[nmtraveller]

Maybe ban carry on luggage with wheels? Maybe if people have to actually carry their luggage, they will start becoming much more reasonable with the size and weight (and check in anything that is too heavy or too large, as it should be)…

[canucklad]

TK was one of the flights I remember well, The only thing missing (particularly locals) was a donkey to help lessen the burden when observing boarding .especially when leaving Ataturk
I’ll repeat what I’ve said before. Each passenger seat should have an accompanying allocated space overhead. The size exactly matching the measuring gauges found in the terminal. If you carry more on board than fits above, you punish yourself by restricting your own legroom.
If the aircraft is of a size that more space can be allocated then it’s a Brucine bonus.
Just because I board an aircraft near last, doesn’t mean my legroom should be compromised because someone else has taken more than fair share of locker space.

[Charles-P]

My personal bugbear is people who remove other people’s bags to fit their own oversized expedition trunks into the overhead bins. I had this sometime ago on an Emirates flight where a man came up from Economy into Business, took down by laptop bag and jammed in his suitcase before leaving my bag on the floor ! Only last month my son who lives in the US was handed his bag by a woman with the words,
“you can put this under your seat” while she used the space for one of her three bags.

[MartynSinclair]

Charging for all hand luggage and shopping bags will solve the problem very quickly..

[LuganoPirate]

I can’t help but feel if the airlines once again allowed one piece of checked baggage, people would be less inclined to take their bags into the cabin. Kulula, a low cost airline in South Africa, which I have to use to get from home there to JNB, allows one checked bag free of charge and there is rarely a problem finding space for hand luggage as a result.

[IanFromHKG]

A very amusing thread. My position is somewhere in the middle. For many years I tried to travel with just hand luggage on business trips in order to save time, and became so organised that in one pilot’s case I could fit enough clothes (formal clothes, I might add – for work meetings), overnight kit, laptop (in the days where they were a bit chunky), papers, and even a portable printer. And then a friend/client of mine developed serious back problems as a result of lugging his suit carrier onto a plane. So I had a rethink. And for a few years I checked in everything and when the plane arrived, I would stay in my seat relaxing while everyone charged off the plane, and would then stroll off to the luggage carousel and collect my bags, stress-free. Now, I am somewhere between the two extremes. I nearly always check in a bag, but do try to get off the plane promptly in order to minimise immigration queues. But I happily wait at the baggage carousel and check my emails until my bags come through, and leave the airport (assuming other issues don’t intervene) feeling relaxed, knowing that I have probably packed more than I need to, and not caring a jot. I also, however, make sure that I have at least one change of clothes in my hand luggage, just in case. And my hand luggage is large, and very heavy – largely because I love reading newspapers but never have time at home, so I will take a month or two’s worth of papers with me on board. Many people think I’m mad, but I don’t care. It is something I enjoy doing, it is relatively harmless (when you bear in mind that 80% of the weight of an aircraft taking off is aircraft and fuel, and only 20% is passengers and luggage, I don’t think I am trashing the environment that badly).

Seriously – there are times when having only hand luggage is sensible – but most of the time it isn’t necessary. I always laugh inside when I see people clamouring to get off a plane, as though ten minutes will make a difference to the way the world spins. And in many cases, any timing issues could be fixed by taking an earlier flight. That’s not always possible, and I understand that. But people have become so hyped up about this that they start exhibiting behaviour which cannot, realistically, be regarded as rational.

Welcome on board!

[canucklad]

Evening Ian…..In referance to your comments about ensuring your hand luggage contains a change of clothing ……and also linking to the passport thread.

Common sense and comfort is the way to travel…..

My eccentic mate decided the best way to travel from EDI to Bali via AMS in early March was to wear a pair of Painting your house old jogger pants , , a Rocky Marciano T-shirt and trainers that you’d only wear with your decorating pants. …. His hand luggage consisted of a see through body shop bag, just big enough to hold a book , his passport and his credit card!!

When we challenged him about his attire, he disdainly looked at us and proclaimed….”If I had known it was a dress up like Alan Whicker look-a like contest I would have tried harder”

Put in our place , off we traipsed to the airport!

Picking up our boarding passes at AMS, the Garuda lass denies boarding because of his passport status. And checks if we’re happy to let his bag through travel to save hassle., which we agreed too.
Leaving him stuck in sub zero Amsterdam …..looking distinctly unlike Alan Whicker.

The two of us, should have got our revenge and let him be, but between the 2 of us managed to kit him out with a sweater and socks . And a carrier bag from the garuda girl…..Off he tramped into the Dutch winter.

[AnthonyDunn]

Well, having been on some longer trips, there is not a snowballs chance in hell of everything for a month long trip fitting in a small carry-on bag or two small carry-on bags. So, I have no option but checked-in baggage.

John Harper has it spot on: one carry-on in Y, two in J or F.

[Cedric_Statherby]

IanfromHKG – You have described my oscillation between “all in hand luggage” and “hassle free in the hold” to perfection! In my most AIHL phase I once managed a two week trip which incorporated business in Venezuela (semi-tropical), leisure in Buenos Aires (temperate) and climbing in the Andes in Patagonia, all on hand luggage (and it was a legit amount too). Plus prodigious use of hotel laundries and wearing my climbing boots on all the flights.

Now I travel with one small suitcase which will fit under the seat (or in a Flybe locker) and the rest in the hold.

As for charging, I would suggest that any excess baggage that someone tries to take into the cabin not only goes in the hold but is charged double hold rates “for causing extra work”.

The best exchange I ever heard on this was when a woman with far too much luggage (several bags, including one 20kg suitcase) was told “either they go in the hold, madam, or you do – there is not room for both you and your bags in the cabin”.

[jsn55]

You are absolutely right, openfly. This ‘problem’ is easily solved by merely enforcing the carry-on rules. It’s pathetic that the airlines don’t want to annoy a few of their passengers. Just like the fat guy who doesn’t fit in a seat, airlines just turn the other way.

I talked with a United gate agent not long ago and he told me that he wasn’t paid enough to fight with the passengers. Kinda sums it up. I do LOVE the idea of pushing the backpack peeps back after they bang into your shoulder. The other idea is to let out a blood-curdling scream, clutch your shoulder and yell that you just had rotator cuff surgery. Not sure I’m up for this, but it would be fun.

[FDOS_UK]

Another job for the robot with the ‘riot fork’, this is sounding a better proposition by the hour.

[Gin&Tonic]

Leaving EDI for Man one evening on Flybe prop, there was a very light passenger load. The gate staff announced that the ground handling company could not locate enough ballast bags for trim, and if we didn’t all surrender our carry on luggage to be used in the hold we were not going home. Simple enough decision from all followed!!

[Author]

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