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Anyone know why AF has a 12kg limit on carry on bags?

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Old Jun 19, 2016, 6:14 am
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Thumbs down Anyone know why AF has a 12kg limit on carry on bags?

I travel all the time with one carry-on and one laptop bag that fit in the overhead. This week I was forced to check the carry-on by AF because I as 2kg over their 12kg limit. Other than the obvious of generating more checked bag fees, anyone know why they have this requirement? I understand a size limit but not weight. I have never seen this limit before; do other airlines have this?
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Old Jun 19, 2016, 6:47 am
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Originally Posted by adcst12
I travel all the time with one carry-on and one laptop bag that fit in the overhead. This week I was forced to check the carry-on by AF because I as 2kg over their 12kg limit. Other than the obvious of generating more checked bag fees, anyone know why they have this requirement? I understand a size limit but not weight. I have never seen this limit before; do other airlines have this?
Yep: pretty much all airlines in most parts of the world except for North America (and also with a couple of exceptions in Europe: BA and Easyjet).

Reasons to put limits on baggage are safety-related (there could be issues related to failure of overhead storage bins in case of accident). Among other things, there is a maximum weight that overhead bins can carry and if everybody maxes out, those limits would be exceeded. As with a lot of safety issues, however, there is an element of judgment and some jurisdictions and some airlines tend to be more cautious than others.
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Old Jun 19, 2016, 11:34 am
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I was wondering this myself recently. Judging by a few threads, it sounds like there was someone that got hit with a heavy bag that fell out of an overhead compartment, sued an EU airline and won significant damages.

Don't know if that's actually the case. Seems like that would make the US airlines equally nervous, and get them to implement similar restrictions. Also, KLM allows business class passengers to carry on multiple bags that weigh up to 18kg, no restriction on the max size of any one bag. That makes me think the rule isn't so much based on safety as it is $$$.

BTW, 12kg is generous compared to other airlines. AB & LH have an 8kg max.
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Old Jun 19, 2016, 12:29 pm
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Originally Posted by OverThereTooMuch
Also, KLM allows business class passengers to carry on multiple bags that weigh up to 18kg, no restriction on the max size of any one bag. That makes me think the rule isn't so much based on safety as it is $$$.
The safety part is linked to the total weight for which the overhead bin is certified to carry, not for one individual bag. And in business class you have much less pax using each compartment compared to Y, hence allowed heavier carry-ons for J pax.
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Old Jun 19, 2016, 2:09 pm
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Originally Posted by OverThereTooMuch
BTW, 12kg is generous compared to other airlines. AB & LH have an 8kg max.
I think the more important question is do they enforce it?
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Old Jun 19, 2016, 4:06 pm
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Originally Posted by Ditto
I think the more important question is do they enforce it?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lufth...edback-12.html

Best answer is "sometimes". Only consistent response I saw in recent posts to the thread was that OS will weigh bags in VIE.
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Old Jun 20, 2016, 2:54 am
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Originally Posted by OverThereTooMuch

BTW, 12kg is generous compared to other airlines. AB & LH have an 8kg max.
LH/LX have one bag at 8k but two bags for business class.
I have seen it enforced for full planes.
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Old Jun 20, 2016, 3:00 am
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Originally Posted by brunos
LH/LX have one bag at 8k but two bags for business class.
I have seen it enforced for full planes.
AF/KL also have 2 bags in business class, with 18kg.
I never saw KL enforce the weight limit for Y or J
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Old Jun 20, 2016, 7:04 am
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Originally Posted by Goldorak
The safety part is linked to the total weight for which the overhead bin is certified to carry, not for one individual bag. And in business class you have much less pax using each compartment compared to Y, hence allowed heavier carry-ons for J pax.
In the other thread I mentioned above, it references a 32kg rating limit for these bins. But isn't one bin typically shared with 2 rows? That would mean it's possible for 48kg of luggage to be in one bin. I'd expect the ratings for the bins to exceed the maximum they'd be allowed to hold. (And yes, I recognize that what they're rated for is probably << than what they can actually hold)
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Old Jul 1, 2016, 7:25 am
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Originally Posted by Ditto
I think the more important question is do they enforce it?
Ditto!!!

I assume it is CDG. They randomly ask at check-in to give you a cabin-bag tag and force you to check it if it is overweight. Guess what, you can board without the tag. I always ripped mine to test all these useless cabin approve tags. (Don't try this with Ryanair).

So my advice is, just hide the bag at check-in. And be mindful for other PAX who would abuse this too.
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Old Jul 1, 2016, 8:31 am
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Originally Posted by Ditto
AF/KL also have 2 bags in business class, with 18kg.
Except for flights departing the USA, where the carry-on limit for all is now 1 bag.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-f...arting-us.html
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