kmflondon

Oh no - Just yesterday I packed a 22 inch roller bag with toys/games/things to do on the flight for my 2 and 4 year old kids. Flying Virgin from London to Orlando on Thursday. I usually fly Delta so I wasn't aware of the rule. I spent a LOT of time planning the best activities to occupy my kids for 10+ hours. If they take my bag, I may cry. . .

xyz123

I have to tell you, it is absolutely unnecessary on virgin...their entertainment system, even in economy, is second to none.

You must have 40 movies, many television shows, entertainment just for children and games galore (for free!).

Don't worry about it, you'll be fine.

issy

I agree with the last poster about the Virgin entertainment system. We just flew them last week from San Fran to London. The best transatlantic fligth we have every taken.

Our kids loved it, and only got into their day packs once to get a book to read. On the way from LHR to the states, Virgin will also give your kids their very own backpack of goodies.

I would get rid of your 22inch roller. That's not a practical bag for getting in/out of during the flight anyway. I'd bring a small backpack for each kid with a couple of toys, book, and a treat.

Have a good trip.

By the way, be sure and request a kids meal before you leave.

kmflondon

I heard about VA's entertainment but also heard that the screens are often broken. . . Even so, my 2 year old has about a 10 minute attention span for any particular movie or activity. I am mostly worried about entertaining him without disturbing other passengers. I think I will stuff a tote bag in the carry on and if I have to check the bag I will take as much out of it as possible. The roller bag is just easier for me to handle than several hand carried bags as I have two small children and no stroller on this flight.

janisj

kmflondon: Besides the great entertainment system (I've flown them a lot and never had a broken set - but if it did happen the flight attendants would try to move you) - a 22 inch rollaboard isn't verry practical for the kids playthings. It would have to go in the overhead and on a jumbo the overheads are quite high. Not a good idea to have to keep dragging things out of the overhead and then putting it back. Whatever bag(s) you use for the kids toys -- it should fit under the seat.

tcreath

I was just thinking about this over the weekend. We are flying BA from Chicago to London/London to Dubrovnik and back in November. I usually always bring a roller carry-on, usually for the ride home, because I tend to buy breakable things that I do not like checking in. Last time I was forced to check in my carry-on, I came home with a broken ceramic plate that I purchased in Assisi.

I do agree, though, that getting on/off the plane would be so much easier if everyone would be forced to check most luggage. I try to move at a decent pace, and I never take more than my fair share of the storage space, but many others are not as respectful. I guess for this next trip I will have to be more careful when packing my breakables because I won't be able to carry them on.

Tracy

janisj

Re carrying breakables. I almost never carry fragile purchases home. I have the merchant pack and ship them. Since the VAT comes off the top when an item is shipped out of country, the savings usually pays most of the postage. And if the item breaks the merchant's insurance pays for it -- of if not, my credit card does.

That way is doesn't matter if I end up having to check my carry on - or if some schmoe drops it when opening the overhead.

tcreath

janisj, I see your point. However, we got quoted a shipping and handling fee of almost 40 euro when we bought our plate. Since we only paid about 80 euro for the plate, that rate seemed quite ridiculous. I bring breakables home quite often and have been lucky so far; nothing broken until our last trip.

Tracy

suze

Sometimes they don't even weigh it, they take one look, slightly lift the bag and make you check it (that's how it happened to me for a well packed 22" a few years ago).

Now when I fly BA, I simply pack planning that I will checking the one suitcase thru. Works out fine.

Then for my carry-on I use a large tote (nylon or canvas works great because it weighs almost nothing)... and you can stuff IT to the ~13 lbs. limit. MI also have a small regular pocketbook which could be put inside the tote, if there was a question of two bags.

g33kgrl

Yes, it would be much quicker boarding and leaving the plane if no one brought bags onboard. But then you will waste twice as much time as you "saved" because you have to check your bag at the ticket counter and claim it at the baggage carousel, not the mention the problems w/ lost, stolen, and damaged luggage.

