Carry on baggage fees???

vince

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Now a lot of people are going to bitch about this, and one US Senator is roasting them for it, but I think it is about time the airline industry did something about people carrying two weeks worth of traveling needs into the cabin.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/04/12/carryon.problems/?hpt=Sbin

Nothing pisses me off more than walking into coach for a short flight, and not being able to find a place in the overhead for my laptop bag. They are full to the gunnels with humongous bags, backpacks, and the kitchen sink.

Even business class on US airlines is the same. Most of those bags won't fit in the wire frames that the airlines have to test the allowable limit. And the people trying to maneuver all their crap around are stumbling, bumping into others and asking the crew for help to lift the heavy bags in to the bin.

I don't think charging more is the answer though. The airlines should standardize the rules and enforce them.
 

HazelGod

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The airlines should standardize the rules and enforce them.
Agreed. For bags that appear close to the size limit, they should check them against the space prior to boarding and tag them with a sticker indicating they're OK.

Anyone attempting to board with an un-tagged bag that looks close to the size limit has to step aside for an inspection and forfeits their place in the queue.
 

nudeyorker

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I've been a carry on traveler for many years but I follow the guidelines. In a pinch what I carry on can fit under the seat. I'm in favor of limits to what you can bring on and what size the carry on item should be. I'm the creep in first that unless you are sitting in first and you put your bags in my spot I give them to the flight attendant to check.
 

Mem

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Now a lot of people are going to bitch about this, and one US Senator is roasting them for it, but I think it is about time the airline industry did something about people carrying two weeks worth of traveling needs into the cabin.

Would fees end 'out of control' carry-ons? - CNN.com

Nothing pisses me off more than walking into coach for a short flight, and not being able to find a place in the overhead for my laptop bag. They are full to the gunnels with humongous bags, backpacks, and the kitchen sink.

Even business class on US airlines is the same. Most of those bags won't fit in the wire frames that the airlines have to test the allowable limit. And the people trying to maneuver all their crap around are stumbling, bumping into others and asking the crew for help to lift the heavy bags in to the bin.

I don't think charging more is the answer though. The airlines should standardize the rules and enforce them.


I heard a radio talk show mention a little about this. I think it's just a scam to start to charge people for carry on luggage. There already is a size limit and if your item does not fit inside of standard measurements they should not allow it.
 

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I am a frequent flyer, racking between 85K-100K or more miles annually, on both domestic and international flights, I would agree that airlines should enforce their policies that are already in place regarding size, weight, etc. with carry-on baggage. However, I do not support charging individuals for carry-on, especially if they fit the specifications the airline has already established. To add another charge is ludicrious.

If airlines continue to nickel and dime folk, they will never recover from their spiral downfall. Some common-sense accumen would go along way, IMHO.
 

BiItalianBro

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Oh boy, i LOVE this topic :mad::eek::mad:
Please do not throw things at me, I work in the airline industry and i am NOT going to be an apologist for the (many) stupid policies and business practices the industry has embraced...but here is a little background on the subject.

Just a few weeks ago, I was at a small station on a day-trip and saw that the carry on 'bag sizer' at the gate actually had dust bunnies and cobwebs on it! No joke. That visual is symbolic of the first challenge of the carry-on problem. Thanks to technology, most people check in and print boarding passes online, or at a kiosk, and never come in contact with an actual airline employee until boarding the aircraft. As most of you FF's know, the plane is only on the ground for say, 35 minutes (a plane on the ground is a plane not making money)...the time it would take to have 150 people clear their carry ons with the bag sizer would add time (and cost) to the process...so the airlines look the other way and.....well, we know what happens in the cabin.

Now...the add-on fees or ancillary revenue streams, as the bean counters call them, are a huge inconvenience to customers and employees IMHO. However, allot of this rests in the way airline tickets are priced and taxed. People ask, 'why dont you raise the d@mn fares $20 and bring back the free checked bags, food, etc". That is fine and good, but any services priced into the fare are subject to a base 7.5% federal levy and then a number of other surcharges (segment taxes, passenger facility & handling taxes, security fees, etc)....ancillary revenue is NOT taxed as aggressively....so it is in the airline's best interest, financially, to unbundle things that used to be priced into the base fare. I am not going to name names....but there are some major airlines in North America and Europe who are still in business BECAUSE of ancillary revenue.

I do agree that charging for carry ons is a step to far (and one airline in Europe, Ryanair, is going to charge 1 euro to use the lav on flights under 2 hours starting this summer). However, before Sen Schumer, et al, take up the populist cause of limiting fees, I really wish they would take a look at the disproportionate tax burden levied on the airline industry (vs other industries) that have grown so aggressively over the past decade that this kind of insanity makes 'sense'.
 
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Viking_UK

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Perhaps they could charge according to size - if your bag fits into basket A, it's free; if it fits into basket B, it costs X; if it doesn't fit into basket B, it goes in the hold.

OK, that would involve more admin and time, but I'd rather not have someone place a huge, heavy bag which should be in the hold into the locker above my head just so they don't have to wait for baggage reclaim at the other end.

A lot of smaller planes also don't have space for anything bigger than a large handbag or small backpack. There's one route I use fairly often where my laptop bag will fit in, but only if the power lead isn't on top of the laptop when it's flat!