San Gottardo

And I had exactly 1 item overhead and 1 item under the seat. And the jacket that they hang in the wardrobe. The fact that it was covered seems to have made the difference then (at least to these two people, not to the hundreds of others). OK, that answers that question.

I recognise how putting the jacket on complies with the rule, but now with the spirit of the rule, which is to limit cabin luggage to two pieces for overhead/under seat. Whether I wear that jacket or carry it myself will not take more or less space overhead/under the seat, and take up as much space in the wardrobe. I get it, I'll behave accordingly, but I find it absurd.

Except that she refused to check it to final destination. Just to intermediate stop.And: why did the chap in ORD allow me to drop my "third" piece at the aircraft door? Would have been more than happy to do that on the other flight as well.

I know the difference. I did get the valet check on the ORD-DFW leg, which was a Boeing 737-800, which doesn't fall into my definition of a very small aircraft (an ERJ or CRJ would). So why in one situation the "third item" can be valet checked but in another it has to be gate checked remains a mystery.

How does it speed up boarding if only to pass the BP scanner I have to put my jacket into my suitcase and then, just before entering the plane, I stop, unpack it and put it in its cover again, to hand it to staff/hang it myself in the wardrobe at the entrance of the plane? I am happy with this airline doing a better job restricting the number of pieces and over-size items people try to stuff into the overhead bins. But in this case, neither have they accelerated boarding nor have they freed up space in the overhead. So what was it that they wanted to achieve? Or was it, which I presume, an enforcing regardless of the ultimate objective, done mindlessly and with the complete absence of common sense?

radonc1

When we make rules, we define boundaries.....
I may drive 55 km/hr in a 50 km/hr zone and pass 50 LEOs who will let me drive on. But one may stop and cite me for speeding. My defense cannot be..
"I have driven this road 100 times prior to this at 55 km/hr and no one has stopped me before. Why now?"
And the answer always will be... "Because you are going 5 km/hr over the posted speed limit."

My wife travels with her carry-on, personal item and a small purse. Most times the GAs say nothing when she boards, but occasionally someone will mention 3 items. She then tosses her purse into the personal item and consolidates to 2. She may even be proactive when she sees other people being stopped for the same reason prior to boarding.

Some AA attendants will fuss over the rule and others will not. You may think it is absurd but obviously they do not. You already have described your very satisfactory solution to your problem. I personally would not change what you have been doing in the past, but if someone makes a fuss, wear the jacket and fold the plastic into your briefcase or carry-on.
Problem solved!

richarddd

I fear that expecting consistency from AA (or any airline) is expecting too much.

Reportedly, the FAA rule is that an airline must follow its own published procedure, rather than the FAA mandating any particular rule. I've never heard of an FAA enforcement action regarding carry-on, but perhaps someone else has an example.

threeoh

AA website:

AA CoC:

cheaptom

The "spirit" of the rule is often the culprit. FAs seem to use a lot of leeway with the spirit of the rule. They need to simply enforce the rules rigorously and strictly, OR ELSE look away and make it a free for all. It's the 50/50 interpretation of rules that often causes trouble.

I'll never forget the time I had to put my rollerboard in a sizer at the gate. It was tight, but I fit it in. GA told me it had to fit in "with room to spare" In other words, because I didn't have a lot of slack, she considered my bag too big. Even though it fit, it was too big. Now that was clearly her interpretation of the rules.

San Gottardo

We seem to be veering towards "why couldn't I bring that third item on board" - which is one question, but that was answered, "because as soon as your jacket is covered, it is considered a piece of luggage". I wouldn't mind not taking it on board, if only I could valet check it. And I still don't know why in one case I can valet check it and in another I can't. What difference does it make? I am not supposed to bring items on board, OK, I accept that. If I leave one item at the aircraft door, then I am not bringing it on board. So why insist on gate checking it (especially if it can't be checked to final destination)? What benefit? There are still only two items on board, boarding is not slowed down, etc. So what is the point?

