Travel News - Would fees discourage oversized carry-on bags?

Would fees discourage oversized carry-on bags? (http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2012/06/airlines-carry-on-issue/709057/1?csp=34travel&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TP-TodayInTheSky+%28Travel+-+Today+In+the+Sky%29)

I did not realize AS had a policy of enforcing bag fees at the gate...

At least that the subject of today's On The Road column in The New York Times, where author Joe Sharkey says airlines increasingly are considering fees as a way of discouraging passengers from attempting to bring oversize carry-on bags onto the plane.

Would fees discourage oversized carry-on bags? (http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2012/06/airlines-carry-on-issue/709057/1?csp=34travel&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TP-TodayInTheSky+%28Travel+-+Today+In+the+Sky%29)

I did not realize AS had a policy of enforcing bag fees at the gate...

If the sizing was honest I would support this. So long as the bag stows properly there should be no charge no matter what the sizer says.


Stows properly assumes the storage is normal. The last flight I took the FA told me to put my laptop in the overhead and she was right--the underseat stowage was all messed up by a strange leg arrangement and electronics for the Direct TV system down there. The only other time that bag ever saw a bin before was when we were in a bulkhead row.

Stows properly assumes the storage is normal. The last flight I took the FA told me to put my laptop in the overhead and she was right--the underseat stowage was all messed up by a strange leg arrangement and electronics for the Direct TV system down there. The only other time that bag ever saw a bin before was when we were in a bulkhead row.

I dislike IFE systems that take up this much underseat space. With modern electronics, there is no reason they should be that large. On TATL/TPAC flights, I much prefer my android tablet/ultrabook to an bulging IFE system which steals my leg space.

Any bag that is above the stated size should be treated as checked baggage, and any fees associated collected.

Would it stop people? Probably not, as they figure if they have to pay anyways may as well try to get past the gate agent.

I think the real issue is the airlines don't have the people or equipment to easily process all these charges at the gate while everybody is trying to board, get their upgrades, get their seats changed so the family can sit together, etc.

This isn't new, it's just air carriers wising up to the fact that pax are deliberately not checking at the counter in order to avoid the published tariff for checked luggage.

I would go a step further and have over-sized bags checked to the baggage office at final destination where the fee + a penalty could be collected. No freebies for status pax.

The question isn't whether some particular pax can stuff his steamer trunk into an OH, it's whether the bag exceeds the published size limits.

Not only would this eliminate the nightmare of boarding, but flights would get out faster and some pax might actually learn to pack.

Does anyone have reliable stats on how many flights actually pushed back late solely because of carry-on bag issues?

I think it's a perception blown out of proportion by early boarders, particularly elites, who don't like getting bumped as bags go by.

The real problem will be if the airlines do try to tighten the rules across all statuses/classes of service. Elites (front and back) are some of the biggest offenders - and unlike an infrequent flyer, they can't plead ignorance. There's a reason why elites (F) start lining up early, and IME, it isn't the PDB, it's because on many flights, F bins get jammed - not by Y pax who haven't even started boarding yet, but by F pax who have oversize carryons and a propensity to put everything in the overhead bins.

These folks are not going to be happy if they are told at the gate that their there will be no exceptions, even for their Tumi or B&R that has never been disallowed before but that will not fit in the sizer.

I maintain that this isn't a big issue or the airlines would already be much more aggressive about it. I do occasionally see GAs/FAs co-ordinating pre-emptive bag checking (FAs front and back keeping tabs on how much remaining bin space there is and letting GAs know so pax don't wander down the aisle with a bag, only to find there's nowhere to put it).

As far as paying to check - some airlines have already gone cash-free onboard and are using those hand-held credit card scanners. Easy enough to do something like that at the gate, although I don't know what happens if someone doesn't have a credit card - will they be denied boarding?

I chuckle every time someone trots out that nonsense about pax carrying on just to avoid checked bag fees. Some of the worst offenders, front and back, are elites who are not paying checked bag fees. Remind me again, why they are carrying on oversize bags?

This is so last century for anyone outside North America. Some airlines (not naming names but one with a harp as a logo) make a large amount of money from "Mr Don't You Know Who I Am" and "Ms I Can't Be Bothered To Read The Rules" who insist on bringing bags that are too large.

This is so last century for anyone outside North America. Some airlines (not naming names but one with a harp as a logo) make a large amount of money from "Mr Don't You Know Who I Am" and "Ms I Can't Be Bothered To Read The Rules" who insist on bringing bags that are too large.

And then argue, "It fits on every other plane..." ;)

Oversized carry-ons would be a non-issue if people packed properly. My "guess" is that people pack for every imaginable contingency.:confused: With soft (expandable) bags, one would be amazed how much you can fit in them.
[On my first trip to Europe in 1964, I took much too much stuff (pre-baggage fee days:)) Before my next trip, I came across a suggestion in Europe on $5 a day, aimed at new travelers: "make a list of the bare minimum you think you would need, and take 1/2 of that:D". Which is how I now travel.
I was checking in at ZRH airport a few years ago (I was there close to 2 weeks), and the TA, looked at my two 15" carry-ons and asked "do you have any other bags?" [How could I get by with so little?]