Carry on Baggage departing UK

Great news Al! Now I just have to decide if I want to deal with Heathrow itself...

Added to the two bags ...

I think you are only allowed two bags if you are in 1st cl. It's one bag in coach. Weight has not been an issue for some time, it was the "personal items" that all had to fit into the same size limit of one bag.

I just hope they strictly enforce that size limit and don't let the overhead bins be filled with mammoth, oversized rollaboard bags.

Smart Travelers always check their Airline's websites prior to departure. It really can be beneficial...especially when policies and restrictions can change more often than most of us can keep up with!

I'm not so sure I like the sound of that new policy.

"Size dimension will remain the same but the weight of the baggage is not an issue, so long as you can put it in the overhead bins unaided". That sounds like a problem in the making to me...And one left to be solved exclusively by the Crew.

A surprising number of Able Bodied Passengers do not lift their own luggage themselves and expect the Cabin Crew to stow their luggage! And it's not just little Grannies, either. Business travelers can be really complacent.

What some Pax can comfortably lift may be a lot more than what we can safely lift up into the overhead bins. The bottom line is that if you aren't willing or able to stow it yourself, and a crew member deems it too heavy, it will have to go into the belly. It's our call.

I know of other Airlines who have experimented with policies very similar to this one. IME, it created unnecessary problems for both Passengers and Crew.

I think there should be a weight MAXIMUM restriction as well as size demension. That way Passengers will know at time of check-in if they are over weight. And have an opportunity to make their own judgement call at that time, whether to remove some essentials and check the rest.

Better to know that at Check-in rather then cause problems onboard and delay departure. Riffling through your bag last minute to take out "essentials" like medications, book, ipod, ID etc really can cause delay. Add to that ensuring the belly is acessable and that your bag is actually safely stowed in the belly...

So my advise is to be absolutely sure that your baggage is not too heavy for YOU to lift, unaided.

I heard a great story on one of these websites. A gate manager started aggressively checking weight and refusing to let overweight bags on board. They had to be checked. But not on that flight, the next flight. And no one could complain, at least, not justifibly, because the weight policy was right there IN WRITING. Maybe what I read is not true, but wouldn't it be nice?

Cancel that !

It's now been hastily decided that it's ONE piece in economy but all other sections of the aircraft get two pieces and we're sticking with the no-weight-limit provided you can put it in the overhead bins.

Plus the 'Liquids' rule is remaining.

Al, for economy: one piece plus personal item (which seems standard on other international flights from US to Europe) or one piece, period--how the rule is now?

One piece plus personal item and the 'liquids' rule.

Actually things are getting a little uncomfortable and there may be a real problem at Heathrow on 07 January.

Will post as soon as I know if that problem is going to be a reality. Will post at 12:00 noon ( UK time ) on 21 December, which is as early as I can legally let you know.

Groundstaff at Heathrow, Gatwick, Glasgow, Edinburgh and a handfull of small UK airports including Stanstead have called a 24 hour strike on 07 Jan, 14 Jan and a 48 hour strike on 17 Jan. Manchester and Birmingham airports along with Luton and a few other regional airports will not be affected.

Basically that means that flights on those days will either have to be cancelled or re-routed into other airports like Luton.

If you're on a flight either into or out of an affected airport on those days you need to contact either your tour operator or the airline. At the moment contingency plans vary but they should be firmly in place in 48 hours.

Short haul flights look set to be diverted to Luton. Long Hauls look set for either Birmingham or Manchester and then a coach connection to the original destination airport. Obviously nothing is confirmed at the moment except for the strike dates.

Enjoy Christmas folks - mines just gone down the pan. Emergency duties for me Ho Ho Ho !

Hi Al
Thankyou for your info, so glad to have the warning. My mum and I are supposed to transit in heathrow on the morning of january 17th (melbourne-london-paris). Have tried calling our airline who say it's not their problem (fair enough, but help would be nice!). Any further insights you have would be very much appreciated!!!
ta

The strikes have been called off

I'd also assume you still can only take one bag UNLESS you find specific information stating that the airport and the airline both allow more than one bag.

The problem is that the airports have to institute extra security to cope with more bags, and many airports aren't ready. Also, even if the airports permit more bags, each airline will decide on its own whether to permit more bags.

It's a real mess...and to be honest, I didn't mind the one bag deal. I'd just stuff everything into one bag, then split it into two bags after security.

Kate

Just went through Heathrow several times, had to do very quick transfers, so we did not have time to take all the stuff from the little carry-on and put it in our larger one-bag. Interestingly no one noticed, commented or made us combine to single bag. In fact many travellers had two big bags . . . . must be the luck of the draw with screeners.

I think it is good that some airlines in Europe reduced the amount of things that a passenger can carry into an airplane. I saw a man carry two large carry-on bags (of maximum size) into an airplane flying from Europe to the U.S.A. The overhead bins in a big airplane do not have enough space for one carry-on bag for each passenger. I think some airlines have the policy of allowing either a coat or a bag, for each person, in the overhead bin. But I have not seen that policy enforced by the flight attendants. And the airlines do not allow passengers to hold a bag on their laps while the airplane is ascending or descending. I had a fear that when I enter an airplane I would not find an overhead bin that has space for my carry-on bag. Those bins are stuffed with bags, backpacks, coats, hats, bicycle helmut, boots, umbrellas, boxes, big paper bags from stores, boxes of wine, etc. So, I carry only a small bag (shoulder bag) into an airplane. I place that bag on the floor beside my feet.