I've just returned from two weeks in Europe with only one carry-on bag, and I wore clean clothes every day. Although it may seem odd to some travelers, it is possible to wash clothes. And I didn't bum around in jeans and a T-shirt all the time -- I had appropriate clothing for concerts and religious services, plus cold-weather gear for high altitudes.

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the trend is that people are bringing more as carryons, either in the form of larger bags (because they either have more than what will fit with the Y-class free checked bag allowance, or they don't want to take the chance of having their valuables pilfered if it were stored in their checked luggage), or a growing percentage of passengers electing to avoid checking bags whenever possible and going exclusively carry-on because they don't want the risk of dealing with pilfered/lost/delayed luggage not to mention they can get out of the airports faster.

yes, some flyers elect to buy things at their destination rather than transporting them but it's usually regulated to toilettries (sp) and small basics. those that plan to buy a lot of clothes or other items at their destinations (Paris, HK, Italy, etc) actually tend to bring a large partly packed carry-on, which in the majority of cases takes nearly the same amount of bin space as a fully loaded carry-on.

And they did not carry that stuff before? Like I said, its not what they are carrying, but WHERE. Instead of checking it now, they are taking it as carry on. So the answer would seem to me to be to fix the system so that people feel much less need to take everything carryon with them.

The airline that guarantees they will return my checked bag within 15 minutes of arrival time, has my business! I would carry on nothing but my laptop if I knew for sure I wouldn't have to wait 45 minutes standing around the luggage return area.

Alaska has a guarantee of 20 minutes I believe.

how and why i never check luggage
 

I live in Charleston SC (CHS) and they take F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to bring the checked bags to the carousel after arrival. After waiting more than 30 minutes on my first two flights into CHS, I vowed to never check a bag again.

1. Get a carryon that actually conforms to the size limits. I have an old samsonite hard carryon size and it is smaller than the inch limits.
2. If you have a personal item, make sure it is small enough to fit under a seat, even if you are on the aisle and there is a bracket restricting your underseat area.
3. Only wear one pair of shoes. Make sure your clothes all match these shoes. I just go with black.
4. You don't need a purse. Just put your wallet in your carryon and forget about all the other crap you don't need.
5. Bring matching coordinating business clothes.
6. Don't bring a lot of makeup and stuff, be simple.
7. Done!

So, perhaps the best thing airlines (or airports) can do to stop people dragging humongous carry-ons aboard is ensure speedier baggage collection?
1. I think most of us agree on that
2. Fair enough
3. Depends how long you're going for - gym shoes or hiking shoes won't do for every occasion.
4. I agree with you. But my wife doesn't.
5. All clothes co-ordinate, don't they?
6. See 4.
7. Not done yet. We're still arguing about that handbag.

I agree. Most people know they can get away with over-sized, overweight baggage so they don't bother trying to play by the rules. I think it might get a bit better if they stopped the occasional practice of making you get your gate checked bags at baggage claim but bag size enforcement really needs to be stepped up

Just because you have had everything returned within 24hrs doesn't mean thats the case for everyone. I got back from two weeks in the UK and my luggage was not returned to me until ~68 hours after landing. Given that BA touts its 72 hour and not 48 or 24 hour baggage delivery window I'm guessing that quite a lot of people go longer than 24 hours without their baggage. I guard against this (and I suspect many fliers do) by packing as much as I can in my carry on as I don't want to spend my time shopping for clothes and shoes (Which I like wouldn't be able to find anyway) while I wait an unknown duration of time until my checked shows up

Its about what is appropriate for the travel. I've done 1-2 weeks out of a carryon but I've also done 1-2 week trips that involved days where
I am getting up at 5:30am for my 4-8km run, followed by casual sightseeing before going on a 3-4 hour hike ending with a dinner/club that enforces a dress code. Even doing laundry (which I do) I can burn through a lot of clothes in a day. Now, I will admit that having size 14 shoes doesn't help but whats appropriate for your trip doesn't mean its whats appropriate for mine

Exactly. GAs and FAs don't enforce their own rules so nobody follows those rules. The FAs watch as people put both their carryon AND their personal item in the overhead bins, even though they make an announcement that you have to put the personal item in your "primary storage space" under the seat ahead of you. They tell people to turn off their phones 5 times instead of throwing them off the planes. The GAs let people take on bags that are bigger than the limits, and more bags that the limits. etc.

