If that were the case, all airlines wouldnt have any LIMITS. They'd considered it a competitive issue and NOT a safety one.
That's absurd when the reality is that there is a physical limit to how much room there is on any given plane to store luggage in the passenger cabin during take-off and landing while satisfying any concerns and liability risks related to safety (or the lack thereof).
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Originally Posted by NYC96
Airlines DO NOT set their OWN carry-on allowance limits. The "number of bags" is FAA mandated.
Airlines indeed do set their own cabin luggage allowance which is (a) why it's not exactly the same in every regard for all flights -- or even all cabins in a flight -- in or from the US; and also (b) why the government is not systematically enforcing a single standard at the security checkpoints at all US airports.
That there is as much in common in policy amongst major US airlines is a function of being in much alike circumstances -- with such things as planes having limited space for storage -- and the competitive landscape.
For those familiar with how and why gas stations often tend to cluster up in certain areas, they would realize that it is not because the government mandates clustering up. Same sort of dynamic goes for airline baggage policies too.
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Frankly, I'd be happy to gate check my 20" rollaboard if mainline would do as Express does and ramp/gate check small bags to be returned immediately upon arrival. If I could pick it up as I deplane, I'd never carry it on in the first place. I will not, however, check the "carry-on" and then have to claim it at baggage claim. I really want to be sure it will arrive at the final destination with me - and with all contents present and accounted for.
That's absurd when the reality is that there is a physical limit to how much room there is on any given plane to store luggage in the passenger cabin during take-off and landing while satisfying any concerns and liability risks related to safety (or the lack thereof)
LIKE I SAID, FEDERAL LIMITS didnt come until 1987. PRIOR to that, people brought what they wanted, onboard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GUWonder
Airlines indeed do set their own cabin luggage allowance which is (a) why it's not exactly the same in every regard for all flights -- or even all cabins in a flight -- in or from the US; and also (b) why the government is not systematically enforcing a single standard at the security checkpoints at all US airports.
That there is as much in common in policy amongst major US airlines is a function of being in much alike circumstances -- with such things as planes having limited space for storage -- and the competitive landscape.
For those familiar with how and why gas stations often tend to cluster up in certain areas, they would realize that it is not because the government mandates clustering up. Same sort of dynamic goes for airline baggage policies too.
NAME ONE AIRLINE THAT ALLOWS MORE THEN 1 BAG AND 1 PERSONAL ITEM by policy?
For me, the issue is that I have lost confidence that the airline can ensure that my bag arrives with me. I honestly cannot remember the last time I checked a bag...
This is like the Yogi Berra quote: It got so crowded nobody goes there anymore. If you haven't checked a bag in three years, then you can't have any data on how well checking bags works...
LIKE I SAID, FEDERAL LIMITS didnt come until 1987. PRIOR to that, people brought what they wanted, onboard.
NAME ONE AIRLINE THAT ALLOWS MORE THEN 1 BAG AND 1 PERSONAL ITEM by policy?
Why the capital letters? No need to get annoyed. We are talking about today, not 1987 nor 2001.
NW flights have customers that can go to the plane itself with more than 2 items. Then try those flights where customers can buy "cabin seat baggage" by whatever name it goes. With that "cabin seat baggage" policy, the above mentioned two pieces of cabin baggage per person is allowed -- by the airline -- to be exceeded. With paid cabin seat baggage, passengers are allowed on some flights to take 3 or more pieces of baggage to the plane.
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This is like the Yogi Berra quote: It got so crowded nobody goes there anymore. If you haven't checked a bag in three years, then you can't have any data on how well checking bags works...
Just thought it was amusing. Nothing more.
Facts are amusing, but so can fiction be amusing too. One amusing fiction is that you can't have data on how well/poorly checking bags works without checking luggage in yourself.
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I have checked a bag on every flight I have ever had except MRs. I have also managed to avoid paying any bag check-in fees so far, due to status on AA, DL and US. With CO I flash a CO credit card at the ticket counter. I am seeing more and more last minute gate checks which is inconvenient for everyone. I see the day coming when the airlines will charge the same for gate checked bags as checked bags to add to the huge revenue stream they now get from checked bags. This would be a logical step after enforcing the size and quantity of bags brought on board at TSA (like AA does at ORD). Late arriving FC passengers would be exempt and the coat closet would come into play.
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But The Best Part Was...
When they said "Gate Lice"! One of my favorite expressions to describe John Q. Traveling Public. So here's my completely biased opinion...
Being 1K with UA & MVP Gold with AS, I never seem to have an issue with lack over head space being a problem. As a matter of fact, there's always TONS of space whenever I board. Can't understand I other people complain???As my dear old dad used to say...
I am in favor of applying economics to the allocation of a scarce resource. Maybe the first 15lb of carry-on should be free and then pay by the lb? More congested flights in terms of passengers per cu ft of overhead space pay higher congestion pricing?
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Europe not only regulates the number of carry on but is also very strict on the size and weight whihc is often more than half of which US airlines allow.
The crowded overhead space can also work to your advantage. A couple weeks ago I had a bag that I wanted to check but I was too darn cheap to pay, so I carried it on. I was informed by the FA that there was no overhead space and the bag would be checked free of charge.
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Bring back Ted airlines, I miss the moaning and complaining.
The crowded overhead space can also work to your advantage. A couple weeks ago I had a bag that I wanted to check but I was too darn cheap to pay, so I carried it on. I was informed by the FA that there was no overhead space and the bag would be checked free of charge.
It's amazing more people don't do this. At some point the airlines will have to catch on and start charging for these bags too.
It's amazing more people don't do this. At some point the airlines will have to catch on and start charging for these bags too.
If the airlines were to do as you suggest that they will have to do, then that would involve a payment transaction being authorized and processed at the boarding location, on the plane, on the way off the plane, and/or at baggage claim. Even at the boarding area it would require gate agent time and a payment collection facility that perhaps would have to include both cash handling and charge card processing facilities.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GUWonder
If the airlines were to do as you suggest that they will have to do, then that would involve a payment transaction being authorized and processed at the boarding location, on the plane, on the way off the plane, and/or at baggage claim. Even at the boarding area it would require gate agent time and a payment collection facility that perhaps would have to include both cash handling and charge card processing facilities.
Exactly right - these procedures will take precious time away from the final boarding process and this is were savvy travelers speculate on and get away with - I noticed myself and as quoted from the article:
Quote:
Bags deemed too large at the boarding gate, or checked when there's no room on the plane, fly free — a fact that has not escaped a growing number of travelers.
"Gate-checked bags are usually the last ones loaded into the baggage compartment, the first ones out, and generally the first ones on the (baggage) carousel,"
The rules are strictly enforced in Europe, especially on small RJ's with very limited overhead space - how tiny the bins are compared to US RJ's - and I diligently carry a hand-scale at all times to make sure not to succeed the weight limit - it can get very costly quickly !
Surprisingly Ryanair - the initial trend setter and most greedy fee-junkie of all airlines - happened to be in my (pleasant) experience a lax enforcer of the baggage rules
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