Comments on: Warning: carry-on luggage cops are on patrol

By: Ev

Ev — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:03:19 +0000

I do not have issues with current size requirements but Lufthansa’s approach to weight is ridiculous. Even with almost everything removed, I still can’t meet their carry on weight requirements with a SLR camera and a small (13in) laptop. Or without a book on a ten hour flight? Hardly the bin hogging carry on. Have you weighed your carry on? I refuse to fly Lufthansa now. Air Canada on the other hand has much higher weight limit, and I didn’t see any issues with carry on space issues on my flight to and from Tokyo.

I don’t trust companies to make rational decisions when it is their profit that’s on the line.

I am a professional photographer, and we need to take our gear with us because we are not allowed to lock our bags if we check them in (TSA locks are a joke), and you can’t ship your cargo easily to some destinations.

I do welcome a size/weight limit, provided there are exceptions for accredited professionals on duty (very small percentage of travellers). That is not the same as somebody bringing in their check in size items to carry on.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:48:50 +0000

stan leber said “… why the hell do other people believe the rules shouldn’t apply to them?”

Because they are selfish American pigs.

By: stan leber

stan leber — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:49:19 +0000

I welcome the carry-on cops. I purposely purchased (and use) luggage that will meet even Lufthansas’ stupid carry-on rules. I obey the carry-on rules of the airline I am traveling, why the hell do other people believe the rules shouldn’t apply to them? It does my heart good to watch the Lufthansa personnel making the “take it all with you” travelers check their steamer trunks at the gate. I have been asked the same question Lewis refers to and my response is “no, I brought proper luggage aboard so I could use the minimal foot room for my feet”.

By: stan leber

stan leber — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:48:36 +0000

By: Joe Buhler

Joe Buhler — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:45:27 +0000

Common sense and airlines / TSA…..? Are you kidding! Most lines would be half as long if it would apply here, but alas it doesn’t. Hence my baggage tag which reads “IT SUCKS TO FLY!”

By: Lewis

Lewis — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:29:20 +0000

As a frequent flyer who checks his bags I want the airlines to enforce the carry on rules. I like having a little leg room on a 3 hour flight, so I put my briefcase in the overhead. I have had numerous flight attendants want to remove my briefcase and put it under the seat in front of me…. so that the other passenger can store her roll aboard in the overhead!!!!!

I check my bag so I can have the leg room. My little brief case is just as important as your big carry-on. Get over yourself.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:15:58 +0000

Well, I for one hope the carry-on cops start carrying tasers. It’s people like you, carrying on every conceivable item that make it take forever to board and disembark ancraft. You continue to advise people how to “get away” with more and all you do is slow things down for those of us who play by the rules.

I truly mean it when I say I will definitely pay more to fly an airline that strictly enforces the carry-on rules. Yet the gate agents are usually more worried about offending one peson, the one with the suitcase, backpack, briefcase and sack of food, rather than making the other 150 people happy by making them check their bags.

I don’t really care about $15 a bag an airline might charge. I will not fly that airline, however, because of the carry-on situation they have created with their fees.

Please, be more specific about who’s enforcing the rules. That’s the airline I’ll pick.

By: Cathy Baar

Cathy Baar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:10:12 +0000

Charlie –

It doesn’t make sense to you to have people redistribute weight among baggage, and when I was working behind the counter while I enforced that rule it didn’t make sense to me either. In those days, bag limits were 30kg or 70 pounds, depending on domestic or international.

But then at age 55 I ended up working outside on the ramp, in the cargo bin, lifting heavy bags above shoulder level to properly position them.

Even 50-pound bags were too much for me to lift, but I did it anyway; one 55 pound bag with a “heavy” tag put my back out for three weeks when I could least afford it.

Bag weight should be redistributed. It may not seem like a big deal for you to move 5 pounds of stuff from one bag to another, but where do you draw the line? 5 pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds? Why is 5 pounds OK and 7 pounds not?

I hope you understand my take here.

And if you still disagree with me, lay a 50-pound bag on its side, crouch, lift it vertically with both hands, and put it on a closet shelf at the level of your nose or higher, handle edge out so it can be taken off easily by the people unloading the plane.

I think you will change your mind.

By: Charlie Leocha

Charlie Leocha — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:06:41 +0000

We can always deal in extremes, however the bags I am discussing seem to be those where moving a few pounds to another bag brings passengers into compliance. In the extreme, airlines can and do refuse to carry heavy bags. Or they have systems to deal with heavy bags when passengers are paying for the extra pounds. My point is not to scam the airlines or cause anyone injury, but rather to eliminate the time lost by the check-in agents and others waiting in line moving minor amounts of clothing from one bag to the other to meet weight limits.
This is an example of the common sense approach we need.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:37:19 +0000

As far as “averaging” baggage weight goes…

For the person who has a 70-pound bag and a 30-pound bag and says, well that is my allotted 100 pounds…..what do you say to the people who have to pick up that 70 pound bag? Who pays the medical costs when someone gets hurt trying to move an overweight bag? Half the people who check these bags can’t even lift them onto the scale by themselves! How will they get the bag up a curb?

Do not bring a bag you yourself cannot lift.

Do not carry-on a bag that you yourself cannot get into the overhead.

Stop whining and take on responsibility for your own stuff instead of blaming an airline.