CowboyupnTX

Hi folks,
This is my first time on here. Great board. I read the rules but apologize in advance if I make a mistake.

So I have been flying AA for about 6 years - been EXP for about 5 years. Since my roller bag broke I have been using a large (but not ridiculously so) duffel bag when I travel, along with my small carry-on computer bag. I have been traveling with this duffel bag for about 2 years now.

On a recent trip from DFW-LGA I was in first class and was about the third or fourth person to board the airplane. Immediately upon entering the plane the flight attendant told me, not very kindly, that my bag was too big and would have to be checked. I nicely assured her that I travel with this bag all the time and that it would fit no problem in the DEF compartment. She said "sir, the plane is going to be full today and we need to make sure there is room for everyone's bag."

Now maybe I'm wrong, but here's my beef:

As long as the bag meets the size requirements, isn't one of the perks of traveling in first class and boarding at the start that you can stow your bag without hassle and without worrying about the bags that everyone else will be bringing on? What if I had agreed to gate check my bag and then the entire plane boarded and there was plenty of space after all - what a complete waste of my time!

I ended up throwing the bag up there with the ease of an Olympian, turned around and smiled at her and said - see, no problem at all!

Any thoughts? Am I crazy to think that this was totally unreasonable? I wrote a letter to customer relations and named that flight attendant personally.

brp

Welcome to FT.

I guess the question is- is the duffel size-compliant? Would it have fit in the standard sizer used to measure carry on baggage? If so, then you are correct and the FA was not. If it does not fit the sizer, then the FA was correct, and you've been lucky all along.

As a suggestion for the future- a more descriptive thread title helps the rest of the folks on the board. This title is very general.

Cheers.

aajones

Welcome to FT! I'm a newbie myself but have quickly become addicted.
I had a similar experience on Valentine's day--I was flying SFO-LAX-LHR with my 22" rollerboard and briefcase. It was warm in SF that day so I had my winter coat packed in my rollerboard, but all of the zippers still zipped--it was just a bulge. I was in F on the MD-80 SFO-LAX, and was one of the first on board. My bag was too thick to fit in the overhead. I asked the flight attendant if I could put it in the coat closet, as I had a 20 min connection in LAX due to a delayed outbound. The answer was no. (I wasn't expecting a yes, but thought I'd try). Then I asked for a gate check--still no. Finally, I asked her for a suggestion, which was to take the bag back to the ticket counter and check it. Obviously, a ridiculous idea since the F cabin would be at 30,000 feet with its occupants munching on warm nuts by the time I got back to the gate!
Ultimately, I ended up removing my winter coat, along with several pairs of underwear, a pair of jeans, and a sweater, and sitting with them on my lap (FAA regulations, anyone?) for the duration of the flight, before re-packing them at LAX (overhead room on the 777 was not an issue).

So I'm in the same position as you--I don't know if it was my fault for packing too many things, or if I should have expected more help from the FA in resolving the situation. Specifically, I feel that gate checking would have been the best solution, but there was something wrong with that idea--anyone know what the gate check policy is?

mvoight

If you are writing to customer relations about this, and you have been an EXP for 5 years, I wonder how many other times you have written. It sounds like such a minor issue to write a letter about

What are the dimensions of the bag?

CowboyupnTX

Hi M -
In the past five years I have probably written maybe 4 letters to customer relations (less than about once a year). I'm not sure why you think it's a minor issue. I was being told before anyone else boarded the plane that my bag was inappropriate not because it was too big or out of size compliance but because there had to be room for passengers boarding later. Like brp said, to me, as long as the bag is in compliance (which it was), then this arbitrary decision by the FA seems totally inappropriate.

Mark_T

Just how big is this thing?

45 inches doesn't go very far and I'm having trouble imagining any 'large duffel' comply with the limit.

Does it fit in the standard sizer?

Same goes for aajones, would the bag with the bulge fit in the sizer? Probably not I'd guess.

