Luggage Restrictions for Flights Within Country (VN, Cambodia, Laos)
 

Hi there. Leaving in 3 days . . . can't believe it! Does anyone know if there is flexibility on carry-on weight? We were told a maximum weight of 7 kgs or 15 lbs. My wheely carry-on weighs 12 lbs. empty! I really want to take it though and I am checking another 30 inch bag. I want to carry-on something that accommodates a few days worth of clothes in case my luggage is lost and I don't have a lighter option on wheels. My carry-on is a standard 22" Travel-Pro. I could always take something not on wheels but this will be a real pain! Any shot of swaying the ticket agents not to charge or charming our way through?

What airline are you flying?

Probably not, unfortunately. I did HCMC-Siem Reap with Vietnam Airlines and the abovehead compartments were absolutely tiny. The check-in people were quite firm about size -- better to buy something smaller if you want to be sure.

If your case is soft-bodied, and you really want to try your luck -- and I sure did -- you can straightjacket your leggage-- Go to the dollar store and get some cheap luggage straps. then strap the luggage lengthwise and widthwise. Tighten. Watch the desk agent smile and give in.

Hope this helps

In my experience in flying Vietnam Airlines and JetStar, they do not weigh your carry on luggage, but do eyeball it for size when you are checking-in. That seems to be the experience of the above poster who indicated that the <i>size</i> of the bag, not the weight, was the issue. So I would not be too worried about the weight of a carry on. You might want to check the type of aircraft you are flying, because if you are on smaller prop planes, they will only have very limited carry-on space, which is where the size of the bag may be an issue, so then you might need to gate check items. (But with gate checking the item isn’t going to get lost and you won’t pay excess baggage.)

I generally always travel with a 20-nch wheeled suitcase as a carry-on and have had no issues in Vietnam. It holds my laptop, tons of papers and books and absolutely weighs more than 15 pounds fully loaded. You might want to check the linear size restrictions for carry-ons for the airlines you are flying to make sure you bag is within them.

If you are willing to pay business class fares, you may get some more leniency on the size of a carry-on, but as I said in my experience they do no weigh carry on baggage in any event.

I also would not be at all worried about your checked luggage being “lost” esp. if you are not taking any connecting flights. Really that so so rarely happens that I would not have any concerns over it.

Thanks, everyone. Kathie, we are mostly flying Vietnam Air but also have a flight QV?

Regarding size, I am afraid my carry-on pushes the limit there as well as it is large even via US standards. I was afraid the planes might have those tiny bins -- my luggage is not soft-bodied. I guess I will need to measure and worry about it more!

Not sure if we will be flying prop planes -- our flights are:

Saigon-Phnom Penh
Phnom Pen-Siem Reap
Siem Reap-Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang-Hanoi
Hanoi-Danang
Danang-Saigon

Perhaps these flights use the Boeing Dreamliner? :) :) In all seriousness, any change to your comments given these flights?

The Saigon-Phnom Penh flight could be on an ATR 72 turboprop or an airbus depending on what flight you take (Vietnam Air or Cambodia Angkor Air which is operated by Vietnam Air)

The next 3 flights are on ATR turobrobs with Cambodia Angkor Air, Laos Air and either Laoa or Vietnam Air>

Since these are small planes the size of carry ons may be resticted.

Just three weeks ago, I flew from Saigon to Hoi An and Hue to Hanoi on Vietnam Air and I don't recall them weighing carry-on at all. My carry-on is a 22' tumi-tech and it wheels beautifully. I made a really stupid mistake with Air Asia when I volunteer to tell them my carry-on was 10 kilos.. They made me check in that bag and pay extra. I learn to shut up after that. They don't weigh the carry on actually so put as much stuff in it as you like.

We flew two flights on Vietnam Airlines last month. They did not weigh or even look at our carry-ons. The Airbus planes they use did not have huge overhead bins, and both flights were rather full, so you could have problems. The ATR turboprops have smaller overhead bins, and not enough room underseat if you happen to get a window seat.

Vietnam Airlines website says maximum carry-on size is (22 x 14 x 9 inches), so you might be OK; but don't be surprised if you do have to check the carry-on for some flights.

7kg carry on in Laos, and they do check. Please don't be selfish and use more.