DrunkCargo

Today I was explicitly offered free checked carry-on bag after I chose to check zero bags during the online check-in process, at around T-22h. Ticketed in full J, as an SE. Flight is J0 Y9, A321 fin

Not sure if this offer is new, but I've never triggered it before, despite being on 100% full flights with same status. This is great news for all if it entices would-be economizers to reduce the pressure on cabin space. Suffice it to say, I personally did not participate in this amazing offer.

billdokes

You have free checked bags as an SE, so there is no potential lost revenue here...wonder if the same offer is extended to lower tiers/non-status that don't have free checked bags.

Also don't understand why the don't optimize the revenue opportunity with over-size carry-on's. Based on a lot of flights I've seen, the ROI would HUGE to have an employee with a POS machine and a Bag Tag printer standing at the sizer. I'd happily set up a Company and staff it for 20% of the take.

FlyingUsedToBeFun

My guess is that is the plan. When you come to the baggage drop off with your "carry-on", they will size and weigh it. If it does not comply, they will force you to send it as baggage AND charge for same.

VoodooYYC

I think you just described my dream retirement gig...steady revenue stream plus the joy of telling people no, with zero repercussions or F's given on my part. I would put in a contract term though that I get to install a buzzer, and possibly some sort of electro shock unit on the sizer. You move the sizer too much trying to shove your oversized bag in there....Zap! At the very least, you get the Price is Right loser chime played.

I would also love to explain to people exactly what 2 pieces of carry-on means. It seems like such an easy concept that no one can comprehend. How many hands do you have? Is there more than 1 item in any of those hands?

billdokes...when you get this up and running, let's discuss west coast franchise rights. Does 5% of my 20% sound appealing?

Transpacificflyer

Until AC addresses the delays in baggage handling this will not garner much interest. People use carry on because it reduces the delay in exiting the airport.

CanadaDH

Not just the delay in getting out of the airport. I'm using carry-on because I worry my checked bag may not arrive with me at all!

canadiancow

That may be true for seasoned travelers.

I know a lot of people who use carry-on because they don't want to pay $30.

Showing this screen to someone with status is likely pointless. But someone on a TG fare who's only carrying on because of the checked bag fee? They might get a few people to do it at check-in rather than the gate, which will help speed up boarding, etc.

EAJuggalo

I would use it on my way home. No chance I'm using it on my way someplace. Why bother dragging the thing through the airport if you're not going to need anything immediately at the other end?

PLeblond

I've been advocating: charge for carry-on and keep checked bags free no charge for years. Maybe they're finally listening to me?

(Yes, I know I am in the tiny minority who wants carry-on banned, but a boy can dream, right?)

painintheuk

(bolding mine)

AC quite sensibly does not have weight limit on carry-on, just size (whether it is enforced or not). I'm looking at an Agean flight that has an 8kg limit. That's nothing! I go on multi-hour runs with more weight than that in my pack!

PLeblond

Was on a flight AZS-YUL a few moons back. Passenger boarded with 2 suitcases full of what appeared to be university textbooks. She was not able to lift them into overhead bins by herself and FA needed to help (a 2 person job). Overhead bin door flew open on take-off. Passengers were lucky one of those bags didn't fall on someone (as has happened to me twice).

Flying paid J on NZ and they weighed my laptop bag before boarding. Was called up to the check-in desk to do so at YVR as I came in from a connecting flight.

Which option is safer for weight and balance?

Adam Smith

Carry-on limits aren't there for W&B, they're there for limits on the capacity of the bins and the latches that keen them closed.

painintheuk

I've seen almost empty overhead bins that weren't closed properly or had something caught pop open on takeoff. Surely there is some sort of test of what is an appropriate weight when planes are certified!

Weight and balance? I am not quite sure what you mean. There is no way that even a bag of textbooks in the overhead affects the balance of a narrowbody more than a random big guy passenger.

I've also had ridiculous weight limits on paid J flights, but I have never felt safer because I had to check my laptop instead of putting it in front of my seat.

PLeblond

My understanding is that the FAA estimates average weights as:

• Male: 190 pounds in the summer and 195 pounds in the winter.
• Female: 179 pounds in the summer and 184 pounds in the winter.

This includes carry-on bags.. I'm above that average buck naked after my morning movement.

Say we take an A320 with 146 seats and every passenger has a carry on weighing 12kg. Assuming only 1 carry-on and not a 'personal item on top of that. That's nearly 4,000 lbs above the centre of gravity and the centre mass. I for one would not want to fly on an airplane like that

Perhaps this should be considered before we see another Midwest 5481... ???

Carry-on should be banned, in my opinion. But again... I know I am in the tiny minority on this point.

Norcanair

15 or so years ago I would board a plane last and find plenty of room for my bag, regardless of fare class.

But then legacy airlines decided to optimise the monetisation of checked luggage. As with all grand plans come unintended consequences. The result of charging for checked luggage? The boarding disaster we all experience today.

Adding to that disaster is the degraded perception over time that your bag will arrive with you. And frankly it’s a fair view. Of the four or five times in my life that I’ve checked a bag, it’s only arrived at my destination with me twice. (Yes. I know… n=1)

All of this is to say that Air Canada et al have fundamentally changed the travelling public’s perceptions about checked luggage. It’s no longer just a cost: it’s a risk. A risk they want you to pay for.

It will take far more than some random carrots tossed at the check in kiosk to realign the travelling public’s way of thinking.