Luggage Experience - Lufthansa

According to the Lufthansa website,

"Also allowed in the cabin: another item of carry-on baggage (max. 30 x 40 x 10 cm, e.g. handbag, laptop bag), one baby carrier per child or a child’s car seat or a foldable pushchair/buggy (may have to be transported in the cargo hold) and wheelchairs/orthopaedic aids (e.g. walking aids)."

30 x 40 x 10 cm is just under 12" x 16" x 4", so your 23½" camera bag is way over. I've never had them measure my laptop bag, but it's about 8" x 11' x 4" and fits easily under the seat.

My experience (2014) was - don't ignore the weight limit. Ours met the 8kg limit but we saw the gate agents weighing several and making them get checked.

Lufthansa very strict! Be careful! We had to fit our bag in a luggage measuring device. My bag was the correct size... But I did have a bulging bag😊. They also weighed the bags. They ended up checking my bag through to Venice from Chicago (we started from San Francisco). Our luggage was there when we arrived in Venice! But in your case, I would definitely check with Lufthansa before risking it!

Yes, Lufthansa is strict with dimensions & weight, and they adhere to their rules. Luckily you checked before arriving at the airport.

For those who have replied thus far, let me follow up with this. I would say your average back pack is larger than the prescribed dimensions of a laptop bag. Have you found these being often checked and weighed? I have 2 back packs to choose from but will be utilizing which ever I choose as an overnight back for the first day of our stay so would obviously like to use the larger one if possible. So even the smaller bag would technically be too big but since I have never had an issue with a back pack before, though never flying Lufthansa, I am just hoping people have had occasion where they haven't given notice to the backpack.

Also for clarity. My wife and I both have a regulation sized carry-on and then one small backpack that is definetaly within the size of the personal bag dimensions.

Thanks for all the replies thus far as well.

Another question as well. Does gate checking reduce the risk of lost luggage? I really wouldn't care if the bags were gate checked if there was little or no possibility of loss. Our flight is 3 legs long (SLC to LAX to IAH to FRA) and so I am terrified of lost luggage if checked.

Would any recommend carrying our bags till Houston and then checking it to Frankfurt or is that even possible?

We travel with a pair of RS Convertible backpacks, nothing else, and we have never been asked to size them nor weigh them. This includes two round-trips on Lufthansa the last two years, both of which went through Frankfurt. Come to think of it, we saw only one bag placed in the sizer during those 8 boardings, we also see people allowed to carry on on what clearly was too much cabin gear, without any questioning.

Does gate checking reduce the risk of lost luggage?

generally, as it is highly likely your bag will be put on the right plane in the first place. What happens on arrival varies by airline. On many airlines, you wait on the jetway for luggage that was gate checked. On other airlines, it gets delivered to the baggage carousel.

Regardless, make sure there is nothing of value in luggage that is gate checked. A work colleague was forced to gate check her rollaboard and didn't bother to remove her laptop figuring it was just a one hour flight. She never saw her bag again.

I fly Lufthansa out of San Francisco whenever I go to Europe. They are very strict about carry on luggage. They walk through looking at all the luggage of the people waiting to board. I carry the Rick Steves 20" roll on and they questioned me about the weight which I had weighed at home and knew it was 15# total so I was off the hook but they do tag your bag showing it is approved for carry one which is helpful for connecting Lufthansa flights in Europe.
I also carry the Rick Steves Veloce bag which is a small backpack and no questions asked about that.

Being a strictly point and shoot person, now with only a smartphone, I'm a little confused about what kind of camera equipment would be 23.5" long. Is that some kind of a tripod? Are you even sure that you can carry it on and that it will pass the TSA screening and not be considered a potential weapon? I think you first need to check with TSA at your local airport about that. I had to get a special note from my doctor so I could carry a hiking pole that I planned to use in rugged terrain in Greece. When folded, it is less than the length of my 22" spinner.

You say: "My wife and I both have a regulation sized carry-on and then one small backpack that is definitely within the size of the personal bag dimensions." Have you tried putting your camera stuff at an angle in the regulation sized carry-on, which I assume is a 22" backpack? If TSA would approve it, you might have to sacrifice some space in your carry-on for the equipment. If they don't and you absolutely have to have it, you might have to check just that part of the equipment.

