's requirements.

quote:

Originally posted by Pale Horse:

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Why have overhead carry on at all? Everything gets checked. TSA line wait times are cut by 80%. Boarding and deplaning times are cut by 50%. Start building aircraft with more belly cargo space and no overhead.

Because there’s zero chance that I’m giving my laptop bag to the baggage handlers.

I never check a suitcase though as I always carry a knife at minimum in my bag. I’ve been a frequent flyer for over 20 years now and have only had one bag not arrive one time, and they was delivered later that same day. Bag check is pretty reliable.

I said overhead. Your laptop (or at least most of the ones I have ever seen) goes under the seat in front of you in your attache/backpack. I get the lost and damaged luggage concern - I just shrug at all the oversized carry-on that some folks can't even lift into their overhead space.

quote:

Originally posted by nasig:
<snip>
If you carryon, the odds are better you will leave the airport with your bag

“Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is a different story.”
–anonymous

I think twice over the years I've had bags run into trouble; a few other times, they were delayed, but wound up at the same place. Last year, a series of delays and then a cancelation, with itinerary changes out of Alaska, left my bag in Atlanta and I went to Philadelphia. On another occasion, a rejected takeoff and some last minute flight changes put my bag on a different flight to Palm Springs. When I arrived to pick it up, the bag showed up ripped in two, with the contents everywhere.

Most of the time, the chances of losing a bag or a misrouting, increase with multiple aircraft changes especially between carriers. Especially for flights with very little time between one arrival, and the next departure.

It's really something to see what some people think they need, or should bring, on a trip. Steamer trunks, literally. Carts filled with bags. Even in light charter aircraft, I've had passengers show up with luggage that woiuldn't fit through the baggage door, or in the cabin. 12' ladders. A dozen bags of golf clubs ("but, we brought them. Because we brought them, you must have room").

Even if one knew the luggage dimensions for a particular airline, it's no guarantee that the luggage will fit, because aircraft are not the same. United allows a carry-on bag 22"x14"x9" and a personal item 17"x10"x9". This works fine in a 737, but necessariy so in an ERJ regional aircraft, even though one may be flying on both the 737 and the ERJ to get to one's destination. The carry-on bag will need to be checked, and the overhead space isn't very big for the personal item.

If you're traveling overseas, what the carrier abroad may allow is often not what the US carrier allows. I changed terminals at Heathrow once and between the terminals was a checkpoint with two dumpsters full of gear. The US carriers allowed three items, the British Airways flight, two. Whatever couldn't be crammed into two bags, got thrown away. They didn't accept, "but my carrier said..." as an excuse. I've seen KLM and others do that, too.

Luggage manufacturers can't account for all the travel choices or destinations, or aircraft types, or carriers. It's up to the passenger to plan ahead and carry accordingly.

It's a good plan to make sure that essentials are carried on board, to include meds, computers, and other items that one doesn't want to risk losing, or being without. Also a good idea to have at least a change of clothes and personal items on board...flights cancel, delay, get re-routed, or stuck. The boy scouts were on the right track: be prepared.

quote:

Originally posted by Nuclear:
Pale Horse, you must live right.

Well, I do t know about that .

While I maintain the idea that checking luggage is pretty reliable, I do realize some of my luck likely has to do with the fact that for 18 of those years I lived in Atlanta and so I very rarely had to take a connection. For the last couple I’ve lived in FL I almost always take connections but I always make sure to give myself an hour at a minimum for the layover.

My uneducated assumption is that connections, particularly with short layovers, create a large portion of lost bag issues.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Some enterprising luggage manufacturer or distributor could generate a lot of traffic to their website by publishing a table of measurements for carry-on bags for various airlines.

That would be a public service.

The manufacturer or distributor could also indicate which of their products meet each airline's requirements.

Some bloggers have filled that need. Here's one example of hand bag limitations by airline.

To the OP, as others have pointed out, different airlines buy different brands of airplanes. And even within a particular model, they can do different configurations. For example, not all airlines servicing Asia-US have the same legroom space.

Here's what I learned over the years: it's not like one just flies randomly to different countries. One learns which countries he would most likely go to, then you can check the airlines that services those routes. Each airline has it's own guidelines. I think for the most part, International flight is standardized as far as baggage size limitations.

I've bought a set that will fit my needs with two check in luggage and 1 carry on that can be stored nestled in each other when not in use.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
Here's what I learned over the years: it's not like one just flies randomly to different countries. One learns which countries he would most likely go to, then you can check the airlines that services those routes. Each airline has it's own guidelines. I think for the most part, International flight is standardized as far as baggage size limitations.

International is anything but standardized in terms of size, weight, or dimensions.

I often have little idea in advance where I'll be going; it I may take Emirates or Air Canada to Dubai, or I may be on Turkish, or Malaysian. I may end up at the far end of South America or somewhere in the Pacific, Austrailia, Vietnam, or China. We had a real problem for some guys passing through Japan for a while.

Recently I was in Seoul and getting ready to hop on United, headed for Dallas, but got turned around doing KLM to Amsterdam. Very different handling of baggage, and size and weight allowances.

If you're not traveling much and can taylor bags to one airline (and know you won't be code sharing with others, and between aircraft types), you can plan for a specific allowance. Otherwise, it's best to shop for the smallest, most conservative bags you can, and pack accordingly.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Everyone's bag(s) looking the same, I would think, would make it difficult to tell yours from theirs on a carousel. That would make for some awkward moments.

You're right and wrong and I can see you haven't traveled much by air.

A significant number of bags already look the same and people have come up with some very creative ways of making them different so they'd stand out on the carousel.

Personally, I painted my Astrological sign on the back of mine, they put 4 different small colored velcro pieces of 3" material on it in differing places so that no matter whether it came out on the carousel on the back, the front or on one of its sides, I could see the changes I'd made.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Everyone's bag(s) looking the same, I would think, would make it difficult to tell yours from theirs on a carousel. That would make for some awkward moments.

You're right and wrong and I can see you haven't traveled much by air.

A significant number of bags already look the same and people have come up with some very creative ways of making them different so they'd stand out on the carousel.

Personally, I painted my Astrological sign on the back of mine, they put 4 different small colored velcro pieces of 3" material on it in differing places so that no matter whether it came out on the carousel on the back, the front or on one of its sides, I could see the changes I'd made.

I use an orange, locking luggage strap on the rare occasions that I actually check a bag, like when I travel to France next month. Makes my black Travelpro stand out easily on the carousel.

I use a pelican case for my checked bag. I suppose I might get two, but so far, I haven't needed that, even for several weeks abroad.

Mine is covered with stickers form various places that bag has been.