Forced Gate Check Carry-ons?

Old Dec 16, 2015, 3:10 pm
  #31  
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
I've done that too.

Do you remove the tag in the jetway?
Is this pink tags for CRJ? I notice more frequently, and around the country on mainline flights they are taking your bag, printing actual checked luggage tags, and stacking them up on a cart. (Though seems like a theft issue as anyone can just walk by and grab one, they dont seem to pay much attention to it.)
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Old Dec 17, 2015, 12:05 am
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
I've done that too.

Do you remove the tag in the jetway?
Sometimes, or just hide it in my hand when I board.

Or I just ask for the tag and don't actually put it on my bag.
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Old Dec 17, 2015, 12:07 am
  #33  
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Originally Posted by vincentharris
Is this pink tags for CRJ? I notice more frequently, and around the country on mainline flights they are taking your bag, printing actual checked luggage tags, and stacking them up on a cart. (Though seems like a theft issue as anyone can just walk by and grab one, they dont seem to pay much attention to it.)
I haven't run into this on a flight where they're printing real checked tags, only gate checking. (Being Diamond, I tend to board early enough that finding space won't be an issue.)
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Old Jan 2, 2016, 8:01 pm
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I had a similar experience on 11/30/15 on the last leg of a 22 hour return trip between africa (to see my son and grandson) and the US. I had checked the Delta website in advance, measured my roll aboard carry-on before leaving, tested the carry-on in the sizer. For a trip of that length I carry both a small back pack and the roll aboard. I have been stranded over night by Delta/AirFrance on 2 of the last 3 times I visited my son (we DO love to go on strike). So I bring medications, a small pillow for my back (have a 12-inch rod), the electronics I don't want stolen, a clean pair of underwear, a toothbrush, my travel documents, small amount of currency for the countries I'm traveling through. This crap adds up. The very same bag I had placed in an OVERHEAD bin when I left home was banned from the last, yes smaller, plane on my way home. But my biggest issue was the smug, rude behavior of the flight attendant. I DID initially challenge him when he refused to let me board the plane, after all I've carried the same bag on similar flights any number of times. But I'm a wimp and I backed down. After I finished unloading all my "valuables" into a make do carry-on plastic bag, I asked where I could get info on what size bags I COULD bring for future flights. The guys was so hostile I wanted to cry. When I left the plane, he muttered to me as I passed "And now you can put it all back." C'mon really! I'm the doofy lady that pulls other peoples' missed trash out of the seat pocket. My sister was a flight attendant. I just want to know what the damn rules are so I can follow them. And yes, in my travels since then I would describe the effort to "gate check" bags as pushy and hostile. So I don't think the initial post is as much about having the "right" to carry bags on the plane as having the right to be treated fairly, consistently, courteously by the airlines.
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Old Jan 2, 2016, 8:34 pm
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So, on my way to GUM recently, I was traveling with my trusty TUMI rollaboard that has faithfully served me for several years on many delta aircraft. Sometimes, the bins need to be ... assertively closed, but it absolutely DOES fit in every mainline aircraft overhead (and I do apologize in advance if all the bins on the longer side are full with ladies handbags, shopping bags, laptop bags and such, and i'm forced to put it in sideways on the shorter vin side).

