Virgin Atlantic baggage

I haven't flown on Virgin Atlantic, but I always do carry-on and I fly a large assortment of airlines. I don't mess around with size limitations - I follow them. I've been size-checked on Alaska, Condor, Turkish, Ryanair and others that I can't recall right now. Since it sounds like you've got Eurostar tickets for soon after arrival, I'd try to make sure you're as on-the-ball as possible since you've got a good distance to travel from Heathrow. How many hours do you have before your train? Where are you headed?

We have a little over 5 hours before our train leaves. We take the train to Paris then rent a car that evening and promptly leave Paris that night for elsewhere in France. So we can't really wait around for lost baggage to be delivered. I don't want to have to buy new carry-on luggage; we always check it through so it's never been a problem. I suppose if they make us check the bags, I'll just hope that nothing is lost.

Holy cow...are you flying to Atlanta, flying to London, training to Paris, renting a car in Paris and then driving elsewhere in France all in one straight shot? Your other posts indicate you're traveling with children.

This is an exhausting plan, even more so given that you'll be driving at the end of it....how many hours outside of Paris? Can you break this up a bit? You'll have a much better experience.

We're traveling with teenagers so they should be fine. But we have relatives in France who we'll be with as soon as we arrive. One of them will drive the car that evening to his home an hour away because we know we'll be exhausted. So it's definitely possible that we could get dinged for an inch over on one side?

Sure - it's always possible. Rules are rules and there's no real way to predict when they'll be enforced. I feel like size rules are enforced more now than they used to be. As long as you're comfortable checking them as a back-up plan I assume you'll be fine.

I can tell you from first-hand experience that yes, Virgin Atlantic can be very strict about both the size and weight of your carry on hand baggage.

A couple of years ago I was checking my bag at the counter and the agent told me that my backpack carry-on had to be weighed and measured. I'd chosen that backpack because it was light and fairly narrow, but the stuffed pockets made it about one inch too big to fit in the sizing rack and I was well over the 10kg / 22lb weight limit. To make matters worse, my personal item (a second small pack) was judged to be overstuffed! My checked bag had long since disappeared down the conveyor built, so I had no hope of transferring anything into that
bag.

I spent a rather embarrassing 10 minutes huddled in a corner with my packs: tossing anything that cost less than a few dollars, chugging the water I'd prepared to sip while approaching the security check, chowing down on fruit and yoghurt and mashing up a bags of chips and snacks along with anything else I could compress. I also put on several layers of clothing from my backpack before I presented myself back at the counter (sweating slightly in my new attire) and was judged to meet the grade!

Granted, this happened as I was flying out of Heathrow and you're flying in, but I was told this is their company policy. Buying a new carry-on bag is expensive, but then again so is the $100 fee to check a slightly too large bag at the airport.

Whatever you do: good luck!

Holy cow...are you flying to Atlanta, flying to London, training to Paris, renting a car in Paris and then driving elsewhere in France all in one straight shot?

This is truly mind-boggling. I don't think your issue is the extra inch of your bag!

I'll be fascinated to hear if you end up where you've planned to on your first night.

Give it a shot, worse case scenario you have to check it and it's free with them, dunno bout Delta though.

If you do decide to take a chance, put all your valuables/medications etc together in a smaller bag within your carry on so that, if necessary, you can remove and take them on board with you.