when the airline checks size of bag for carryon, will they not allow carryon if it is 1 cm over their limit? the airline says they put the bag in a metal sizing frame to make sure it is under the limit. our bag has a firm frame so can't be adjusted to fit their measuring frame. we don't want to pay at the airport to check that bag if they don't allow it, and would like to stay within our free baggage limit.
Thank you.
This is what it says on their website. “If your carry-on baggage exceeds the size and weight requirements, it will be collected at the gate and loaded into the aircraft's cargo hold for an additional fee. Please note that the charges at the gate are significantly higher than in the check-in hall and can only be paid by credit card.” It seems lately all the airlines have gotten more restrictive, it’s your choice if you want to test them.
My only recent experience with Lufthansa was between Milan and Frankfurt. I didn't see a sizer at the gate in Milan but the gate agent eyed everyone's bags closely. A number of people had roller bags that at least look like they complied but their backpack "personal items" were clearly non-compliant. As a result the roller bags had to be checked. There was a baggage handler standing next to the gate agent who immediately took custody of the roller bag.
To quote Clint Eastwood: "Do you feel lucky?"
The rules are the rules. Will they be enforced? Will they be strictly enforced? See Clint, above.
If you want to be 100% sure there will be no surprises, you follow the rules, to a Tee. If you are willing to roll the dice, be ready for whatever consequences come.
I have flown Lufthansa twice in the past year, including 8 days ago. Our carry-on luggage would have been able to sqeeeeeeze into their metal box, but only with with some firm pressure applied. I think for many folks, it's the weight limit that is the challenge. Mine would have been just barely over the weight limit, but probably within the margin of error for their scale/my scale, and I gambled that it would have passed muster for both size and weight if they checked, though I might have gotten some stinkeye.
In both cases, nobody was checking size or weight, and we skated right through like on our permissive, anything-goes domestic airlines. When I flew from Bergen to Frankfurt on Lufthansa 8 days ago, I took a good look around our gate and found no bag sizers that I could see, and gate agents seemed completely disinterested in scrutinizing bags - I saw some big rolling carryons that looked way, way over their limits, making mine look very compliant by comparison.
But it's all up to the hands of fate. Ask Clint about that.
In May, I flew Lufthansa on a regional plane from Munich to Prague. Everyone with a wheeled bag was forced to gate check. We left the bag as we boarded the plane, and it was returned to us as we departed. Both times by stairs and not jetbridge.
Almost all the overhead bins were empty.
Of all the airlines i have flown the last 5 years, Lufthansa was the most likely to check .... and I flew Wizz and Ryan too. 1 cm can be expensive.
I agree with Mr. E. While I've had to gate check my little suitcase on regional flights, Lufthansa was the only airline that not only checked for size but also weighed bags before transatlantic flights. I had to rearrange a few things at the gat to meet their limits. Fortunately my underwear was packed discreetly. If anything, that experience taught me to pack as light as possible.
