If you don't have status - How to avoid having your trolley checked in at gate?
Jul 11, 2019, 2:47 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 99
If you don't have status - How to avoid having your trolley checked in at gate?
Hi,
We don't have status so... is booking a seat in CE the only way? Our current Economy tickets are Avios redemptions from last year IB 90k promo, I guess we'll be in boarding group 5.
Thanks.
We don't have status so... is booking a seat in CE the only way? Our current Economy tickets are Avios redemptions from last year IB 90k promo, I guess we'll be in boarding group 5.
Thanks.
Jul 11, 2019, 2:56 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 99
Jul 11, 2019, 3:09 am
#4
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 1,279
In some airports, the easiest option is pulling off the bag tag when no-one is looking.
Jul 11, 2019, 3:24 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 12,254
Certain leisure routes (I'm thinking Gatwick) a lot of the passengers have checked a hold bag and the overheads were actually not bad - this was the case last week to Tenerife, despite the crew announcing full flight several times there was plenty of room
Jul 11, 2019, 3:31 am
#8
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,647
This hasn't happened to me yet, but I always have a Tesco 
bag for life in the trolley just in case it does so that I can remove all of the valuables, travel documents and medicines, before handing over the (now completely empty) trolley to be stored in the hold. The (extremely full) Tesco bag can then be stuffed under the seat after half of it has been first decanted into the seat pocket.
bag for life in the trolley just in case it does so that I can remove all of the valuables, travel documents and medicines, before handing over the (now completely empty) trolley to be stored in the hold. The (extremely full) Tesco bag can then be stuffed under the seat after half of it has been first decanted into the seat pocket.
Jul 11, 2019, 3:48 am
#10
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: UK - Hampshire & London
Programs: Mucci de Guardian des Celliers des Grands Crus 1e Classé, plus BAEC.
Posts: 2,732
Jul 11, 2019, 3:55 am
#11
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 635
I have to say, having status seems to make very little difference in my (I acknowledge limited) experience. I have seen plenty of people at the front of the Groups 1-3 queues having a wheely bag taken off then, to much wailing.
I was going to say my best strategy has been to only have one bag and nothing else on my person - and then OP said "Actually I'll be carrying a backpack which does fit plus a trolley." I think if the flight is full and you are either at the beginning or near the end, you have a high chance of the wheely being taken off you. Exactly the same thinking as @SteveF, if the trolley is your only bag the chances are it has items in it you need to remove (prescription medication, laptop, valuables, coat) and so it will be a faff for the gate agent to wait for you to take all those items out before you board and you are likely to complain about having to carry all those items by hand onto the plane. That is my thinking anyway.
I was going to say my best strategy has been to only have one bag and nothing else on my person - and then OP said "Actually I'll be carrying a backpack which does fit plus a trolley." I think if the flight is full and you are either at the beginning or near the end, you have a high chance of the wheely being taken off you. Exactly the same thinking as @SteveF, if the trolley is your only bag the chances are it has items in it you need to remove (prescription medication, laptop, valuables, coat) and so it will be a faff for the gate agent to wait for you to take all those items out before you board and you are likely to complain about having to carry all those items by hand onto the plane. That is my thinking anyway.
Jul 11, 2019, 4:01 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 99
I have to say, having status seems to make very little difference in my (I acknowledge limited) experience. I have seen plenty of people at the front of the Groups 1-3 queues having a wheely bag taken off then, to much wailing.
I was going to say my best strategy has been to only have one bag and nothing else on my person - and then OP said "Actually I'll be carrying a backpack which does fit plus a trolley." I think if the flight is full and you are either at the beginning or near the end, you have a high chance of the wheely being taken off you. Exactly the same thinking as @SteveF, if the trolley is your only bag the chances are it has items in it you need to remove (prescription medication, laptop, valuables, coat) and so it will be a faff for the gate agent to wait for you to take all those items out before you board and you are likely to complain about having to carry all those items by hand onto the plane. That is my thinking anyway.
I was going to say my best strategy has been to only have one bag and nothing else on my person - and then OP said "Actually I'll be carrying a backpack which does fit plus a trolley." I think if the flight is full and you are either at the beginning or near the end, you have a high chance of the wheely being taken off you. Exactly the same thinking as @SteveF, if the trolley is your only bag the chances are it has items in it you need to remove (prescription medication, laptop, valuables, coat) and so it will be a faff for the gate agent to wait for you to take all those items out before you board and you are likely to complain about having to carry all those items by hand onto the plane. That is my thinking anyway.
Jul 11, 2019, 4:07 am
#13
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,766
I am guessing you aren't flying that regularly on BA, so my apologies if you know all of this. It's fairly rare for items to be gate checked against the will of the passenger. It needs to be a full shorthaul aircraft with a small CE cabin and a lot of Basic travellers in it. And when that happens BA sends out emails inviting people to check in for free anyway. I was on one such flight yesterday, only 5 rows of CE, totally full A320 including jump seats, and they could have got another 20 bags on board no problem. Occasionally some bags are sent to the hold during or after boarding, but this is less than 10% of flights in my experience, though I have seen a few more extreme situations.
If your bag does not have wheels it is even less likely to be gate checked. The more squidgy and nearer the shoulder, the less likely it is to happen. If you have just one bag and it's inside the guidelines then it is even less likely. If ground agents are told to find volunteers they tend to do so at the start of boarding hence the the soi-disant "gate lice"* tend to be targetted since they tend to be most overloaded. By the time they get to Group 5 the clock is running is down quite sharply and the priority is to get everyone on board.
The main exceptions will be DUB and AMS, and also on Embraer aircraft, where genuinely there is't a lot of space.
* usual disclaimers apply.
If your bag does not have wheels it is even less likely to be gate checked. The more squidgy and nearer the shoulder, the less likely it is to happen. If you have just one bag and it's inside the guidelines then it is even less likely. If ground agents are told to find volunteers they tend to do so at the start of boarding hence the the soi-disant "gate lice"* tend to be targetted since they tend to be most overloaded. By the time they get to Group 5 the clock is running is down quite sharply and the priority is to get everyone on board.
The main exceptions will be DUB and AMS, and also on Embraer aircraft, where genuinely there is't a lot of space.
* usual disclaimers apply.
Jul 11, 2019, 4:48 am
#14
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: MME (midway between NCL and LBA)
Programs: BA Gold, AF/KL Gold, Hilton Gold, Nordic Choice Gold
Posts: 743
On a domestic to LHR they will not check your bag if you tell them you are connecting on somewhere else. I was recently in 1C on NCL-LHR and there was the usual struggle to find overhead space in CE. When I was told that I had to check my bag and would need to collect it at the carousel, I said that it wouldn’t work as I was connecting on and then the CC member took out her steamer trunk from above 2C and found space for my roller bag.