Overhead lockers and cabin class

Old Jun 16, 2019, 2:54 pm
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Overhead lockers and cabin class

interesting situation on IBZ to LCY this evening.

Overhead lockers (which are tiny on the Embraer) had filled up completely with only about 60% of pax having boarded. Economy passengers had used the lockers above CE seats.

A CE passenger, who was not particularly late boarding but was on the 2nd bus from the terminal found no space remaining.

Upshot was bags belonging to economy pax were removed from above rows 3 and 4 and when no further space was found, were moved to the hold. Id add that there was no apparent acrimony or undue fuss.

Id be interested to know what the official policies or guidelines are on this. Are the overhead bins in a cabin class deemed to be for the use of those passengers, or is it first cone first served throughout the plane?
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 3:21 pm
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Cabin manager will ultimately decide.
Were there any bags placed under seats?
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 3:30 pm
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I noticed recently on an AA 319 that the lockers over the 2 rows of First seats had a large label stuck to the back of them saying “Reserved for First class ticket holders” or something that effect. Worked perfectly on our flight. Seems an easy, low cost solution that gives the economy “chancers” little cause to gripe.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 3:34 pm
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Sounds like an excellent SCCM to me. I have no problem with Y passengers' bags being accommodated in the C lockers if some space remains, but the idea that Y pax bags should go there "instead" of C pax bags is simply not on. On Cityflyer flights, because C uses 4 seats per row just as Y, it is of course unlikely that any space would be left in a full C cabin to accommodate additional bags from Y. I must say that I get particularly annoyed when I see pax sat towards the back of the cabin leaving their bags above row 1 or 2 when they board early and there is still a ton of space in overhead lockers at the bag, which unfortunately happens more than occasionally.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 3:49 pm
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Originally Posted by HarryHolden68
I noticed recently on an AA 319 that the lockers over the 2 rows of First seats had a large label stuck to the back of them saying “Reserved for First class ticket holders” or something that effect. Worked perfectly on our flight. Seems an easy, low cost solution that gives the economy “chancers” little cause to gripe.
AA does this for both F and Maine Cabin Extra on standard domestic narrow bodies. Bags routinely moved out and if there is a complaint, it is easily dealt with by pointing to the sign which is in bold black. AA also takes larger carry-ons at the top of the jetway for smaller aircraft, thus avoiding onboard problems altogether. Those are returned in the jetway on arrival.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 3:59 pm
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I was on AA back from Miami to Mex and someone in economy had loaded 4 bags (between him and his fellow passengers) into the priority bins. Left no space for anyone nearby. I managed to squeeze my stuff in, but the CC soon came and noted the bags didn't belong and ask for them to be moved. Guy seemed a little pissed, but just got on and moved them.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 4:16 pm
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All down to the cabin crew who mostly do a great job of balancing competing demands.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 4:32 pm
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Most of the time all the Y bins are open and CE closed and the CC keep an eye on who is opening them and its a CE pax they quickly close them once the bag is in the OH

Other times they dont do that and it then causes issues.

when I flew TAP the bins in J were closed and were monitored during boarding.

i was on a DL TATL once and someone from Y dumped their bags in the J bins and a member of CC saw it and removed them then a few minutes later paged the passenger to come to J which he did - probably expecting to have been upgraded - only to have his bags handed back to him and sent back to Y with him!

Last edited by UKtravelbear; Jun 16, 2019 at 4:43 pm
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 5:10 pm
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In my experience a good crew will not let it happen. I have seen this on the PE on the long hauls too. The crew do not let EC passengers put their luggage in the PE cabin. The same with the toilets too. They ask them to use the EC toilets.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 11:37 pm
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Originally Posted by richardwft
Cabin manager will ultimately decide.
Were there any bags placed under seats?
Some. Crew werent happy that the gate hasnt been in any way proactive in either encouraging bags to be checked in.
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Old Jun 17, 2019, 1:24 am
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Originally Posted by FoxtrotOscar
interesting situation on IBZ to LCY this evening.

Overhead lockers (which are tiny on the Embraer) had filled up completely with only about 60% of pax having boarded. Economy passengers had used the lockers above CE seats.

A CE passenger, who was not particularly late boarding but was on the 2nd bus from the terminal found no space remaining.

Upshot was bags belonging to economy pax were removed from above rows 3 and 4 and when no further space was found, were moved to the hold. Id add that there was no apparent acrimony or undue fuss.

Id be interested to know what the official policies or guidelines are on this. Are the overhead bins in a cabin class deemed to be for the use of those passengers, or is it first cone first served throughout the plane?

had a similar situation last year on a Pmi-lhr flight. We boarded early as usual and noticed 2 women shove suitcase size luggage into CE bins,assumed they were in CE but not so as they headed to the back. Boarding continued and a gentleman boarded ( not especially late ) and had no space for his modestly sized hand luggage. FA said he would have to check it in. At this point I intervened and said a whole bin had been taken by 2 economy pax. Initially the gentleman was not adverse to checking it but when he he found out was not happy to do so (rightly so). I suggested to the cabin crew that they remove said bags and check those but she refused saying she couldnt ask said culprit to remove it. I then said I could identify the pax, in the end she found a place for the CE pax. Since BA introduced hbo there are a lot of chancers. If BA wants to offer h o they need to police it like easyJet
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Old Jun 17, 2019, 2:33 am
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I've noticed on IB on the modest amount of times I've travelled with them that they close the business lockers prior to boarding. This tends to prevent most Y chancers as many won't open what I guess is conceived to be a full locker. I'd like to see this method at least trialled on BA.

Someone had a gate checked bag with destination tag on a recent flight I've taken that they decided to bring on-board the aircraft, shoved up in the locker above my row and headed back to Y. Would this not have caused a mismatch in the number of checked bags on the manifest? Should it have been challenged by a ground/cabin crew member before departure? It got me wondering what the implications might have been if said passenger then put in a missed bag claim upon arrival and claiming all sorts of lovely things.... the bag tag could easily have been removed and there would have been no bag for BA to trace as the passenger already had it.
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Old Jun 17, 2019, 3:08 am
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I typically travel in CE and also prefer to board as late as possible. The problem is most acute on holiday routes from LCY, where passengers will typically be traveling with relatively large hand luggage (vs. the likes of ZRH/GVA where you'll get a lot of passengers with just a small briefcase/bag) and this compounds the problem caused by smaller Embraer bins and no empty seats in CE. My, somewhat selfish, solution is that I typically travel with a squishy calf leather bag - it's flexible enough to fit into overhead spaces that rollaboards can't and even if the space runs out, it's clearly not going to end up in the hold unless BA are looking for a very large bill for a replacement. I never got the appeal of a rollaboard as a result, sure, you end up with slightly more packing space but there's an assumption that the bag can be checked too.
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Old Jun 17, 2019, 4:45 am
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The simple practice of clearly labeling the bins (even with movable stickers and velcro) for CE, has a significant deterrent. It won't stop all poaching, but the fact is that there is no right to the overhead space unless it is specified and many people simply place their bags in the first space they find.
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Old Jun 17, 2019, 5:25 am
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I think CE bins should only be for CE travellers. Economy class passengers who paid for HBO, have made the sacrifice of check-in luggage to save money and therefore they take the risk if there isn't enough space for their luggage. Part of the problem is the inadequate policing by BA with many passengers bringing on such large bags on board.
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