Anyway, I get to the TSA Pre security checkpoint at PHL and I'm about to roll on past the person who normally just patrols the point to keep the non-Pre people out of the line, and she motions me over to the collection of sizers from various airlines she has, and she tells me I must put my bag into the Delta sizer. Now, my bag was NOT overstuffed or anything, but for some reason the stupid Tumi was NOT going to fit in the long way, the stupid handle opposite the wheels just wouldn't go down. So, TSA lady tells me I have to go down to Delta. She tells me that this is a new policy that the airlines are making the TSA enforce. I'm not going to argue with her, since she's just a low-level person trying to make a buck, so I go marching on downstairs to the Delta ticket counter and explain that my Tumi has been with me for years without a problem and what the heck's going on. The Ticket Agent was surprised and hadn't heard anything of this, but it happened that the station manager was just getting into work and walking by, so the TA calls the station manager over to ask what's going on. The station manager takes on look at me and my bag and responds "That's NOT supposed to happen with one of our Platinum Million Milers. Come with me!" and she marches me back up to the TSA checkpoint, and explains to the checkpoint lady who she is and that I'm to be let through. I felt a bit bad for the checkpoint lady because the checkpoint lady was explaining to the station manager that she was just following a new directive that they had received. (Mind you, at no time did I play the DYKWIA card. In fact, I have an old GOLD MM card on my bag because it happened to be one of the ones that has my SM card on it. I suspect the station manager figured things out by looking at my PNR on the screen.)
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Old Jan 3, 2016, 10:05 am
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Originally Posted by jimrpa
So, on my way to GUM recently, I was traveling with my trusty TUMI rollaboard that has faithfully served me for several years on many delta aircraft. Sometimes, the bins need to be ... assertively closed, but it absolutely DOES fit in every mainline aircraft overhead (and I do apologize in advance if all the bins on the longer side are full with ladies handbags, shopping bags, laptop bags and such, and i'm forced to put it in sideways on the shorter vin side).

Anyway, I get to the TSA Pre security checkpoint at PHL and I'm about to roll on past the person who normally just patrols the point to keep the non-Pre people out of the line, and she motions me over to the collection of sizers from various airlines she has, and she tells me I must put my bag into the Delta sizer. Now, my bag was NOT overstuffed or anything, but for some reason the stupid Tumi was NOT going to fit in the long way, the stupid handle opposite the wheels just wouldn't go down. So, TSA lady tells me I have to go down to Delta. She tells me that this is a new policy that the airlines are making the TSA enforce. I'm not going to argue with her, since she's just a low-level person trying to make a buck, so I go marching on downstairs to the Delta ticket counter and explain that my Tumi has been with me for years without a problem and what the heck's going on. The Ticket Agent was surprised and hadn't heard anything of this, but it happened that the station manager was just getting into work and walking by, so the TA calls the station manager over to ask what's going on. The station manager takes on look at me and my bag and responds "That's NOT supposed to happen with one of our Platinum Million Milers. Come with me!" and she marches me back up to the TSA checkpoint, and explains to the checkpoint lady who she is and that I'm to be let through. I felt a bit bad for the checkpoint lady because the checkpoint lady was explaining to the station manager that she was just following a new directive that they had received. (Mind you, at no time did I play the DYKWIA card. In fact, I have an old GOLD MM card on my bag because it happened to be one of the ones that has my SM card on it. I suspect the station manager figured things out by looking at my PNR on the screen.)
That's a little surprising. Customer service agents are trained not to mess around with federal regulations. Enforcing the carry-on size policy is a federal regulation, and CSAs who have gone to a training class would know that the carry-on size policy applies to all customers... even a celebrity DM/MM. An $11,000 fine is an $11,000 fine. I wouldn't call violating a regulation good customer service. Delta CSAs break the rules all the time to help customers, but the law should never be broken, even if it's a stupid law (like carry-on size).

The carry-on size box doesn't determine if your bag will fit; it determines whether it meets the airline's carry-on size policy, and the airline is required to make a policy and enforce it by the FAA. I could fit in an overhead bin; it doesn't mean I'm carry-on size or I should go in the bin. Having items that can fit in the bin but aren't carry-on size-compliant is unfair to other passengers with carry-on bags who have to check theirs because the bins filled up with other peoples' large bags.

All that being said, I only have someone place their bag in the size check if they ask if it's carry-on size or if it's very obviously oversized.

The TSA officer was just doing her job, and she was doing it better than the station manager apparently.
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Old Jan 3, 2016, 3:12 pm
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Originally Posted by Widgets
That's a little surprising. Customer service agents are trained not to mess around with federal regulations. Enforcing the carry-on size policy is a federal regulation, and CSAs who have gone to a training class would know that the carry-on size policy applies to all customers... even a celebrity DM/MM. An $11,000 fine is an $11,000 fine. I wouldn't call violating a regulation good customer service. Delta CSAs break the rules all the time to help customers, but the law should never be broken, even if it's a stupid law (like carry-on size).