As everyone says, Lufthansa is very strict about these matters, so I would not chance it with them. And I definitely would not just show up at the airport and assume TSA will let you through, either.

Update -- You might also want to read this thread and the article referenced in it. Lufthansa might not be your only problematic airline: When is a bag not a legal bag? on the Packing forum under Tips & Trip Reports.

Lufthansa's website says 21.5 x 15.5 x 9 inches for a carry on. My old bag, with which I have never flown on Lufthansa, is 23.5 (if you measure the propping legs or wheels) x 14.5 x 8. If you only measure the outside of the case, the first measurement is 21 inches, without the wheels. Do I need to buy a new bag? Ann.

My husband and I flew Lufthansa out of Seattle this summer and gate attendants walked through the boarding area weighing passengers' bags. They seemed more concerned about weight than size. We ended up having to gate check our bags - not because of size but because of weight.

Lo. I didn't say the equipment was 23.5 inches but the bag that carries them is. Also, I know I can fit my gear, if separated, in the various reg sized bags, but the point of my inquirey is that I need to be able to bring the bag to carry it all in, and not throw it in any old back pack.

For those who said they saw people weighing bags, were they just weighing suit cases, or did you also see people with back packs and hand bags being weighed?

It sounds like I am going to need a different solution...and perhaps I gate check my luggage and use my back pack as my carry-on rather than my personal bag.

We have RS back packs and the last trip we took our bags were weighed, not measured. My husband's was overweight, but they let him through anyway. I am guessing that because it was only a one hour flight, they let him slide.

Lufthansa is one of the strict ones. They enforce both size and weight rules, and they mean it when they say one item - not one item plus a personal item. Be sure to weigh your bag before you depart and keep it under 20 lbs (the max is 18 lbs). I prefer knowing it's within the rules so I don't worry when they start weighing bags at the gate.

Loads expand during the trip, I'm always weeding things out, you may have to check your bag on the way home . I try to leave extra room in my bag when packing just for that inevitable "inflation" so it's still okay for the way home.

Ok, so I have come to discover that my bag can be made to be 22.5 inches long. So I will just try to take it as a carry on and hope for the best. My hope is that since it will be well under the 18lbs and only a difference of a half inch, they will let me be.

I will let you all know how it goes--in case others out there care.

Lufthansa's US/English website:
http://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/Carry-on-baggage

Dimensions for carry-on baggage: 55 x 40 x 23 cm; for foldable garment
bags: 57 x 54 x 15 cm. Also allowed in the cabin: another item of
carry-on baggage (max. 30 x 40 x 10 cm)
The website also notes that the carry-on weight limit is 8 kg.

The Germans and the developed world uses metric measurements where 1 inch equals about 2.54 CM and 1 kg equals about 2.2 pounds. The max carry-on is equivalent in English units to 21.6" x 15.8" x 9.0" rounded to the nearest tenth of an inch and a "personal item" of 11.8" x 15.7" x 3.9". The 22" that some quote is rounding up 55 cm to the inch.

The real world situation is that while Lufthansa is stricter than major US carriers, they appear to use the eyeball test to cull the herd. Your "big" bag of 22" + 1.5" = 23.5" may stand out. In my limited Lufthansa experience, they did not check or weigh every carry-on bag. My "personal item" is thicker than 10 cm but thin enough to easily fit under the seat and hadn't been questioned. That said, prepare for the worst case of having to gate check baggage.

Well I now have someone saying my bag is indeed 55 cm and another report saying it is 22.5 inches. I have ordered the bag, will see it Wednesday and then I will know for sure...and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is real close to the 55cm. My hope is that if I keep the weight low, I can get it on. Since this is not going to be the only trip I take this on, I want to make sure that I am not just getting lucky one time...but I am going to try it out and see what happens. Luckily I have a back up plan if they wont let the bag on so that I don't have to check my camera gear...but we shall see.

