Tunapalooza

I will be flying SFO-IAD-ADD-WDH and return later this year in economy. SFO-IAD is on UA. This is a photo safari and I plan to carry on most of my camera gear. The camera bag falls within Ethiopian's size restriction, but exceeds the 7 kg weight limit for cabin luggage allowed "free of charge." I've traveled on many airlines with similar policies, but enforcement is rare.

I assume that the IAD transfer to the Ethiopian flight will be airside. I have no idea what the transfer in ADD is like. I won't have any issue with UA in SFO.

Good or bad, what experiences have folks had with Ethiopian enforcement of its published carry-on policy? If there is a charge for an overweight (but not oversized) carryon bag, how much does it cost? I will contact Ethiopian directly, but first wanted to get the benefit of the experience of folks here. Thanks in advance.

B747-437B

They will almost always permit heavier bags if they contain electronics or valuables. Just let whoever may hassle you know that it is camera gear and they will usually try to assist you find a place to stow it.

Sabasi

You risk being forced to check your carry-on. They can and do occasionally examine carry-ons on the jetway.

dvs7310

It's rare that they pay much mind to carry-on luggage, you'll see a lot of well oversized bags on ET. But I have seen them once try being strict about it. It was in BKK on the old 767.

They were weighing any largish (~18-20") carry-ons that night claiming that the aircraft was very old and had limited space. I got around it because they weren't really paying attention to what you did with the contents of said "overweight" carry-on, so I emptied a lot of stuff out onto a bench and told him to re-weigh it. For whatever reason he was now satisfied and allowed us to proceed. Naturally I just stuck my stuff right back inside and boarded the plane as usual. A complete joke since the bag was going to take the same exact amount of space regardless of its weight.

You do risk being forced to check your gear, which is undesirable, I understand. Maybe have a photographers vest with you just in case and temporarily stick everything on your person. In my own experience though, airlines tend to let camera gear slide as they don't want to be responsible for it. Even SA who is quite strict on domestic carry-ons has allowed me to stow it in a galley closet (as there was no way anyone could possibly take 2 carry-on bags on that flight, lol).

B747-437B

Again, ET regularly checks carry-on sizes and weights (they now have a policy to tag approved cabin bags at check-in but it is sporadically enforced). However, from multiple personal experiences, even if you are slightly above the weight allowance, if you advise them that the items contained are fragile and/or valuable they will allow you to carry them on board and even assist with stowage.

Tunapalooza

Thanks for the comments. I've taken dozens of flights through Africa and the Middle East with this camera bag, which is basically the size of a "backpack" that a college or high school student would use to carry a load of textbooks. However, it will carry about $10,000 in camera bodies and lenses as well as a small laptop. Since it is much smaller than a carryon suitcase, it escapes notice. It fits under the seat.

I wouldn't mind paying a reasonable fee for the extra weight, but I'm concerned that there is no apparent mechanism for doing so.

A separate issue is that I travel with a CPAP (medical device) and battery. US and European carriers have no issue and have never counted this against my cabin baggage allowance. SA has the same policy, but its ground staff in Africa don't understand this. I've had repeated issues followed by repeated apologies, but nothing ever changes. This is one reason I'm taking Ethiopian.

Sabasi

i have a camera backpack that looks like a medium-sized regular backpack. When full of equipment, it weighs over 10 kilos. ET has never paid any attention to it, even when they were closely looking at other kinds of carry-ons.

Generally, airlines are not liable for the theft of or damge to high value checked items like cameras, cash, and jewelry.

Sabasi

i once saw Ethiopian checking every carry-on for a 5:30 am departure from Dubai to Addis Ababa. They did the inspection on the jetway, close to where you step on the plane.

ETStar

I have seen ET weighing luggage at the gate/entrance to jetway at IAD, LHR, FRA. Pack/prepare accordingly.

If overweight, I don't think you have the option of paying to carry it on, it's more about paying to have it in the cargo hold: you won't get to carry it on board yourself.

B747-437B

Dubai flights are always checked because half the passengers add 2-3 bags of duty free shopping to their original allowance and they'll run out of space otherwise. I fly the route at least 1-2 times every month and never seen a flight without the check.