The carry-on size box doesn't determine if your bag will fit; it determines whether it meets the airline's carry-on size policy, and the airline is required to make a policy and enforce it by the FAA. I could fit in an overhead bin; it doesn't mean I'm carry-on size or I should go in the bin. Having items that can fit in the bin but aren't carry-on size-compliant is unfair to other passengers with carry-on bags who have to check theirs because the bins filled up with other peoples' large bags.

All that being said, I only have someone place their bag in the size check if they ask if it's carry-on size or if it's very obviously oversized.

The TSA officer was just doing her job, and she was doing it better than the station manager apparently.
First, not a CSA, the station manager
Second, not a celebrity DMMMMM, pond scum unknown PM MM. You know, #70 on the upgrade list?

Third, not a TSA officer, the private airport employee paid to "guard" entry point to the Pre line.

I certainly would never ask DL (or anyone) to bend or violate any federal regs and I would hope they would never do so! And I certainly would never mess with a TSA officer. I don't want to be grounded and I DO understand that they're just doing their job and following established rules.
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Old Jan 3, 2016, 3:24 pm
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Originally Posted by jimrpa
I certainly would never ask DL (or anyone) to bend or violate any federal regs
But, I believe you DID, actually! . . . . .

Originally Posted by Widgets
Enforcing the carry-on size policy is a federal regulation

The carry-on size box doesn't determine if your bag will fit; it determines whether it meets the airline's carry-on size policy, and the airline is required to make a policy and enforce it by the FAA.
I challenged a GA once about my bag being too big. The GA told me that there were always federal agents watching them to make sure they enforce carry-on size. I said - come on - that's a DL policy - not a federal policy. She told me that it's FEDERAL policy to enfore the carry-on size that DL sets! I have seen this reported here, too! Believe me - I was SHOCKED!

We all just take it for granted!

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Old Jan 3, 2016, 4:15 pm
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Originally Posted by davetravels
But, I believe you DID, actually! . . . . .
I believe I DIDN'T actually I went back and reread my original post. I said "...what the heck's going on..." At no time in the post did I say that I asked anyone from DL to intercede (nor would I have). If the agent had told me this was something new, I was prepared to surrender my trusty Tumi and reluctantly purchase something smaller (I've been pondering a new bag anyway because mine's become somewhat worn, but I can't find any that I can pack suits or sport coats in and my current bag allows me to do so, even though they come out very rumpled. I digress - sorry.) when I returned.

Again, note that I was nowhere near a gate. I wasn't even at the security checkpoint :/
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Old Jan 3, 2016, 4:46 pm
  #40  
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Originally Posted by sethb
My own policy is that I would buy checked baggage insurance from Delta if they insist on checking such items. The point isn't the money, it's the amount of time it would take the GA to figure out how to sell the insurance, which would guarantee that the flight would not leave on time.
I have tried this before. The response was that there wasn't enough time, and I should have done this earlier (despite not knowing that I would be forced to gate check it) but I could still do it and get rebooked to the next flight.

I sent a complaint to Delta and got a non-response.
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Old Jan 3, 2016, 5:22 pm
  #41  
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Originally Posted by jimrpa
I believe I DIDN'T actually I went back and reread my original post.
Yes, perhaps you're right, technically, as far as the rent-a-guard at the head of the cue really isn't a DL employee charged with enforcing FAA rules / laws.

The same thing happened to me, actually - - A different trip from the one I mentioned earlier.

I was at LGA flying - something like - LGA/DTW/AMS/TXL. I had a close connection somewhere. A burgundy coated woman working for LGA airport, I guess, (NOT a RedCoat) at the head of the security line told me that my bag was too big. I went back to the counter, and, I believe I actually pulled a DM DYKWIA!! But . . . . It didn't work! I had to check my bag - and it DID arrive in TXL!

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Old Jan 3, 2016, 6:53 pm
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Originally Posted by fti
When GA's get incentive bonuses for getting a plane out on time, they really care little about their customers, plain and simple.

