Carryons

Old Feb 11, 2004, 2:45 pm
  #1  
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Carryons

OK you business travellers (of which I am one): What gives you the right to take up so much space in the overhead bin?

I am sick and tired, sick and TIRED!!! of waiting forever to board and forever to deplane because every one of you has to carry on a wheeled bag plus a laptop. Check something already!

I have the same rant for leisure travellers, too. Have you all forgotten that the original purpose of the overhead bin was for coats?
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Old Feb 11, 2004, 3:35 pm
  #2  
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My coat always goes in the closet.
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Old Feb 11, 2004, 5:22 pm
  #3  
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Katy, welcome to flyertalk! I think most of us would prefer to wait to board while people store their stuff in the overhead rather than wait at the baggage claim for checked luggage to arrive after the flight has landed. I agree that the quantity of stuff some people bring on is ridiculous, but, as much as I love flying, when I land, I want to get out of there as quickly as possible, rather than waiting for checked luggage.
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Old Feb 11, 2004, 5:42 pm
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Katy, Get that Frequent Flier Gold Card and then you too can board first and hog the prime bin real estate!

[This message has been edited by pushback (edited Feb 11, 2004).]
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Old Feb 11, 2004, 8:19 pm
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Welcome.

Times have changed, the overhead bin has been resized for carry ons so they can go in wheels first.

You need to get status so you can be on the plane first and not worry about space or not.

I've actually seen smaller carry ons now that the security people check everything, I know I don't carry on anywhere near what I use to before.
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Old Feb 12, 2004, 6:42 am
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Welcome to Flyertalk, Katy_L!

I have to agree partly, not so much with the room availabe issue since I'm usually one of the first on/off, but more so with the dimbulbs that are allowed to carry-on oversize pieces then delay departure while scrambling for space, on-flight luggage checks, etc. Usually the same idiots who can't find their seats because of the non-intuitive nature of numbering rows and alphabetizing seat locations.

As much as I hate to say this, I lay the problem directly at the feet of the airlines who continue to allow blatant disregard for the size limitations on c/o bags & number of c/o pieces allowed by pax.

<end of rant>
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Old Feb 12, 2004, 7:27 am
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While I don't take oversized luggage, or check anything, I'd be tempted to carryon a -slightly- larger bag if/because:

If I was flying on short notice to a destination for more than a week AND I expected to be much too busy to do laundry, and/or I expected to have to attend multiple dress parties. Normally I dress sorta casually and have no problems sending clothes to be cleaned while away. I usually pack for 6 days in a single legal carryon and a smaller softsided briefcase.

Because the TSA might damage/steal/soil my belongings during the luggage search. They have no accountability and seem to fost any responsibility for claims onto the airlines who in turn point a finger back to the TSA.

Because I avoid having to visit the pre-security check-in desk. This is one less bothersome line to wait in.

Because I avoid having my luggage sent to Atlanta because the airlines run too tight of a schedule to realistically make all my connecting flights. While I can pull an OJ and sprint through the concourse, my checked luggage will be taking the slow, circuitous route....to Georgia. Even though I label my luggage VERY WELL with all sorts of contact info painted on the cases (name, address, phones, email) and taped to the inside or on an engraved pet tag attached to the handle on all three lost bags I've had, I've never been contacted.

Because if I decide I need a sweater RIGHT NOW, I have access to it.

Because the great majority of my flights are domestic. Waiting for a checked bag often adds 25-100% to the time I have to be at the airport.

This basicly boils down to two items.

I don't trust others AND don't want to involve others when it comes to my property.

I don't want to waste time.

So there! ;-)

Next time you see me carryon a garment bag, go ahead and sneer. It might just make up for all the pitfalls I've avoided - naaaaa!
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Old Feb 12, 2004, 7:27 am
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This all seems to vary by which part of the world you are in.

In Europe only small hand baggage is allowed, the airline actually manages this, and anything larger will be taken off you at various points. Despite this the overheads still seem full, but mainly of coats, laptops etc.

In the US larger items seem to be permitted, most annoying of all those Wheeled Wonders which their owners cheerfully scalp the heads of their fellow travellers with as they struggle to put them up into the bins. There's a certain mindset become associated with these where the possessors of them then have to ram down the throats of their fellow seatmates how clever they are not to have used the checked baggage service.

