It seems to be a new thing at LHR. I was stopped at security at T5 on 23rd of January and also told that my small roller bag has to be checked. I had to grab my paper boarding card back. I was told, I will be forced to check my bag at the gate. And at the gate no one was interested in hand luggage, because flight had low load. On a way back from WAW, plane was full and they were gate checking bags from volunteers only. At the beginning of boarding that there's an "awful number of bags" and it took ages for everyone to board and caused delay.
In my opinion, arilines caused the problem themselves years ago, after adding extra rows of seats. There was no issue with hand baggage before that.
Originally Posted by
FamilyOf6
I guess that's the thing. There are several reasons people fly HBO
1) Because they are price sensitive and want a discounted fare, but can take what they need in HB
2) Because they don't want to risk checking bag due to risk of loss
3) Because they don't want to wait for their checked bag to arrive
Multiple combinations of the above.
If it is ONLY for reason number 1, there's probably not a lot of disappointment in being asked to check their bag. I think that BA probably believe that the price point is the main reason people go HBO, but I don't think that it is.
BA have a generous hand baggage allowance, especially with the extra "hand" bag, so I'd imagine that it's only people going on a week-long holiday, or who need to carry bulky sports/music/work equipment who need to take baggage on short-haul. This is a good differentiator between BA and the so-called Lo-Cos.
I can see why this causes issues on certain flights. I just wish they would be clearer and more consistent in their approach when they want some of it to get checked-in. LCY allowed those checking at the gate to board first- what is the point in that!? Some did volunteer though. Maybe some additional Avios or even TPs for those who have volunteered (or been forced) to check their HB wouldn't go amiss. Or maybe a complaint would achieve the same effect!
In my case it's all 3. Why would I pay extra, when I don't need checked bag? I can do one month trip with HBO. As long as it's not Alaska or Norway in winter, I'm ok with small baggage.
I fly BA for their generous HBO policy. I don't fly any budget airlines unless there's no other option (hardly ever), because of their extra fees for bag bigger than small bagpack.