If the GA's would just enforce the carry on limit that would help a lot. Earlier this week I saw someone taking on four (yes four!) pieces - a carry on, a personal item, a purse and a shopping bag. That really needs to stop. But GA's almost never care. I can remember only one time that a GA patrolled carry on items and made people condense or check a piece. Extremely rare (again, because by that time, it holds up boarding and the GA might lose their incentive).
Delta does not give bonuses to agents for a on time departure.
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Old Jan 3, 2016, 7:51 pm
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We were in BTV going through TSA checkpoint and the female TSA person said I need to check my bag. I said this bag (Tumi International Carryon, plus I have the red DL carryon tag on my bag) has been with me all over the world and no I don't want to check it. I said this meets DL carryon policy. She then just looked at us as we passed by.

Yes, it does meet the DL size for carryon.

Another time, I don't recall city, they were asking for volunteers to gate check their luggage, I didn't do mine, the GA said the flight was full and they need people to check there bags. I saw this young girl, who said she needed her bag with her because she has a lot of expensive stuff, they made her check it. Anyway, I was in zone SKY, I didn't check mine. After everyone boarded the aircraft, I noticed there were a several bins empty. I felt so bad for her.

I have been asked before in the past, even though it's DL Carryon size. I explain that I have thousand's of $ of camera equipment. They then say it's OK. So far so good for me.

I wish they would enforce the carryon size rule. I see so many people with oversize bags.
When I dropped off my mom at the MCO airport last week, I had brought my Tumi with me to make sure the bag would fit in the bin, just in case they made the carry on size smaller. It still fits.

Is this something new for TSA to start deciding who gets to bring in a carry on?
PS Where is this a Federal Policy/Law? Does anyone have this in writing?

Last edited by NWA777; Jan 3, 2016 at 8:03 pm
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Old Jan 4, 2016, 9:20 am
  #44  
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Originally Posted by vivamie
I had a similar experience on 11/30/15 on the last leg of a 22 hour return trip between africa (to see my son and grandson) and the US. I had checked the Delta website in advance, measured my roll aboard carry-on before leaving, tested the carry-on in the sizer. For a trip of that length I carry both a small back pack and the roll aboard. I have been stranded over night by Delta/AirFrance on 2 of the last 3 times I visited my son (we DO love to go on strike). So I bring medications, a small pillow for my back (have a 12-inch rod), the electronics I don't want stolen, a clean pair of underwear, a toothbrush, my travel documents, small amount of currency for the countries I'm traveling through. This crap adds up. The very same bag I had placed in an OVERHEAD bin when I left home was banned from the last, yes smaller, plane on my way home. But my biggest issue was the smug, rude behavior of the flight attendant. I DID initially challenge him when he refused to let me board the plane, after all I've carried the same bag on similar flights any number of times. But I'm a wimp and I backed down. After I finished unloading all my "valuables" into a make do carry-on plastic bag, I asked where I could get info on what size bags I COULD bring for future flights. The guys was so hostile I wanted to cry. When I left the plane, he muttered to me as I passed "And now you can put it all back." C'mon really! I'm the doofy lady that pulls other peoples' missed trash out of the seat pocket. My sister was a flight attendant. I just want to know what the damn rules are so I can follow them. And yes, in my travels since then I would describe the effort to "gate check" bags as pushy and hostile. So I don't think the initial post is as much about having the "right" to carry bags on the plane as having the right to be treated fairly, consistently, courteously by the airlines.
There's a standard, published, carry-on size. There are some planes whose overheads are too small to hold it (and others that can hold it, but only for a very small fraction of passengers).
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Old Jan 4, 2016, 9:24 am
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Originally Posted by cbn42
I have tried this before. The response was that there wasn't enough time, and I should have done this earlier (despite not knowing that I would be forced to gate check it) but I could still do it and get rebooked to the next flight.

I sent a complaint to Delta and got a non-response.
I would video record myself asking to buy insurance and them refusing to sell it, and inform them that the recording would be played in court if necessary to establish their responsibility. Then I'd offer to take a later flight for Denied Boarding Compensation, if they wished.
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