In Asia it's even more astonishing. People buy things like boxed television sets in the Duty Free shop, after check-in, and then bring them aboard.

Having seen an in-flight severe turbulence encounter where the bins opened and items that really should have been checked came down and injured passengers to the extent we had to make an en-route landing and those people were taken off to hospital, I've maybe seen a bit more than most.
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Old Feb 12, 2004, 9:48 am
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An additional perspective...

I fly out of the Washington DC area, and the wait at security lines can run anywhere from 5 minutes (Saturday am at DCA) to 1.5 hours (Friday 5pm at IAD). Having missed flights in the past because of the wait at security, I tend to overcompensate by arriving around two hours early, even on domestic flights.

By carrying on a small roll-aboard, I can get through security relatively stress-free, then have the option to standby (free on United) on an earlier flight if one is available. I couldn't do this if my luggage was checked.
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Old Feb 12, 2004, 10:12 am
  #10  
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Katy_L:
OK you business travellers (of which I am one): What gives you the right to take up so much space in the overhead bin?

I am sick and tired, sick and TIRED!!! of waiting forever to board and forever to deplane because every one of you has to carry on a wheeled bag plus a laptop. Check something already!

I have the same rant for leisure travellers, too. Have you all forgotten that the original purpose of the overhead bin was for coats?
</font>
Welcome to FlyerTalk!

I only check bags containing things I can do without for several days. When traveling on business, nothing I bring fits that description.

So when you see me - I'll have my Samsonite Silhouette 5 and a laptop bag. I'm checking neither, since the trip would be pointless without the items in each. I'm probably sitting in F on an AA plane where the bag went into the bin wheels first, and my laptop bag is usually at my feet.

When on holiday with the family - I always check bags. And ya know what? Invariably, one or more bags misconnects and is "lost" for a day or more. Were that to happen on a business trip - then I might as well have stayed home.
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Old Feb 12, 2004, 2:35 pm
  #11  
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Wow - you're all so nice! It's not like this where I come from - a bad 'hood in another part of cyberspace....

While all of these explanations are well and good, this rant is really all about me. I shouldn't have to sit in FC to be able to get off the plane in less than 20 minutes. Idiots who can't manage to grab their bags from the overhead bin in under 2 seconds, preferably while already walking should be required to sit out until those blessed with more intelligence have deplaned.

Better yet, people who have aisle seats shouldn't be allowed to carry anything on board at all. Up and out - that should be the rule.

This has been fun! I have lots more opinions on air travel, so I'll be back. Topic for next time: What took them so long to think of pay on board meals?
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Old Feb 12, 2004, 3:29 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Katy_L:
Topic for next time: What took them so long to think of pay on board meals?</font>
Yes, we've had pay-on-board refreshments for years in Europe, ever since the low-cost airlines got going over here. But you're right, it really belongs in its own topic. Feel free to start it.

Back on the original topic, I am always able to duck into my seat row, and take my coat off and put things up in the rack standing there while the others walk past. And I can do the reverse getting items out at the end if I can't get out from my window seat until the queue starts to move. I think those not doing this is the real delay in boarding.

Oh, and welcome to Flyertalk !
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Old Feb 12, 2004, 3:50 pm
  #13  
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Some airlines strictly enforce carry on limits - if it is too big into the hold it goes (or if you're unlucky and its picked up at the gate, it may not even make it on the plane ). A problem with puddle jumpers especially - and if you're really unlucky the bag doesnt make it and no more flights until tomorrow.
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Old Feb 12, 2004, 3:53 pm
  #14  
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My pet peeve is people who bring so much on they fill up the bins, so that your carryon has to go in the bin several rows back - and you then have to fight the current to get to your seat on boarding, and again when deplaning.
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Old Feb 12, 2004, 5:15 pm
  #15  
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Part of the problem is in the growing use of electronic check-in. When you check in at a machine, or from home, there's no check-in agent to eye up the size of your bag. So you go through security (some places enforce limits at security, but that seems pretty rare), get to the gate... And, of course, not all gates have easy luggage check facilities. So many airlines say "ach, well, let 'em fight it out". Some may start to check large bags and trundlies if it's a full flight. But 9 times out of 10, they plump for the general melee...
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