sh76us

PHX-EWR.

I'm sitting in 7C (bulkhead) on a 739. The guy across from me in 7D has two enormous carryons- both at least 25 inches in height. There's no space over us, so he takes his monstrosities both up to F and takes the space over row 4 for both; one on each side of the aisle. One of them is so big that the bin won't close so he forces the bin for close to a minute until it closes with empty space on both sides of his enormous bag. If an FA saw him, there was no indication of it.

Finally, as boarding finished the FA sees that some F pax don't have space in the overhead and figures out what happened and asks the first few rows in Y if anyone put their bags in F. This guy says nothing (nobody rats him out; I felt like doing it, but wimped out). 5 more minutes pass and the FA finally starts to take out one of his bags from the overhead since everyone in F says it's not theirs. So the guy finally steps forward and admits its his and goes to gate check it. But his other oversized roll-aboard stays in F for the whole flight even though he admitted it was his as well.

Now, I get that the FA's don't want conflict, but at a minimum, they should have forced him to check both of them along with any fees associated with the check (I don't know if the guy had status).

There really is no incentive at all to follow the rules, it seems. Letting flagrant carry-on abuse like this go make a joke of the rules.

Would you have ratted the guy out or is it none of my business?

But a Y pax taking TWO bags, EACH oversized and using F storage? I actually had to chuckle at the audacity.

limey1K

I've seen a couple of bad ones recently too.

73X , I'm sitting in F and overheads are pretty full by the time the last F passenger is boarding behind the BG5 people. BG5 guy sees a space over 3B and stashes his roller-board and walks towards the back. Guy two people behind him say "Sir, sir, please can you get your bag out from that overhead because that's where I'm sitting and its the last space in FC". BG5 guys looks back and keeps walking, so the F passenger asks the FA to move BG5's bag somewhere else. She tells him "Its against the rules for us to move a passengers bag", to which he laughs and says "I see you move bags all the time, that's a ridiculous statement". Steely eyed stare from FA who suggests he look for space in the back and, if none is available, she'll see if it will fit in the closet. Another passenger in F volunteered to put their briefcase under the seat, so problem solved itself, no thanks to the FA. The guy was seriously annoyed and commiserated with the passenger next to him about how far UA has fallen of late.

The other recent one was a 22" roller-board, wheeled "briefcase" stacked on top and a backpack over the shoulder. Guy stowed all three in the overhead bin right in front of the FA who apparently couldn't have cared less.

Indelaware

Clearly, the most egregious carry on abuse that I have seen is the airline policy forcing passengers not to check. Free for those, like us, who fly often. But for the majority of those on the plane, a very steep price to check baggage. Get rid of the fees and watch those bins empty.

fastair

Problem existed long before baggage fees for up to two free checked bags. What makes you think that a problem that's only correlation is to the calendar (since the advent of overhead bins, the problem has progressed more each year) will disappear if one allows free checked bags that were allowed before with the problem escalating? And those that get 1 or 2 free bags traditionally carry on the most.
It's the society of "I must have an office and the comforts of my living room within reach at all times" that has made it worse since the advent of the laptop computer. There are plenty of places worldwide that charge for checked luggage that don't have this issue, the difference is the culture.

PV_Premier

+1

the airlines have made the bed with these policies. unfortunately, the traveling public gets to sleep in it.

kenn0223

Meh, If I was the FA I don't know that I'd do anything different. The FAs just want to get the door closed. I don't think there is much motivation or reason for them to enforce carry-on limits. These limits should be enforced by the Ticket and Gate Agents.

Often1

1. The scammers are more often than not elites who get free checked bags (or at least people who loudly protest that they are elites). It's the poor kettle who has a bag that is a milimeter over the limit who voluntarily checks his bag and pays the fee.

2. It's infantile to argue that you ought to be able to scam a steamer trunk aboard because you don't happen to like the carrier's bag policy. Don't like it, go fly WN and get your two free bags. Some do.

