airchick

My question is about checking baggage with Virgin Atlantic. We will arrive LHR on UA (business) and continue our travel on VS Little Red domestic (economy). Travel is on separate tickets and layover time is 3hrs, 15min. Both airlines use Terminal 2.

We will each have a carry-on bag but my sons will also each have a backpack. Looking at VS hand luggage rules, it looks as though backpacks are not considered a personal item like they are on UA.

My questions:
I believe my sons would need to check their bags in LHR in order to meet hand luggage rules for VS - correct? Also, backpacks need to be under 10kg/22lb limit.
After going through passport control upon arrival, we would need to go to the ticket counter in Term 2 to check the bags, then go back through security to proceed to the VS gate?

slinky09

How large are the backpacks?

airchick

Not huge but typical school-size backpacks. Smaller than a roll-aboard suitcase. I will double check but I'm sure they are within hand luggage requirements - it's weight that I'm worried about. Both will be on break from college with texts that may need to be put into their checked bags.

Nottingham Nick

I am afraid that, as with most questions about hand luggage on VS (and many other airlines) - any answers on here are academic. If you are within the rules you will be fine - if the bags are overweight but not ridiculously so, you should still be okay, but if you get a person at check in who sticks to the rules, or is just having a bad day, then you should have a Plan B.

We have all seen people boarding looking like pack mules, and getting away with it - I am afraid it is down to luck if you choose to risk taking bags on board that break their rules.

Nick

slinky09

In my view if you're within the carry on bag size you should be OK, even if they weigh your bags you could carry the books separately then repack post security? Alternatively, you could print your boarding passes once checked in so you'll not have to go to a desk!

airchick

I plan to weigh the backpacks and suitcases. If the backpacks are over, we will shuffle items to be within weight limits.

My questions were not about trying to get around anything - just trying to confirm that my sons will need to check their bags for the VS flight because the hand luggage rules clearly state one item per passenger, along with purses, umbrellas, cameras etc. To me that means their backpacks do not meet the personal item (purses, etc) list so the BP would count as their one hand luggage item. We will get the contents among all items distributed properly to meet weight requirements for both hand luggage and checked luggage for VS.

OxfordBlue

Does your fare on Little Red include a checked bag? If so - why worry, just check it, you'll have loads of time and would have to reclear security at T2 anyway...

airchick

Just returned from our vacation and it seems I had way over-analyzed this one based on a bad experience with KLM about five years ago. We carried our bags on to Little Red just as we had on UA, one carry-on bag and one personal item for each of us which, for my sons, were backpacks. No one batted an eye.

On KLM, the gate agent insisted that the school-sized backpack counted as the carry-on and the roll-aboard must be checked. Hence my paranoia, especially after reading VA hand luggage guidelines.

Thanks to all.