Tchiowa

I don't need to dodge and hide and I don't have to view people doing their jobs as "goons". There is a certain value to that, IMO.

And this is why I believe it's silly not to check. 48 hours of wasted time sounds like a lot, until you divide it by the number of years and number of flights. So it's more like 200 segments of 15 minutes each. Which become meaningless.

At which point I leave the company and go work at a place where the boss isn't a (can't say it on FT). Check bag or not, that guy is a (CSIOFT).

Kind of strange since there are dozens of flights to Lagos every day.

I won't. But eventually the airlines will. 20" becomes 21" becomes 22" and sooner or later someone cracks down. And when they do, of course, they become ridiculous and cut it down to 8" or something.

zkzkz

Just for balance I have one complementary anecdote. I dawdled in the lounge a few minutes too long and by the time I got to the gate they had just closed the door. The GA told me since I didn't have any checked bags it was quick to offload me and close the door. If I had a checked bag they would have had to find my bag and I would have gotten there before they did.

Hornpipeagusjig

For a short trip a small carry on, for a longer one a bigger case or two and travel in style with checked luggage and nothing to lug about an airport or ram into the overhead above someone else's seat, whilst of course complaining loudly about how crap the airline is.

Anrui Ukimi

For shorter trips, carry-on only is fine, but the main route I fly is LAX-NRT, and I'm always going for at least a few weeks (and bringing back lots of souvenirs) so I check bags most of the time. I've learned to consolidate as much as possible, however.

Bogwoppit

Lets just assume on the airlines they use it is legal. It sure is on the ones I travel with. Air Canada, West Jet, KLM, BA.

20" spinner suitcase and backpack. They fit in the sizers, I have tried them. Backpack under the set and suitcase in the overhead. We all get to put something up there don't we?

Tchiowa

That's 2 bags. None of those airlines allow 2 bags for carry-on (in theory). Yes, they will let you walk by because they don't want the confrontation. Yes, if everyone did that there would not be anywhere near enough room.

richardinmotion

To reiterate for the overly pedantic:

Roller (of legal size) goes in the bin above my seat.

Backpack goes on the floor at my feet, under the seat in front of me. Unless I'm in Biz, in which case there is always plenty of space to be had in the overheads.

Sheesh...

Tchiowa

Let's reiterate for the underly pedantic:

A roller and a backpack constitute 2 bags. Not allowed. Doesn't matter if you're suspending one in mid air using The Force. It's still 2 bags and isn't allowed.

zkzkz

It might not be allowed by Rick Steve's one bag philosophy but every one of those airlines allows it and documents that it's allowed on their web sites. As long as the backpack is a typical day pack size it should easily fit in the "personal item" size limits for each of those carriers.

moondog

Interestingly, the EXACT same thing happened to me in PHL last Thanksgiving Day (morning). I was enjoying my lounge time because the rest of the airport was a mad house, and I timed myself to show up at the gate one minute before the cut off (can't remember if it was 15 or 20 mins).

Anyway, when I got to the gate, the GA told me that the flight was closed, and I should plan on spending my Thanksgiving in Philly (because all later flights were heavily oversold). The flight technically wasn't closed; it's just that she was in the process of giving my seat to another confirmed passenger who didn't have a seat assignment.

I started to play the "my boarding pass says X minutes and currently we're at X + 1 minutes" card, but then I held back because it occurred to me that 1 minute later, it would be my word against hers.

Instead, I mentioned my checked bags, and she told me to board the plane (without making eye contact).

ft101

The poster I was responding to had not mentioned any airlines or, the size of the backpack.


There is not enough room on many flights for everyone to put a piece of hand baggage in the overhead lockers.

MaxBuck

You're wrong. Backpack is my personal item, no different from the massive purses carried by women.

I've never been refused by any airlines when traveling thusly, either domestic (USA) or overseas.

richardinmotion

In the last 2 years, I've boarded approximately 300 flights under this scenario. I have been questioned ZERO times. This includes banana republic, low-cost flights that ding you for a bag of peanuts. Your assumptions are incorrect.

HeatSeeker

Too much of a diva to do carry on only, but I try to keep the diva part under wraps . Carry on only works for domestic trips under a week. International or longer than 6 days I need my checked luggage.

simpleflyer

there are backpacks and there are backpacks. my daypack easily fits under the seat. it is the thing i always have with me, last trip i stuffed my fleece into it along with papers, etc.

my other bag is 21 inch. sometimes i check (if long haul or i want to carry a swiss army knife) sometimes i carry on, although in y the uncertainty of space, esp on small jets, can be stressful.