In general I don't think airlines care about the dimensions of your personal item as long as you can stuff it under the seat and you are not trying to put it in the bins. But once in a while a flight attendant will enforce the rules about making sure the personal items are all the way under the seat--not sticking out into the foot space--especially for passengers on the aisle seat where this is more obvious. So you might think about whether you can actually get it under the seat or whether you will be stepping on it, both to avoid any problems with the airline and also so that you are not stepping on your camera gear because it is under your feet rather than under your seat.

And I think all of this depends on what airline personnel you encounter and the bin space on the particular airplane. Sometimes you could bring on an elephant and they wouldn't care, and other times they insist you check a bag that is 1 inch too big. Sometimes the bins fit slightly larger bags, and sometimes they don't.

Carly,

Have you flown Lufthansa? If so, I am much interested in your experience here because it seems like the issues you speak of will vary from airport to airport (and probably day to day). Since one post on this thread in San Francisco says they check all the time, and another who frequently flies out of the east somewhere has seen no trouble.
But we are flying out of Houston, so it makes me wonder about your experience.

I have flown to Germany 11 times in 10 years from Salt Lake. I have noticed two problems. Once I flew United-Lufthansa through Chicago and Lufthansa did indeed check the luggage, forcing some folks to check oversized bags.

The other problem might be getting to Houston. Some recent feeder planes have smaller bins and will not handle a 22". On one flight they forced everyone in zone two to check the typical "carry-on". I travel with an 18" or a soft bag after observing the struggles of others. Your soft backpack might make if for the squish-ability as your main carryon.

In the case of a codeshare itinerary originating or ending in the U.S., the marketing carrier’s baggage allowances and fees must apply throughout the itinerary. Last year I bought a ticket from Portland to Munich from United. I was on a United A320 from Portland to Chicago, and a Lufthansa A340 from Chicago to Munich. Under the rule, the more liberal United baggage rules applied, even on the LH airplane. I understand this is a US Department of Transportation rule that took effect in January 2012.

Great info from the two of you. I will have to put it to the test.

So my bag finally is here. I measures about 21.75 inches when it is 'squished' to the limits of the internal frame. So I have decided to check one bag, so rather than trying to get a carry-on AND my back pack on, my wife will have a carry-on, my new back pack as a carry-on and then a small back pack should be fine as a personal item.

We are flying from SLC to LAX and then to Houston, so the small plan to LAX may be an issue but the flight is not sold out. The LAX to Houston is a 757 I think.

So we will see how we go...but I will make quite the stink if the want to try and make me check my camera gear since the bag should conform to United's rules. I wonder if that rule you mention about the full journey for luggage size applies to weight as well...since United is certainly more generous. For those who get checked while standing in line to board, do they look at boarding passes or anything before measuring/weighing?

What plane are you flying from SLC to LAX? If it's a typical Bombardier CRJ, there is no way anything much bigger than a purse or tote is going to fit in the overhead bins no matter how many people are on the plane, so plan accordingly. You will have to gate check all but the smallest bag(s). It/they will be waiting for you as you exit the plane. You get a special tag to put on them. I have gone through this drill many times between Tucson and SLC over the past few years. They gate check because the overhead bins are so tiny.

If it's something bigger, then you can probably follow your recent plan. I couldn't quite understand what was being carried on and what was being checked, but that may be my lack of afternoon coffee at the moment.

Whoops - looks like I need to revise what I said above. I went back and looked at the DOT rule, and apparently the requirement to abide by the marketing carrier's baggage standards (size, weight, fees) applies only to checked baggage. Hand baggage is still governed by the operating carrier. Sorry for the bad info. See here.

I've flown Lufthansa to Germany and France from Boston 4 times in recent years and have never had a carry on questioned or weighed. I think a lot depends on the mood of the gate crew.
I take my dslr, a few lenses, laptop......so my bags are not light.

