A follow up to our "packing fail."
We DID manage to get down to carry-on weight, only to be greeted with "everything must be checked except one personal item". This was on Air France.
Boarded the plane to find all the overhead bins were empty!
Thank goodness we had packed our backpacks with a change of clothes, medications and other essentials, so it wasn't the end of the world.
At least we had lightweight bags to roll around Venice!
A couple of things that really helped "lighten the load".
For the liquids I needed, that were more than a contact-lens-container's worth, I purchased a couple of small 1.2 oz condiment containers (for packed lunches). These worked great!
I also found some cheap but really comfortable travel undies by Fruit of the Loom. So soft, and dried really, really quickly. My expensive travel panties felt like wearing saran wrap. These did not.
The heavy hearing aid charger is still a conundrum, but it made it through the trip in DH's pocket.
Thanks for the update, JBC, but how weird that you couldn’t do carry on and all the bins were empty! Wasn’t it somewhat chaotic getting everyone’s bag gate checked at boarding?
Love the idea of 1.2 oz. condiment containers. Thanks!
Actually, it was at check in that we were told that we had to check our luggage. Glad we had airtags.
It was very strange.
Same thing happened to us flying AF CDG-Oslo in July. Bags under, insisted at check-in we had to check.
One of the advantages of going carry on is avoiding check-in. As long as you got your boarding pass on line you just enter the airport and go to your gate. Of course, good chance they would have gate checked your bags there ... or maybe not.
Yeah, when we showed up at the gate, everyone had to gate check their bags.
The gate was even announcing passenger names, informing them that they must come to the gate and check bags.
But the question remains - did your checked bag arrive with you - was it Venice?
How did it go for boarding without the usual carryon hold up of people stowing their bags? I am curious because this could be a singular experiment of one time.
How did it go for disembarking without the usual get my bag down scenario?
yes, our checked bags arrived with us!
And yes, it was faster/easier to board and to deplane. Not a great deal, but it seemed somewhat faster.
Any explanation why carry-on bags that conformed to their specs had to be checked?
I have an I have a friend who is an airline flight attendant and their “advocacy team “actually talked to their airline about how do they do something like this about a year ago. Their arguments are that it would make boarding and unloading faster there by reducing delays and missed connections. it would reduce the risk of Workmen’s Comp. claims when grandma brings on her 80 pounds because the FA is her personal valet. It would reduce the risk of claims being made to the airline for injuries when somebody drops their luggage on a passenger. Yes that happens - people are injured by people who haul their luggage out of the bin and lose control of it. ( I don’t know if the airline pays the claim but they definitely get claims. she gives the form to passengers quite often)
Her personal argument is it would reduce confrontations that happen when passengers get on late and there’s no overhead space. She’s not really all that impressed with adults who act like toddlers if the overhead bins are full. And she has been on flights where fights have broken out because some jerk who boarded late just emptied the bin that he thinks his luggage should go into.
Carol, bin hogs being one of my personal pet peeves, are you saying the advocacy team you mentioned is suggesting the airlines enforce their own carryon rules as an option? I reserve my right to be angry when I see a fellow passenger, as I did on Tuesday, fill one whole bin with his carryon (sideways as it was too big to fit the right way), his "underseat" carryon bag, his computer bag, his jacket, and his duty-free bag. Yes FAs are too overworked to police this, but gate agents should. No, I didn't throw a childish tantrum, but I do resent it. I'll admit I did admire the way he skillfully cut in the boarding line to board fast enough to claim his space.
I recall a few years ago when one of the domestic airlines (Braniff?) mentioned that they were responding to carryon size complaints by - getting larger bins. Thus ensuring their customers would start bring even larger bags aboard. Not confident in the long term outlook here.
Argh !!! So frustrating !!!
My small RS rolling suitcase was gate checked and the bigger ones were allowed on.
https://sadmoment.com/kenan-thomson-takes-his-slightly-oversized-bag-to-the-airport-on-snl/
I sincerely doubt it was Braniff that indicated that they were going to bring bigger overhead bins. They’ve been out of business for.decades
I think it was United
Totally off-topic, but I’ve always found this story fascinating. It’s An account of one of the last flights of Braniff
Umm, I'm a proud (albeit sensitive!) grandma, per up this thread and noticed the stereotypical example of those who can't safely lift their own bag.
I totally agree and am equally irked by those who throw random stuff up in the bins and/or expect others, regardless of age, to help them hoist their bag.
Lumpy duffel bags have hit me more than once on their way down. I'm old, and strong, but only 5 feet tall, so it always feels fraught when deplaning.
I stringently follow the dimensions (and weight, if included) allowed because I really am also a minimalist and strive for being able to carry on.
I think both airlines (using baggage fees as a revenue source) and non-compliant or disrespectful passengers play a part. Boarding from the back, with a FA monitoring that bins for the rows not-yet-boarded aren't used would cut down on aisles being blocked. There really does seem to be room up there for 3 regulation size bags each side. I have wondered about dividers, too, creating a cubby arrangement.
I have wondered about dividers, too, creating a cubby arrangement.
Every divider would add weight, which is the 'enemy' for efficiency
I’d like to point out that my grandma and her 80 pound suitcase was not meant as an ageism. . It’s based on a true experience I had. This woman gets on she probably was in her late 70s to early 80s and she needs help with her suitcase so I volunteered to help grandma. I have never picked up a suitcase that heavy. I had to get the man sitting next to me to help me. It took two of us (and he was not a small man)!to get this monstrosity into the overhead. I have no idea how she got it down because I got off the plane before she could ask strangers to help her get it down. But yeah, that was a true story.
So, the airlines have it backwards.
Checked bags should be free. The charge should be for carry-ons.
