Help: Does Cathay Pacific weigh carry on baggage?
 

Hi guys

I have an important question: Does anyone know if Cathay Pacific weighs carry on luggage or somehow enforces carry on weight limits?

Also, is a backpack with your laptop combined along with your carry on suitcase to create this weight requirement?

This is my first international flight and just recently saw their ridiculous carry on limit of 15 pounds!! I'm not trying to put 50 pounds in my carry on but I think its pretty easy to be a little over 15 pounds.


I had a very bad experience in the past with doing checked luggage so I now try to avoid it whenever possible (luggage was lost for a month the first time I ever flew). I'll still have to do checked luggage but i'll do my best to only put stuff I care little about in it.

Thanks for any help and i'm glad to now be a part of this forum

Phillip

Welcome to Flyertalk, Phillip2000. There is a designated Forum for Cathay Pacific( under Airline Programs). I am going to move this thread to the Cathay Pacific Forum for discussion. Please follow there.
Thanks...
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

On my last flight out of HKG this past December, checking in at the Airport Express train station in Central, for a Business class flight from HKG-JFK, the agent DID weigh my roll-aboard. Obviously it was more than 15 lbs. I was quite peeved I had to check it. I had no problems on the outbound JFK-HKG.

YMMV, I guess (Your Mileage May Vary).

As you have read, HKG is very strict. It is not really CX. It is the airport authority. Unless specifically tagged by the operating airline, a passenger is entitled to one carry-on and one small piece (notebook or suitcase). The carry-on is limited to a certain size and should be 7kg or less (the notebook/suitcase is extra but I believe should be 4kg or less, and must be SMALL).

CX did weigh my carry-on before even though my carry-on was within the size limit, but I believe they just liked to make sure that I would not be stopped when entering the departure hall.

Your problem will be that you have three - a backpack, a notebook and a briefcase. You need CX to allow it, and they may not unless you are in a premium cabin or if you are a MPC SL/GO/DM (or perhaps OW SA/EM). Note that except for the documented benefits, all others are subject to their discretion. You may consider packing your notebook/carry bag in your briefcase or you backpack.

Thanks for all the help so far.

I don't understand the reasoning behind the stupid weight limits.

If its an international flight, as practically any flight into Hong Kong would be, common sense tells you people would need more stuff. I will be flying to both Hong Kong International and also Taoyuan International (Taipei, Taiwan). Anything I should know about those two in particular?

Lol, I did some mock packing and found out at my carry on suitcase weighs around 5 pounds alone. After packing it moderately full of clothes i was already at the limit of 15 pounds (hard to believe).

Anyway, I've opted to use a duffel bag since it weighs virtually nothing. I packed the same amount of clothing into it and it only weighed in at slightly under 10 pounds.

As for the computer, I had intended to put it in my back pack. The backpack is pretty small so I should have no problem using at as my personal item. Does anyone think otherwise? I've used backpacks in the past as my personal item which was in addition to the 1 carry on item and never had any problems. However, these were domestic flights.

I was just worried the entire 15 pounds might also include the personal item. Apparently that isn't the case.

Has anyone used a duffel bag for carry on before? I measured and its about 22 by 12 by 11 and slightly under that if anything. Therfore, it would be within the 45 inch rule for Cathay Pacific.

Also, should a backpack as the personal item be a problem with Cathay Pacific? Do they allow a book in addition? I thought a book, umbrella, crutch, etc is a given regardless of the carry on and personal items.

I have found that they are more lenient and will turn a blind eye if you're checking in/flying in J or F. But I have had to check it in when flying economy because it was "too heavy" (forget about getting the orange tag). This is EXP and CX GLD notwithstanding.

Unfortunately I'm just an economy class person at the point. I'm a student and not a business man like many of you appear to be.

Maybe someday though?:cool:

They checked the weight several times even though I am a DM. The problem is not with CX for that. The problem is with the guards at the departure halls. I believe they just did not want me to be stopped and ended up coming back for the tag.

A backpack is a carry on. A brief case is one piece of personal item. A laptop is another piece of personal item. They may not allow two pieces of personal items. They do not count a book, but you should place your umbrella inside your backpack. I don't think crutch/cane is counted as they are more for medical reasons. The 7kg limit does not include personal items. If your laptop is in your backpack, then it is counted towards the 7kg limit, but your briefcase can be counted separately. However, HKIA is stricter on the dimensions and the number of carry-on items. They do not normally weigh your carry-on - but my wife's carry-on was weighed once by the departure hall guards.

Your bad is oversized by about 2" in one dimension. At the HKG airport, they may ask you to place the item in a measuring bin. The entire piece, including the wheels and handles must fit all the way in. That has nothing to do with CX. It is not just 45". The domensions are 22x14x9.

BTW, HKIA is not the strictest. UK is in general much worse. Now (very recently) China also limits carry-ons to 1 piece at 5kg for domestic flights - That probably means no more carry-ons if you have a laptop.

If you are simply flying on CX from LAX or SFO to HKG and TPE then just check a bag. The chances of it not turning up at the right place at the right time are minuscule.

Hmm, do you think they would make a big deal in Hong Kong if the backpack was used as my laptop case (to count as my personal item)? It very much resembles a carrying case except it has the shoulder straps?

I wouldn't normally ask such a weird question but HK seems really strict after what you said and after viewing the website.

For my 1 carry on item, I measured my carry on bag and its height is EXACTLY 22 inches tall from the floor to the top when sitting on the ground and ok on the other dimensions since depth is 7 inches and width is 13 inches. :)

I see they have a special measuring bin that you have to put the bag in the make sure its within the dimensions so thats why I worry. I hope it isn't really 21.5 inches or something making my bag not fit in the event it was measured. I did some more mock packing and can now get my weight within 15 pounds using this carry on bag.

I really do appreciate all the advice so far. I believe that many of my fellow classmates also traveling aren't taking the CX rules seriously and do not know about how strict HK is. I also found many of the rules hard to believe at first.

They seem to think its only written and not actually enforced (eg the weight)

It is not CX rules. The rules are mostly imposed by the airport authorities. For people travelling mosting inside US, they may not be aware of that.

The weight rule is in general not enforced in most airports, but it did happen to my wife.

Maybe I should not reply because I have only flown Dragon Air but I think that CX owns them. I have never had any trouble with my big heavy carry-on rollarboard and separate laptop bag flying from the mainland to HKG. Also they have never charged me an overweight on my checked luggage (which is always the case because I carry a very heavy toolbox) except for once when I checked in at the train in Kowloon to leave HKG for the US and the CX/Dragon Air check in personal were busy and some random airline (I forget which but Asian helped out by checking me through.) I figured because it was brand X checking me in for brand Y she didn't overlook the overage like the brand Y people do. No complaints from me though because I was right at the forty-five minute deadline to check via the train. Of course YMMV, but I would risk it, get to the airport early enough to make sure that CX personal help you and have some space on the CC in case you get busted.

Since I usually fly C or F i allways get one of these red tags, so i am not sure about how strict they are when you fly Y.
I was departing a few times from terminal 2 and it seems that they are far less strict in enforcing the size limits there. And lines for security and immigrations are much shorter there.
No problem using T2 when you check in at one of the airport express stations.

Yea sorry, I guess it really is the airports that make the rules. I'm still new to the international flying thing and I usually overprepare and think about situations/scenarios the average person wouldn't think about.

Its interesting because when I visited the HK site I saw nothing about the weight but it definitely showed about the size limitations for carry on luggage.