Last fall, my mom and I flew Boston to Pheonix, then Tucson to Boston. We both have the exact same Delsey 21- 22" rolling carry on in red. Both were similar in weight, both were packed full. We had no problem on the plane from Boston to Phx-US Airways but on our flight from Tucson to Boston on American, I boarded right in front of my mom, they let my bag go without a second look but stopped my mom and had her gate check hers saying it wouldn't fit in the overhead bin. One never knows.....
My daughter flies Air France between Boston and Paris a few times a year, one time in many flights they hassled her about her Delsey rolling bag, no problem since. She travels pretty heavy since she pretty much lives in France and brings a lot of stuff. She just flew out on American with my 22" Delsey bag bulging full and very heavy. It was definitely well over the weight, no problem.
Def. have a back up plan if you have to gate check your gear. I usually have a small backpack or another bag stuffed in the rolling bag just in case I need something to stick my camera gear in to board the plane. Luckily I have not had to do that....yet

Now that we are back, I promised a report.

We had absolutely no issues whatsoever with luggage size. We were within size and weight of everything so it would not have mattered, but we were never looked at once for the need to check luggage.

So we had a 24" carry-on that we checked because of weight and then carried on my large but still within specs back pack, and my carry-on and my wife had a smaller back pack. I did not try to carry everything on as I had first planned, but I think we could have.

The only issue we had with the luggage is since we went from SLC to LAX to IAH via United and then Lufthansa to Frankfurt, we had a lost luggage scare. Took about 25 minutes after all the other luggage was there and gone before, almost magically, our checked bag arrived on a different carousel. As a result, we were delayed and it pushed back everything on our 2 days on the Rhine, but carrying on that back would have presented other heartaches.

I've also never had problems the few times I've flown with Lufthansa. All flights were from Germany back to the states. And I always have a small backpack, and small carry on bag, and usually a big bag of souvenirs. I'm always surprised I'm able to get on the plane carrying so much.

Lufthansa has become so strict its crazy. WE experienced at the Frankfurt airport flying back to the states automated machines that will weigh and check all your luggage. If over the limit it automatically spits out a ticket that tells you what you have to pay on fines. Luckily for us the day we left there was an issue with an upcoming strike and they said not to even worry about it. Due to the constant strikes by Lufthansa we have decided not to fly with them anymore. They have become to unreliable to us due to strict time issues. However we love Lufthansa and their excellent services even for us passengers that have a seat in the cheapest category !

We were pretty pleased with our first Lufthansa experience for both legs (Houston to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Munich). We were fortunate with regards to your luggage issue in that since the flight was actually booked through United and the Munich journey was technically still part of the previous leg, that they had to honor the luggage policy of the booking carrier. Otherwise, the one bag we checked would have cost us for the FRA to MUN leg. But their own baggage policies seems almost impossible to abide by.

"Lufthansa has become so strict its crazy. ... automated machines that will weigh and check all your luggage. If over the limit it ... tells you what you have to pay on fines."

So strict? Lufthansa'a checked bag policy is 23 kg, which is 50.6 lb. On top of that you get a carryon up to 17.6 lb. As one who routinely goes to Europe with a sub-12 lb carryon, I think anyone who needs more than 68 lb is the crazy one.

United has no weight limit for carryon items that will be put in the bin over passenger's heads. Now that is crazy. I was once on a flight where the pilot made such a hard landing that all of the overhead bin doors opened. Imagine 50 lb carryon bags flying around the cabin.

"... Flights originating or ending in the U.S., the marketing carrier’s baggage allowances and fees must apply throughout the itinerary."

I would not count on the above statement. Universally in my experience, when I booked with a US airline but flew on a plane being operated by an international partner, the international baggage requirements applied. Perhaps this isn't true with every US airline, but it certainly has been my experience with Delta and American.

"they mean it when they say one item - not one item plus a personal item. "

Brad, Lufthansa says,

"Also allowed in the cabin: another item of carry-on baggage (max. 30 x 40 x 10 cm, e.g. handbag, laptop bag), ...".

www.lufthansa.com/us/en/Carry-on-baggage

I was on a Lufthansa A380 from Frankfurt to Houston last Sunday. I didn't see anyone having their carry-on questioned. But i guess that's not a guarantee. The big issue was that in Houston it took over an hour and a half from arrival at the gate until the luggage was on the carousel in baggage claim. So what should have been a leisurely connection to Austin ended up being a dash for the gate after we rechecked our bags. One bag didn't make the connection for some reason. I am on this flight a couple of times a year and i detest the Houston airport.