Hand Baggage

[happytraveller]

I am amazed sometimes at how much 'hand' baggage people will drag onboard. Probably the worst that I can remember recently is on a flight to Apia, where some of the bags being brought onboard were so heavy that they needed two people to lift them onto the racks. And the rule of one carry on bag seems to be ignored as well.

However, I did see recently around Europe that the old limits for hand baggage (7kg) appear to be being relaxed. One airline is allowing you to bring as much as you can fit into the regulation maximum sized bag, and Norwegian Airline will now allow up to 15kg of HAND baggage on certain tickets. It makes me think that gradually airlines are thinking more like some of the old Russian airlines where passengers carried their own bags ONTO the aircraft to be stored in the cabin.

I remembered seeing something about airlines starting to charge for carry on bags, apparently Spirit Airlines in the USA were introducing a charge of $45US for carry on baggage:-

http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/06/news/compa...s_carry-on_fee/

Logically, the next charge will be a charge to get your bags back!!!

But it is interesting to see now that 15kg or more of hand baggage (or more correctly, cabin baggage) is allowed. Usually even my checked-in bag is under 15kg, but perhaps I am a light traveller.

smooth landings.

[nzropilot]

Doesn't Ryanair have a similar policy? Anyway, quite disgraceful, isn't it? Ryanair is still thinking about charging people to use the toilet. Some of these things are just outrageous aren't they?

[cambridgedan]

I usually just have a laptop bag and backpack or small wheeler bag, i guess aslong as it fits in the locker and/or under the seat its ok, aslong as you dont take up someone els's baggage space,
ive seen people carrying several bags before but then noticed that they are carrying it for family members or friends,

the thing i hate the most is when people put there bag near the front when they are several rows back just so they dont have to struggle to get their bag and save a bit of time,
and it leaves no room for my bag

[IslandBoy77]

QUOTE (cambridgedan @ Dec 14 2010, 09:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

the thing i hate the most is when people put there bag near the front when they are several rows back just so they dont have to struggle to get their bag and save a bit of time,
and it leaves no room for my bag

Yep, that's a pet peeve of mine as well. It's been a while since I flew internationally, but next time I might just "move" such offending baggage to the floor...

[SeanTK]

Some insight from an American here. I think most US airlines now are charging some sort of fee for bags of any size. (Southwest Airlines remains as a major exception to that I believe)
Obviously everyone was quite annoyed with the prospect when it was first introduced, but there hasn't been much of an effort organized against the practice.

As far as what constitutes a carry on....from what I've seen, it's related more to the dimensions of the bag than the weight here. Other times, it's a case of "carry it on, and if it doesn't fit, just gate-check it (have the baggage handlers stuff it in the cargo compartment)". I have seen people struggle through the aisles with large guitar/cello cases more than once....

It has to either fit under a seat, or in the overhead bins. It's pretty amusing to watch the efforts to close the overheads once everyone jams their stuff in.