Door5L

The BA633 from Athens to Heathrow last night was a complete mess and delayed because of the volume of hand luggage that even the crew said they could not cope with. You could see the First Officer and Captain coming out and looking extremely frustrated as the slot was missed just because passengers could not stow their luggage or find anywhere to place items on the full A321. The last 10 or so passengers were just shoving bags in Club where they could so the flight could leave but with difficulty and some passengers just sat with their luggage on their laps. When will BA start to enforce a very clear hand luggage policy?

chriswiles

This is not uncommon. Normally crew take economy bags themselves and put them in club if there are too many bags.

The problem is, so many people now know that hold bags take far too long to arrive and/or don't arrive at all (I had a friend fly to Greece Thursday and only received her hold bag on Sunday), so more and more people are bringing huge cabin bags + another bag into economy. I've seen a couple with two big cabin bags, a tote, a huge handbag and also a buggy for their kids....yes in economy.

One of the reasons I upgrade to CE is the expanded bag policy, only to find crew uses most of the Club spaces anyhow to accommodate economy bags. You wonder why you bother when there's almost no distinction between the two classes with cabin bags?

Oaxaca

There is no “expanded bag policy” in CE. BA’s cabin baggage allowance is the same from basic economy to F. The only difference should be the amount of space available to store bags in higher cabins.

Nickl

I understand and agree with chriswiles above about the understandable desire by all passengers to take more hand baggage but my last few flights have all had protracted boarding because of numerous passengers in both economy and club bringing on excess amounts. It seems to be getting worse? And presumably will do so whilst there�s little incentive for any of us to keep to the limit unless it is enforced.

And whilst I am on the topic of BA staff (or staff acting for BA) not seeming bothered about rules, my last two flights at Heathrow have been a free for all on boarding numbers with seemingly no interest from gate staff on enforcing the group numbers that they themselves have just called. Last week, as group one I was queuing behind a couple with group four boarding passes (with copious amount of hand baggage) who were discussing that the rules didn�t apply anymore. They went through without challenge at the boarding pass/ID check and I did ask the member of staff why. I got a shrug in reply�

I have had many previous flights where staff have called out those not following the rules, but the lack of consistency must now make it more difficult for them? This is where a clear lead/instruction/support would be given by senior management in any good Company

fdem

I think the problem is down to cost. People don�t want to pay baggage charges. I have literally seen people bring on small suitcases. On easyJet they police this vociferously if bag too large they insist it goes into baggage hold and are charged on the spot. I can vouch for this as once mine. ( a slightly longer than allowed tump hand luggage). Either BA police this properly or drop the HBO fares.

PAL62V

Given the wait I had last night at T5 for baggage and my colleague�s 2.5 hr wait on a later arrival, I fully understand the increase in hand baggage. Heathrow is a joke.

GlasgowBlue

I posted about my experience at LHR T5 for a recent LHR > GLA flight on previous thread about hand luggage.

At the gate before boarding the BA staff announced they were looking for volunteers who would allow their baggage to be checked into the hold �free of charge�. Those coming forward would be allowed to board first. They did get a handful of passengers coming forward.

It clearly wasn�t enough so they then announced that passengers in groups 4 and above (5, 6, 7 etc) would be selected at random to have their bags stowed at the gate. There would be no exceptions or excuses for dodging this allowed so any essentials needed during the flight had to be taken out before boarding.

I was thankfully in group 3 so I didn�t see how this worked in practice once �volunteers� were selected but the boarding seemed fairly smooth and our flight left on time.

chriswiles

Then why does it say "Larger baggage allowance than Euro Traveller" on the BA website? Club Europe | European Business Class | British Airways

My assumption was always that in CE you're given a more generous allowance, even if it's an unofficial allowance. I've flown recently in CE where BA has announced the flight was full and asked people to volunteer large cabin bags to go into the hold. Most people didn't volunteer, so they were stopping people at the gate. They saw my reasonably large cabin bag, noted I was in CE and let it go.

Bohinjska Bistrica

It is very understandable and also sensible given the current issues.

However, this also means that BA needs to be proactive in managing the increase in hand luggage, which will inevitable exceed capacity on board. This means proactive gatechecking of hand baggage prevent missed slots and delays on board.

danmushman

I'm pretty sure that's referring to checked baggage - which for CE is 2 (vs 1 or 0 in ET), before any status benefits considered.

Oaxaca

The larger baggage allowance in CE is a larger checked baggage allowance. Cabin baggage allowance (official or otherwise) is identical in all cabins. People may get away with more in any cabin on the day, depending on ground staff/crew, given BA's enforcement.

Lucanesque

Because you get a second checked bag for free, the cabin allowance stays the same at one cabin bag plus one 'handbag'

vintagepilot

The main problem is stowing both bags in the overhead lockers and not stowing the smaller bag under the seat in front. The announcements aren't directive enough (as if anyone listens) and the crew don't enforce it.

In practice there is more room in club, with the additional space under the middle seat, and only 4 seats per row vs 6 in Y. (unless you are in row 1 where the overheads are full of technical kit - or crew bags.

Fritz

Correct. Although it does seem true the the crew will sometimes turn a blind eye to CE travellers with non-conforming hand luggage such as a small third item

MFCC

Hand baggage is the absolute bane of my existence. Crew have repeatedly been telling the company that in many cases it�s physically impossible to stow the volume of luggage safely.
Ground staff do what they can I guess but many people just rip off the labels and walk them to the aircraft.
IFCE have said that they need Cabin Safety Reports from crew explaining that there�s too much and they can then take that to BA.
I�m strongly of the view that instead of �Hand Baggage Only� fares it should be �Hold Luggage Only� - and if you wish to bring a suitcase onboard then you must pay.