I see your point. And rather than saying "spirit" I should have said "the clearly stated objective". In this case: if the clearly stated objective was "every passengers can put only one item in the overhead and one item underneath a seat" then putting my jacket in the wardrobe does not prevent that from happening. If the objective was "only two items on board", then valet checking one item does not prevent that from happening.

QueenOfCoach

I do exactly the same thing.

threeoh

The policy is to gate check it to the final destination (or next formal stopover) on your ticket, which is what the second agent did. That you had your own off-ticket connection is not of concern to the airline. Sometimes at the check-in counter they might be willing to string together and interline your bags across tickets, but it's time consuming and I definitely wouldn't expect a gate agent to do that while trying to board a flight.

The first agent cut you a break by allowing you to valet check it -- I don't think its prohibited, but it's not standard procedure on mainline aircraft. The standard procedure for excess bags (or bags within policy that don't fit because the plane is full) is to gate check to final destination or next stopover on your ticket.

The question is not "why wouldn't the second agent do this?" but rather "why did the first agent do a non-standard thing?" and that's a pretty clear answers: they were doing you a favor.

PHLProf

Does anyone know what the "rules" are regarding carrying on tennis rackets? I've been flying with a tennis bag for 15 years without any problems. But on my recent flight between PHX and LIH the gate agent required me to put it in the sizer. There is no issue with depth and width but even on the diagonal the bag was too long (the bag is 28" long). Even out of the bag - a standard racket is 27-29" long - the rackets wouldn't fit in the sizer. She then made me gate check the bag to LIH. We were just on our way to vacation so I didn't have to worry about my son's rackets being damaged enroute to a tournament. But I'd like to know what the official policy is before I travel for the next tournament. I can't place the rackets in checked bags because there is always some chance that the bags won't make it to the tournament destination. Note that my other carry-on was a small personal item that easily fit under the seat.

GUWonder

Dave Noble

There is no carry on baggage allowance for items to go in a wardrobe. If you wear a jacket it may get hung up, but you simply had a 3rd carry on piece which is not permitted

Srodriguez

Flying with American Airlines from MCO to FCO connecting in CLT next Monday. Will be traveling with a carry on for the over head bin and and smaller bag for under the seat. The bag for the over head bun is 21 x 14 x 8.7 Is it true American Airlines will frequently make you check your bags at the gate?


I’ve heard hear and there that AA almost always make passengers check bags at the gate but not sure how true it is. I don’t want to check luggage because I would like to avoid possible lost luggage

leighjohnwi

To give you a response that is more specific to you, I might ask for additional information. Do you have status, the AAdvantage card(s), or have you purchased MCE in advance?

In general, it completely depends on the gate agent, aircraft, and local baggage measuring "culture". I've had gate agents measure my bag as a first class passenger (that REALLY ticked me off), and other agents not even bother with ANY passengers...that element is hard to predict. I have traveled with the same sized overhead-compliant carry on for years, and can offer you this advice. If you are boarding in anything later than group 5, you run the risk of having the gate agents require you to gate check the bag, due to space filling up in the overhead bins. Group 6 on a full flight is when they generally get the news from the crew that space has run out.

I have no way to guess whether your carry-on will be sized by the agent...your described dimensions seem compliant. That entirely depends on the mood and need to assert their authority personality of the gate agent. I will say that some flights over others tend to have more passengers attempting to "push" the carry on limitations, but to my experience CLT-FCO is not one of them. Again, it all just depends on the GA that day. As I said above, I think the biggest factor you face is when you intend to board and what boarding group you will be assigned. If you are unsure of that, you might check the thread for AA boarding groups/procedure.

Best of luck!
Leighjohnwi

mvoight

The size limit is 22 x 14 x 9, so you are compliant with that standard.
However, depending on when you board their might not be enough room for your bag, or the gate agent might think there won't be enough room and will make you gate check it.

AA100k

If it’s a full flight and you are boarding after zone 5 you may have an issue.