3. This is best dealt with by the GA's, not the FA's. Time to stop the scammers is before they board. Let them board last, miss their flight while there bag is processed. In the end, carry on space is a zero sum game. If you take more than your fair share of it, I don't get any. And so forth. Doesn't really matter to the FA.

Maybe the way to mollify the DYKWIA at the gate is for the GA to give him a small gift as the bag is gate-checked. I'm thinking of a measuring tape.

Kacee

The really good FAs will watch and protect F bin space. But agree the limits should be enforced at the gate.

HNLbasedFlyer

I agree - but free bags for everyone is just going to make airfare go up for everyone regardless of elite status.

QSilver

...and the best FAs protect bin space in the first few rows of E+, too.

drewguy

There are two basic sources the problem:

1) People don't want to check because of delays/chances of loss
2) People have to pay a fee.

Eliminating number 2 surely will reduce the problem, although not eliminate it.

Cargojon

I watched a guy carry on 3 bags a couple weeks ago....actually 2 bags and a guitar and no one said a peep.

PaulInTheSky

I would do it in a heartbeat.

MIA-DFW early morning flight. Couple of Y pax put their bags on while I was boarding right behind them, so I saw them blatantly doing it. Not only do they fear there is no space at the back, but they also want the maximum comfort to grab the bag in front instead of going to the back of the cabin by themselves. I talked to the FA immediately about the Y pax put the bag in. They ended up paging the Y pax to remove the bag by themselves. Saw the walk of shame of them back and forth.

I don't know how a GA can prevent someone from getting the bag on the overhead space in F.

I cannot take it anymore about such a blatant baggage abuse.

bocastephen

Me too, and I've done it multiple times - I don't what the fuss is about. If a Y customer is putting bags in F (without direction from the FA), then by all means call a FA.

I remember a hilarious story posted years back (I think on the CO board) where someone met with a similar situation with an arrogant Kettle and an uncaring FA just pulled the offending bag out of the overhead, told the other FA to gate check it, and then put their bag up in F where they were seated.

Voila - both bag and problem gone.

emcampbe

Sorry - no airline forces anyone to carry on anything through bag fees. I understand people don't want to pay bag fees (or other a la carte fees), but let's not forget that a large percentage of passengers also refuse to accept to pay it as part of the price of the ticket - they want to pay the lowest cost above all else, and complain about what they don't get later. You can't get a nice steak for the price of a McDonalds hamburger. Without the ability to raise fares (well, for a long time, not so much anymore), the airlines had to do something - bag fees, fees for meals, etc. were what they chose. Not sure about right now, but for a long time, those fees were the only thing keeping airlines from loosing $ each quarter.

Completely agree with these points (though maybe not elites traditionally carrying on "the most", but from what I see, are clearly at least equally part of the problem. Bag fees most certainly contribute to the problem, but are far from the cause of it.

Agree. Everyone buying a ticket (on any carrier) has access to know what they are allowed to bring on board, what they're not, and what the charges are for checking. They can use this as part of the decision process on what airline they want to fly. But buying a ticket on UA, and protesting their policies by breaking them is silly. Complain on FT, fine...write a letter to CS, fine. But making up the rules because they don't like a fee is not the way to go (I'm trying to say this extermely nicely, here). The market has spoken by saying they'd rather have cheaper fares then everything included. You can't get everything you want when you ain't willing to pay for it.

This...as well as space over the bulkhead. I once was in row 7 in a 757, and the doors to the bins over row 7 & 8 were closed. I thought they were all full, but as it was clear I was moving to sit in 7, the FA came over, opened it for me and said she left it closed by default to make sure those in the bulkheads have space. Wish this was policy for F and bulkhead...and allow others to use the space only if there is room once everyone is on board.

And continuing from my statement above, herein lies the problem. Most don't want to pay even a few cents more for a ticket, but expects full-service - the market in general has been clear about this. If tickets don't cover the cost of the service, then I don't know what else will besides the a la carte fees. By the way, I don't think this is limited to non-frequent fliers - I consider the cry's of folks about PQD requirements in the same ballpark - folks that want elite benefits as freebies without willing to pay their fare share.