How strict is Lufthansa regarding carryons? Do they weigh?
 

Booked the Light fare from U.S. to Europe - got a reminder today that my carry on bag must be 8 kg/17 pounds. I didn't think any airline was a stingy as Norwegian but I guess I was wrong. How strict are they? We've got the right sized bags, which we were able to fit 10 kg in last April when we traveled to Rome. Also, because we are travelling as a family of four, might they weigh our bags together? Was hoping to bring some pretty outfits for our ten day trip!

>>Also, because we are travelling as a family of four, might they weigh our bags together?<<

If the bags as a group are not overweight, why not just rearrange things ahead of time so every bag meets the limit and solve the problem?? The reason for the cheap 'light fare' is so they can up-sell services, so if you are overweight, they will charge you. Whenever one books a discount fare or budget carrier, it is important to know the rules.

In my experience on Lufthansa from US to Europe (incl most recently 1mo ago), they do NOT weigh the carry on bags. They may scan the passengers boarding to see if any bags look overstuffed - I don't know, but you are best to avoid any issues by not overstuffing. You are also allowed a personal item (purse, small backpack, computer bag) You could put heavier items in that bag if needed.

I thought with Economy Light they were weighing carryon's. I've never had my bag weighed on regular Economy/Coach . . . Not ever taken Econ. Light though

Why take a chance? Comply and you won't have a problem. Need more stuff? Be prepared to pay an additional fee.

Only time LH gate agent eyeballed my carry-on and made me gate check was on an intra-European flight, and i was on a regular fare (biz class, actually ) not one of the Light options. And it's not that LH is stingy - it's that you bought that cheap fare knowing the restrictions. Would you order a hamburger and expect to get prime rib?

With the Light fare, it's pretty likely it will be weighed. I fly Lufthansa fairly frequently; until my FF status was upgraded to a premium level, there was about a 50-50 chance my carryon would be weighed. With the premium FF and now flying PE or business, almost never. That said, the agent may give you a bit of a "grace weight" maybe a half-pound or so -- but that is entirely at their discretion. But better to redistribute bag contents among your group so every bag stays within the limit.

I know nothing about Lufthansa but at LAX you're allowed to do self checkin on Norwegian, and you can get away with overweight carryons if they don't look too big. Size matters...

I have never heard of bags being weighed together. I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen!

Each bag -individually- on its own should meet their requirements, to be safe with what you'll be allowed to board with.

Can always count on Fodorites to respond with "follow the rules, you will be fine," or "just pay the money" instead of answering the question posed, which is "what has been your experience with Lufthansa and bag weights?" Thanks to the few of you who actually answered the question.

Because our kids' suitcases are small and weight 6 kg fully packed, it looks like my husband and I can have 1-2 kg extra each if they weighed us together. We can't shift things around because our kids' bags are too small. FWIW Norwegian weighed are carryons as a family in April 2019 on the way to Rome (but did not weigh our carryons). Then, on the way back, they weighed everything. Thankfully we were under each time but we noticed weight limit being waived for someone in front of us.

So, we were wondering what Lufthansa does. Actually, we will be traveling on Swiss. We flew them the past two years, same journey, and never had these issues but this is the first time we are trying the "Light" fare. Perhaps we will just check a bag (it's a reasonable $60, I think)

FWIW, we'd like to avoid paying unnecessary fees. We flew carryon only to Rome in April and it was really lovely. I thought that's why people ask questions on places like this and plan their own trips instead of relying on a travel agents. We travel 1-2x per year and this is the first year we have ever had to deal with carryon weight restrictions.
Perhaps you don't have to watch your pennies while traveling, or maybe you don't get viewed extra critically because of reasons I'll probably get flagged for writing (there has been a family like us that has written about double standards for people who look like us on Norwegian)..

I fly Lufthansa frequently out of Montreal and they weigh every time.
They have turned a blind eye to 9.1kg.
I also have a fanny pack which they don't care about.
Once it is tagged as "approved cabin baggage" and you pass security, you are OK .

If you are unable to rearrange your items so that each bag makes weight, take one full size bag for checking. The fee will be the same as if they deny cabin space to an overweight carry on but the big bag will hold plenty more. The savings on four light fares can easily absorb two checked bag fees (one for going and one for coming home) and remove both worries and limited ability to weigh your individual bags when packing to come home.

My experience with Lufthansa - which is a few flights per year - is consistently inconsistent. I have been able to carry on a rolling bag with no issues and no weighing. I have had an agent eyeball the bag (without weighing it) and tell me it must be checked. I have seen agents walk through the gate area (ORD) and pick up people's luggage (no weighing) and decide whether the bags must be checked. I have arrived at a connecting gate in Frankfurt to an announcement that all rolling bags, regardless of size or weight, must be checked (mainline Airbus, not a regional jet). The last time we flew Lufthansa, a couple of months ago, we checked our bags even though they were regulation size. The man in front of us at the check-in counter was having a "standoff" with the agent, who was requiring him to check the bag due to its weight.

To be honest, these days when our travel includes Lufthansa, we usually just plan to check our bags.

I flew on Lufthansa Boston to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Krakow and Krakow to Munich and went all carry-on. My roll-aboard was never weighed for any flight. On one flight, either from FRA to KRK or KRK to MUC, I forget which, I had to leave it at the steps to the plane and retrieve it when I got off the plane. But so did everyone else. (I flew home from Munich on United, which is why it's not mentioned above)

The difficulty with trying to answer questions like the one posed by Overlt is that even though Lufthansa has a "carry-on luggage weight policy" the enforcement of those regulations is subject to the whims of the Ticket Counter Agents, Gate Agents and even the Flight Attendants who are on duty the particular day a person flies. As evidenced by the responses given in this thread the enforcement or not of the "rules" can vary greatly from day to day and even between different airline personnel servicing the same flight on the same day.

Now, I've only flown Lufthansa a couple of times but I've flown well over 3 million miles on over a dozen different airlines and never once have any of them "weighed luggage together" - my luggage has always been weighed separately whether I've been traveling alone or with companions. In those instances when one bag was overweight the agent suggested I simply move some of its contents to one of the lighter bags so that all were under the weight limitation. Overlt says this will not work for her so she could be out of luck.

I guess my point being that if one of your bags happens to be over weight and the agent wants to impose a fee telling the agent that the responders on Fodor's told you it would be OK won't amount to a hill of beans. You'll be at the mercy of the agent so just make sure all your bags meet the weight restriction before you get to the airport. If necessary, leave one of those "pretty outfits" home so you meet the weight restrictions. Better safe than sorry. Or, be prepared to pay the excess baggage fee.

I am curious about the bags being weighed together as a group. I've never heard of that before. That an over-weight carry-on would be allowed if another member of your travel party had an under-weight one.

Really???

We traveled "light" to London last fall. They weighed our carry ons both ways. One bag was 300 grams below limit, the other 500 grams. No weighing outbound, weighing to the gram homebound.

This year's trip will also be "light." Planning to take most of our stuff in a full size checked bag at $50 each way. The two tickets saved at least $240 over deep discount ordinary coach, IIRC. A few days' essentials, electronics, and meds will be carry on in a small carry on and two "personal items."

Also, because we are travelling as a family of four, might they weigh our bags together?

I bring it up because I think it's really important for the OP to understand that this isn't going to happen.