nosedive

All my Rimowa trolleys are 55x40x20 or 55x40x23.

I haven't flown AF in ages but have a couple of HBO flights coming up. A forum search suggests AF may be relatively strict about enforcing hand luggage dimensions. What can I expect?

mlin32

You should expect to carry on luggage that is in conformity with the published Air France guidelines. I thought all luggage makers kind of settled on advertising roll-on bags as carry-ons if it met the industry standard guidelines, with special designations for the smaller LCC dimensions ?
I wouldn't say AF is a real stickler like the LCC, but the flight is full, they might verify the size at the gate. So when in doubt, I'd just check it.

nosedive

mlin32, thanks for the info.
Well, I see your location is Germany. Mine is, too. The problem is nobody in Germany really sells hand luggage that is 55x35x25. The de-facto standards are 55x40x20 and 55x40x23.

Just look at a site such as koffer-direkt. Rimowa, Horizn Studios, Samsonite, Victorinox etc. 95% of what they're selling corresponds to the 55x40x20 or 55x40x23 standard.

It's no surprise, as European airlines belonging to the two largest alliances (*A and OW) all allow at least 55x40x20. It's only European ST airlines which restrict the second-largest dimension to 35 cm.

Porcepic

My experience at AF outstations is that there tend to be no controls of HB.

In CDG, there are very often controls before the security checkpoint (except if you are Skypriority) but their goal is more focused on checking the weight of your HB rather than its size. Check the following thread for experiences shared by FTers: Weighing carry-on baggage at CDG Be careful though: they weight everything you have. For instance, on AF it is generally no problem to have both a trolley and a backpack, but they will make sure than in total both are less than 12kg (and not only your trolley). If that is not the case, you will be redirected to the check-in area and may have to pay a fee to check your baggage.

At boarding, the bigger your luggage the more prone it will be to be proactively checked by AF agents. At this stage it will be free and, at least in CDG, if your luggage contains electronics they will give a nice AF tote bag to keep them with you instead of having them checked in the hold.

I used to have a 55x40x20 Samsonite trolley and have never experienced any problem flying with AF. The trolley could even fit under a seat if needed (although not very comfortable for a long flight).

mlin32

I'm located in Germany currently but am originally from the US (was a former AA captive at CLT and DL/AF frequent flyer) and my luggage is all from Delsey so have my roll-on and assumptions to the 35cm/14 inch size. I don't fly LH or *A much- hardly at all.

Interesting cultural difference though; neat to know.

nosedive

Thanks all. The answers give me a good idea what to expect.

I will start the Delta Status Challenge in a few days. That should give me ST Elite + for three months. Even without having a physical card yet, I can still use the Skypriority security line in CDG, correct? (For TATL flights on AF.)

(I realize as ST Elite +, I have one free checked bag. But, for me, sticking to hand baggage only is more about convenience and keeping valuables close.)

Porcepic

Yes, as long as your frequent flyer number is correctly put into your booking information, you should be automatically recognized as eligible to Skypriority and it should be written on your boarding pass. If it were not the case (unlikely on a TATL flight with a Delta STE+ status), you would still be able to show your card as an evidence on the delta app for instance.

Ehrmantraut

I fly AF & KLM a lot, and it always irritate me that there are long delays because carry on's DON't fit in the overhead bins.. having discussions with cabin crew in the plane about having that kind of stuff gate checked.
whenever I'm flying out of Amsterdam it annoys me so much that nothing is enforced.
My carry on trolley is the size that AF/KLM allows and at least 50% of people bring bigger trolley's or bags onboard.

I have seen the enforcement on 2 occasions in the normal queue before security in 2F, the SkyPriority line is not checked as it uses a dedicated security area.

same is to say for Skypriority boarding procedure which has a strict enforcement in CDG (wrong zone gives error on the gate). in Amsterdam always a mess with non SP pax blocking the queue.

Rules are Rules


Also in one recent occasion flying in J from CDG 2G with A5 towards STR.
My carry on that fits within the measurements and weight limit had to be gate checked because I arrived at the time that was on the BP and 80% was already boarded.
normally not a big deal don't care to board first flying in J but I expect to have space for my carry on.
walking in the plane to see big shoppers are really big weekend bags stored in the overhead bin that's between row 1 and 3. while only me and 1 other pax flying in J (6 empty seats).

Goldorak

I respectfully disagree with that. They are very careful at outstations in my experience. LHR, BCN and MAD are on the top of my list. In LHR, even as an Ulti, I have been forced to check a small suitcase (that I had on top of a computer bag).

gaukuser

my Plat' experience is that they don't ask about the weight of your luggage but they used to sometimes mention this before I was plat.
For dimensions, the staff will eyeball your luggage -- I've never had to use the sizer (and my luggage maxes out on the max dimensions, but is, in fact, the allowable dimension)

brunos

The European situation is silly.
AF allows a cabin luggage 55x35x25 and an accessory (smaller second bag). Total weight for the two 12k (18k for J)
LH allows one a cabin luggage 55x40x23 plus an accessory in Y, and TWO cabin luggage plus an accessory in J. Each cabin luggage limit is 8k.
BA allows one a cabin luggage 56x45x25 plus an accessory. Each item can weight up to 23k (46 over all). No additional benefit according to class or status.

BA is the most generous in Y even for the size of the accessory.. But the differences are ridiculous.

Internaut

Ditto

Why is it "the European situation"? Every airline is different, that's not unique to Europe.

brunos

I fully agree with you.
Longhaul outstations are less strict as there is more overhead space. And they tend to be nice to J pax. But my experience is limited to a couple of them.

Internaut

AF aren't strict, in my experience, but they are inconsistent. Because they're not consistent, you'll often find that people are trying to bring on more bags than there is overhead/under-seat space and this potentially puts your hand luggage at risk. It also sometimes delays the flight.... My advice with the legacy carriers is to fly business if you can, or somehow get yourself some shiny plastic*. From this perspective, I prefer the LCCs (if you can really call them that) for my short haul travel. Me? I just want a clear set of rules to read and know they will be properly/fairly enforced.

* No chance for me, given my current patterns of travel.