Dejais

I have read some posts recently here on Fodors regarding carryon allowances for Air France. People have said they were only allowed ONE carryon meaning ONE not a bag and a handbag. However, after reviewing the AF website, it clearly says one carryon plus one personal item such as a laptop or handbag.

Could someone who has recently traveled on AF from the US to CDG please clarify this for me? Thank you so much.

francophile03

You can board with a carryon plus a handbag, laptop, backpack, etc.

Dejais

I thought so. Just was looking for confirmation. Thank you.

felicia

I flew AF at the end of May from JFK to Paris to Moscow. I had one carry-on which was slightly under the 44" combined dimensions and less than 18 pounds and another carry on bad which measured 18x10x5 which fit under the seat. No problem whatsoever.

Dejais

Thanks Felicia. I didn't know what to think when I read the post about one bag only but this woman went on in detail about how she could not take her handbag AND another. I had never heard that before and was starting to fret. Especially since I will be traveling with my mom and I have been very specific with her about what she can and can not bring. She is 67 years old and I really do not want to have to "retrain" her at this point. hee hee

Christina

Maybe that woman's handbag was really a large tote bag/carryon or something. YOu definitely can take one carryon plus a purse.

Dejais

Just so you know where I was getting this idea of one bag from, here is the beginning of one of those posts I had read:

"Author: SRQRobin ([email protected])
Date: 06/01/2006, 05:15 am
BIG TIP: AF only allows carryon bag. PERIOD. Since AF has lost my hubby's luggage the last time he traveled with them, I packed a smaller 18" rollerboard with my "essentials" and a set of extra clothes and had the typical briefcase size softside bag for my laptop (also served as my purse). Flew from Tampa to CDG fine but at CDG, I was told I was limited to ONE bag and had to check the 18" rollerboard. When I questioned that my leather laptop bag was essentially the size of a large purse, she replied that purses count as 1 bag too, so regardless... one bag. Period..."

The poster went on with more detail so I was concerned since I will also be flying Tampa to CDG and will be bringing a carryon (probably a large purse/tote bag) and a laptop.

doug_stallings

AF enforces both a size and weight limit on carry-on bags, but if it's small (up to 20-inch and perhaps 21-inch), you should be able to carry one bag on plus one personal item. The weight limit is 28 pounds I think. I had no problems from JFK to CDG on my recent trip to Greece, but my friend with a 22-inch roller bag had to check his.

mileaday

Doug - What size bag did you carry on the flight as I will be taking the same one in Sept. I usually use a 21" roller under 25 lbs. Thanks

Dejais

Doug....Thanks so much for weighing in on this matter. Since it is not luggage per se that I am worried about, your answer has solved my worries. I always take a DVD or laptop in a carry-on case and a large oversized purse/tote. So I guess there is nothing to worry about. Thanks again.

Christina

It's not clear to me what that post is referring to, but it seems they aren't talking about a major international flight, but some small local intra-European flight. I'm not sure of AF's rules on that one. She said this rule was invoked at CDG, not from the US to CDG. Maybe there was just some language difference, also, but she wasn't just carrying a purse but a laptop in a bag which she had also stuff with stuffed and was using it as a purse, also, she said. So it was probably quite big. A laptop bag isn't the size of a normal purse IMO, so I don't buy that argument myself. But, it could have just been an error by the person there when she was, if she was taking on two carryons, basically (that's what it might have appeared as). I don't know of any airline that counts a regular purse as your sole carryon. It's also possible this stuffed laptop carrier violated the weight/size limits of what they consider the purse/personal item.

It's also possible there was just something unusual about that one flight and they had to make more strict limits in that case for that one flight -- maybe it was on a really small plane and completely full or something. Airlines can change their own limits at times, if necessary. But, it's definitely not standard AF policy, you can see that on the website.

TuscanTweety

I can't speak to AF (looking forward to my first trip to Europe this fall), but I travel domestic several times a month for business. On very crowded flights, the gate attendent will often enforce the one bag + one "personal item" restriction a little more tightly.

For example - the man with the 22" roll on and the 18" "personal item" will be told to pick one and check the other. The woman with the 22" roll on and the GINORMOUS TOTE BAG FROM HELL will be told that she can't call that striped monstrosity a purse.

And then that woman will scream and fuss and eventually check her roll on and then sit next to me and bitch from IAD to SAN.

But it might just be me.

Side note - why do people mind gate checking? The bag has a zero chance to be lost, and you get it back at the next gate so you're spared baggage claim. It's like cheating but the airline begs you to do it.

Dejais

Well, I travel domestically quite frequently and internationally at least twice a year and I have to tell you I am the one bitching under my breath at those women with the ridiculously large striped "handbags" and their monstrous suitcases that they deem carry-on worthy. For goodness sake's, CHECK YOUR DAMN LUGGAGE!

I can understand sometimes carrying on a small carry-on suitcase but what some of these people try to get away with is besides me.....the HUGE duffel bags that they literally punch to make fit in the overhead, the large tote bags that they insist can fit under the seat....you know who and what I mean.

The reason I grumble is because perhaps they will save some time at baggage claim but what about how long the rest of us have to wait as they try to get those bags into and out of the overhead?

There. I feel better now. I have always wanted to gripe about that. Thank you!

doug_stallings

I usually travel with a 20-inch Tumi backpack on wheels as my main bag and a small bag or backpack as my "personal Item". My main bag weighed in at 21 pounds.

doug_stallings

Oh ... and the reason a lot of people want to carry on bags with AF is that the airline is notorious for losing bags. On this trip, we were missing one bag on arrival at Athens, which arrived about 6 hours after we did, which is good for AF. Last fall, a friend took AF to Cairo via Paris and didn't get his bag until 1 week after his return.

Having said that, I had absolutely no problems with Aegean Air in Greece, nor on the return, when I checked my bag with AF and had a particularly tight connection in CDG.

Luisah

"Side note - why do people mind gate checking? The bag has a zero chance to be lost."

There were some recent posts about forced gate checks on a Lufthansa flight not getting onto the plane at all. Many of the passengers had their medications in them and one man had his CPAP machine for sleep apnea in his "lost" bag.

Robespierre

The bottom line is: carry on anything you can't afford to be without for a week - or forever. And that's true no matter what carrier you're flying.

Guenmai

I was on Air France, L.A. to Paris, a couple of months ago and took a 19-inch carry-on,wheeled suitcase,my purse, and a heavy coat and no one said anything to me. However, you never know what will be allowed.A lot of times it depends on what airline employee is standing at the boarding area.More than a few times on airlines, I've been stopped and told I had to check a carry-on that was well within regulation size.I usually don't take carry-on suitcases bigger than 19 inches. Happy Travels!

Guenmai

OK...I read the whole situation here. She had the problem from Europe to the U.S. I have found this common with airlines overseas...not only France. This has happened to me several times...for example... on Bangkok-Tokyo-L.A. flights. I've boarded in Bangkok well within regulation and then transfered planes in Tokyo...same airline... to be stopped and told that I have to check in the carry-on suitcase before boarding the next leg of the flight. I've had this also happen on other overseas flights from various places back to the U.S. Happy Travels!