Nevsky

I know that the AZ rules are pretty strict in terms of carry-on baggage, in terms of both size and weight. In practice, how strictly is it enforced, especially for SkyTeam Elite Plus members? I have not flown AZ in many years, but now that CO is part of SkyTeam (and if AZ survives), I may try it again.

Gargoyle

A few months ago, checking in at Pisa for a jump to Milan (connecting to ORD) the ticket agent did point out my carry-on was 3 or 4 kilos over. I told her it just had a couple bottles of wine, sandwich, and water; she told me to eat the sandwich before boarding.

I did, which reduced the weight of the carry-on but increased the weight of the PAX.

JanB

My experience is that it helps to:

I have often overweight carry-on baggage and only very occasionally I have had problems with AZ.

I see this as one of the reasons to choose for AZ on the route BRU-FCO where they have a lot of competition from e.g. TV which has a very strickt carry-on policy.

Nevsky

That is one of the reasons I have given up on its sister, VS.

Steve Fenton

I flew two weeks ago from Zurich to Malpensa on a Embraer 145. The gate agent tagged as many as possible bags to make sure we saved time boarding and everyone understood that the overhead bins are tiny on this kind of plane. As usual some American tries to get on with a laptop bag big enought to store an entire ofice, his folding wardrobe and a suitcase big enough to put his family in. He argued that AZ would not take of his bags and held everyone up for almost 15 minutes. He was quickly advised to either check them in or find another means to travel by another passenger.

NickW

I've flown this route a couple of times - my rollaboard only just doesn't fit into the bin. ... rather it does fit, but then the bin doesn't close. Whoops.

I can't understand anyone making a giant fuss about it on this route - any carry-on that you need to check can be picked up as you leave the aircraft! Must add all of thirty seconds to your journey.

JennyElf

I flew BOS-MXP in April with an overweight (I think it was about 10kg and their webpage says 5kg limit) but properly sized carry-on (fit in the tester bin and the overhead bin the correct way). They didn't bother weighing it, just asked me if it would fit in the tester bin. BTW: I have no status or anything within SkyTeam.

Steve Fenton

This guy seemed to think he was a law unto himself and I was amazed after all his fuss, he was actually allowed to fly. IT seems very common to see this kind of thing in Europe, especiallly from Americans who have a culture of taking as much as possible on board and often taking up much needed space of passengers who abide by the rules.

I have even got to the stage now, where I always carry a CD or MP3 player to drown out the ever present Americans who have the ability to talk above any amount of noise and make sure everyone has to listen to their conversations.

Dovster

I hope you are not planning on using that CD or MP3 player on the plane -- they are banned by Alitalia.

I always carry too much weight in my carryon but I don't violate the size rules. I can't see where it effects flight safety if I have 10 kilos in the cabin or if they are in the baggage hold. I have found in MXP if you check in at the Prima/Magnifica line, even if you are flying Economy, they don't weigh your carry-on. (I don't know what they would do if it was oversized.)

NickW

Really? I would think that the heavier the carry-on, the greater the risk that (during turbulence) bags would burst through the locker door, and the greater the risk of injury to anyone in the flightpath would be.

Steve Fenton

What the rules say and what the staff do to implement them is another thing. I have seen Alitalia FA sitting at the back reading a magazine with the the MP3 player switched on.

If anyone has ever seen the effect of bags coming out of overhead bins due to turbulance, they just might think again. I am sure we have all and do take overweight and the majority will always try and make sure the size is right. I have seen people hit by objects falling out of overhead bins and I am amazed you never hear of people sustaining serious injury from this as I think it must happen more than we realise.

The incident from Zurich to Milan was crazy, the flight is about 30 minutes, they tag your luggage and have it at the steps when you get off, what more can you ask for.

Nevsky

Well, other times one has to wait 30 minutes for the baggage to arrive and sometimes it misconnects (as has happened all too often to me) or it is stolen along the way. When I take it on board, it gets there on time. Another nuisance is airlines like VS and BA that have different weight limits in F C and Y. What they call safety is really economic (is safety different in F or Y? Actually if something falls on someone in F, the damage might be greater as the people up front are the more "valuable" passengers) and that is why they do not get my money anymore. Frankly, that is an important factor in my choice of airlines and in this time where airlines are under financial pressures, it costs them nothing to make life easy for its passengers.

Things happen, but on most US airlines, carry-on rules are pretty liberal and the process generally works. Sure there is the occasional accident, but so are coffee spills.

Dovster

Nick, what you say may be true but I am talking about reasonable amounts of overweight -- well within the standards of what would be permissable on U.S. airlines.

I have a trolley-type piece of luggage that I bought in the ATL airport. It is especially designed for air travel as it has a section which allows me to take out a laptop computer for the TSA without opening the whole thing. It is not particularly large and is well within the "Size-Wise" dimensions allowed by SkyTeam.

However, with my IBM laptop inside, it weighs 7 kilos. Once I add a few more things that I want with me during the flight it generally comes to about 10 kilos.

Delta feels that I can safely put 18 kilos in my hand luggage, so I can't see where I am endangering anyone by packing 10 kilos on AZ.

NickW

Passenger density is generally much lower in F and C. Safe loads for the lockers are probably the same.

Nevsky

The bins are actually rated to hold quite a bit. Off the top of my head 180 lbs. on many planes. That does not explain the difference between 6 KG and 18 KG as the carry-on limit in Y and F on BA.

It is plainly economic and in the long run just another way to make traveling inconvenient for customers.

On most US carriers people do bring lots on board and, although not perfect, the system works and is a tremendous convenience and probably saves the airline all the costs of processing baggage and lost and damaged bags.

I had a claim with VS not too long ago, but would have cost them nothing if I had been able to take my bag on board.