I know my own carry-on is two inches inside the limit but if I over pack it it is easy to get to a point where it is outside the limit.

oldpenny16

I think the OP has been pushing the system for 2 years and just got caught. It doesn't matter if he can fling his bag into the overhead bin, if it is too big, it is not fair to other passengers.

Likely his duffle is too long and that spooked the FA.

magic111

Some years ago I saw someone getting on the plane with what appeared to be a large duffle and being confronted by the FA. He dropped it to the floor and kicked it a couple of times claiming it was just filled with air. The FA asked if she could kick it a couple of times also but did let him board.

The problem with the buldging bags are the flourescent lights across the tops of the bins on the MDs. Force a buldging bag in, break light, maybe miss next connection until maintenance does their thing.

Plato90s

I get that sometimes when I travel with my sleeping bag, which I generally stuff into a duffle bag along with clothes. The size of the bag startles the FA's from time to time, but I can demonstrate that it can be squeezed to half its "apparent" size. It'll also go into the overhead bin lengthwise, and I can actually squeeze it into the luggage-sizer.

If the duffle bag in question isn't as compressible and won't fit into the overhead long-end first, then it probably doesn't fit the size requirement.

brp

^ A duffel that can fit lengthwise is not going to take up any more room than a rollaboard, probably less. I think that's a good duffel criterion.

Cheers.

Mark_T

Doesn't really matter what it is, 45" is the criterion, if it is less than that (length+width+height) then it is perfectly OK.

If it isn't then you are down to FA discretion and good will.

I remain constantly amazed at the size of bags that manage to make it on-board at times.

sluggoaafa

Personally, I think it was rude to write a letter about this incident. The FA saw what to her seemed like an oversized duffle bag.

However, we as FAs pretty much have a decent eye on sizes of Carry-ons. When we see something that catches us off guard, we try to stop the over-sized bag right away and have you gate-check your bag with the GATE agent...not ticket counter. We the FAs cannot get off the plane (especially the MD80, 737, 757 because of FAA Minimum Crew requirements) and Gate check your bags, it has to be taken back up to the Gate Agents, by you, to tag to your final destination. (if it's close to closing the door, then usually there is an agent already at the boarding door with tags waiting on a full flight)

Nine out of ten times that I stop someone about their bags being too big...and after a little argument on their part, and trying to prove their bag fits by holding up boarding while trying to stuff the over-sized bag into a bin it won't fit into, they will go and check it. Yes, there is that one bag that will surprise me when the pax puts it into the bin with eaze.

I presume that this FA saw a larger than usual bag. She wanted to get it checked for you before it was too late and it would possibly be too late to get it into the cargo hold.

Could it have fit the sizer that was by the gate? I don't know and she doesn't know, but something made her think it wouldn't have.

As magic111 pointed out, "the problem with the buldging bags are the flourescent lights across the tops of the bins on the MDs. Force a buldging bag in, break light, maybe miss next connection until maintenance does their thing." I have seen one too many times someone jamming an oversized bag into the bin and next thing you know, POP goes the bulb, and the flight is now severely delayed and/or cancelled because they have to clean up the broken glass.

mikew99

I think the FA could have handled this situation better.

Instead of barking at you that your bag was too big, the FA could have said, "Your bag might not fit in the overhead. If it doesn't, please let me know, so that it can be checked." There's no reason to make a big deal about a bag that so easily fits in the overhead, especially one that (as you say) meets AA's carryon requirements.

I hope you mentioned the FA's attitude in your letter. Right or wrong, there's absolutely no need for the FA to be unkind.

CowboyupnTX

Hey folks,
Thanks for the constructive feedback. Now you have piqued my interest. I am going to go measure my bag and provide the dimensions - BBL...

Efrem

THANK YOU - partly for measuring your bag, but mostly not for writing "peaked!" (It never ceases to amaze me how many otherwise intelligent, and seemingly educated, people whose native tongue is English manage to confuse the two regularly.)