Here is what I would love to hear a FA say on the intercom:
"We can't push back from the gate yet because the gentleman in seat 12D refuses to turn off his phone"
"The overhead bins are full because the passengers in seats 10F, 11A, 11D and 13C put both their personal items and their carryons in the bins"
etc.

A lot of it is cultural, in general. In many parts of Europe and Asia, where space is at a premium, people make do with smaller homes, cars, closets, etc.

In America (including Canada), people like big. Big homes, big cars, big closets, big kitchens, big suitcases; and it extends to the amount of stuff people feel like they need to bring with them on trips. You generally don't need to bring 8 changes of clothes for a 3 day trip, but that's what many people do (maybe a slight exaggeration, but the principle still stands).

It always makes me smile to see those home shows like House Hunters International (from a US perspective) where Americans move to Europe and have requirements for a large kitchen, large closets, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, all in the downtown area for $1500 USD/month, and are then shocked to find small kitchens, sometimes NO closets (only a wardrobe or two), a tiny bathroom, small bedrooms, all for $2000 USD/month.

My record is a lot more than 48hrs, but it has only happened once on united and was due to weather chaos in ORD making the incoming flight 6hrs late and we were rescheduled to take a flight departing from another terminal 25min after getting through to the agent. Which took almost 30min. So yes, of course, I've had bags delayed but it's not common and I wouldn't pack for what might happen. While I was not travelling one of my relatives were travelling during the icelandic volcanic eruption when all european flight traffic was cancelled without notice. Should I prepare for that one each of my flights, too?

I pack what I need in my carry on luggage. I don't pack everything I will bring in my bag. If you can pack everything within the allotted space - fine. I have no problems with that nor do anyone else. The problem arises when people pack larger packs and refuse to have them gate checked because they "need" them. Well I need my bag, too, and it fits.

I would agree, but none of those items are required during your trip. I've done laundry (I often do) when travelling but even then I most often need quite a lot of things. Which is why I check a bag. I would not consider it reasonable to occupy an entire bin just because sometimes bags gets lost or I don't want to wait for the bag.

How are we judging that bags are over sized? I think that there is a bit of a tendency to overestimate luggage sizes. I know I had a suitcase that looked like it was too big, but it fit easily into a sizer. When you placed it next to another suitcase it turned out to be the same size - it just looked larger. Most luggage manufactures do not make bags just over the maximum size, they have carry on size and then one that is a definite few inches bigger. I am not sure I buy that so many people take too large carryons with them.

So....uh....which is it?

How do you determine required? I do it based on the activities planned/paid for during that part of the trip be it business or leisure. If your trip is to run, hike, and sightsee then certain articles of clothing/footware are required during that part of the trip. But perhaps you consider 'required' to be the bare minimum of clothing sufficient to meet the decency laws of the place you are traveling to?

Nor would I

Agree. I typically carry no more than 13 lbs. (About 5.9 kg)

Well, it depends. Technically it wasn't my bag that got lost for days, it was a family member I was travelling with's bag and I think it only contained something like a shirt and a pair of pants that were mine. My bag got displaced for a day or so, but due to continued travels I didn't collect it for another day (but that was my choice).

I determine required as required. The rest is optional and you want to carry it with you and it is subject to availability. I would say required is things you need that are not easily replaceable, e.g. running shoes, computers and alike whereas I think most airlines will offer compensation for necessites if the bag is gone for more than a day (and I would ask to be reimbursed for clothes I had to buy, and have on occasion done so). In some settings running gear is not easily replaceable, but in most they are.

Then I doubt I would think you packed too much. I have seen people who put their over sized carry on roller bag, their personal item the size of larger back-pack, their 3 bags of duty free alcohol, their jacket and then more things in the bins above them. Now most people do realize not to pack like this, but every flight some 10-15 people do and obviously think it's justifiable.

I've never had any problems with anyone using a large carry on bag, or even one that is slightly larger than what they allow, if they understand that it may get checked. If I was a GA or FA and had ran out of space I would pull the largest bag I could find and check it to accomodate as many customers as possible.