No thanks--I'll keep taking my 22" roller board with me and flying airlines that allow me to do so.

isabel

I'm a devoted "carry-on" person for the reasons listed - breakables, not wanting to waste time waiting for checked luggage, not wanting to risk lost luggage. But I agaree the airlines should enforece their rules - equally for everyone, every time. If they say 21" and 13 pounds then you should be allowed that much - not more. But if you pack carefully and meet those requirements it's extremely aggravating and unfair to then have to check your luggage. Especially when you get to the gate and see other people with far larger bags that were allowed because the check-in agent they got was in a good mood or whatever. If everyone knew and abided by the rules there would be alot fewer problems.

alanRow

"if you pack carefully and meet those requirements it's extremely aggravating and unfair to then have to check your luggage."

Does this happen, certainly no-one to date has claimed that

AR

I was asked to weigh my tiny carry-on the last three times by Virgin and in the end asked why they were so strict when other carriers aren't. I was told (don't shoot the messanger) that our cousins from accross the pond have a reputation of bringing on carry-ons that border on the overweight even for check-in luggage and that they therefore have to enforce the matter to the letter of the law.
I've found Air France worse than both Virgin and BA.

On the subject of screens, I've twice had a broken one on Virgin and they were unable to re-seat me. They gave me a first class meal as "compensation" which was a juicy steak. As both times were crossing home to the UK and I preferred to sleep rather than watch videos, I wasn't too miffed and enjoyed the meal instead.

suze

<if you pack carefully and meet those requirements it's extremely aggravating and unfair to then have to check your luggage.>

Has someone/anyone had to check a piece of luggage that weighed only 13 lbs?

lfolsom521

On our way back from Rome the BA ticket agent rejected one of our carry ons because it weighed too much. I carefully packed ceramics, books and other breakable items in one bag to carry on not knowing there was a limit. Luckily, I packed it well, so I sent it as checked luggage and crossed my fingers. Everything arrived fine.

mykidssherpa

Could the stricter rules be related to the cost of gasoline/petrol? Say every passenger took on an extra 5 pounds (beyond the 13 pound limit). If there are say 300 people on the plane, that would be 1500 extra pounds and airplane fuel is the most expensive there is. It airlines, would make sense all around for the a from safety to fuel cost to loading times, to enforce the 13 pound rule!

Having said that, it is a bad business practice that they do not enforce the rules equally and evenly. Nothing makes humans more crazy than uncertainty!

leonberger

highledge wrote: "just check your bag"

I think most of us were talking about checking our main bags. I, and many others, were only discussing the size/weight of our carry-ons. My two digital cameras, with accessories (lenses, filters, batteries, memory cards, etc.), weighed 13 pounds, with their case - my husband used that as his carry-on. No, I'm not going to check the cameras.

I then used a very small rolling duffle bag (which fit under the seat in front of me), and put "other stuff" which we wanted available for the flight and important items for the trip (everything from passports to confirmations and directions) in that duffle. Again, nothing in there that could be checked.

I agree that IF people meet both the size and weight restrictions, it should be fine for them to board with their luggage. (I'm NEVER a carry-on only person - absolutely impossible for me! So, I'm not saying that to help myself out.)

I also agree that people whose bags are bigger/heavier, or who have more than the limit (one or two) should not be allowed to take those items on board.

Several others posted that consistency would be the best thing - yes!

And, by the way, how do guitars and so forth fit those restrictions? (Inquiring minds want to know...)

Gayle

Kaz7170

I flew BA from PHL to LHR last July and they were very strict. When checking in, they weighed all of our bags and told us which ones we could carry on. Luckily, I had checked us in online and did not have to wait in the loooong line for check-in.

I actually have a question relating to the weight limit. I am flying from PHL to Gatwick on US Airways arriving in the South terminal. I will only have carry on for the first leg and then have to transfer to the North Terminal to fly BA to Turkey. We only have paper tickets for the BA leg, so we must get our boarding passes at the Flight connections desk in the North terminal. I know that my roller will be over the weight limit, will they check my bag in there or will they make me go back through customs to check it in? I have a 6 hour layover so I'm not overly concerned about the time it will take, but more for my father who has had both hips replaced. Thanks!

AR

Just a small incident that happened last Friday on KLM. I was travelling on a smaller plane and KLM were extremely strict on carry-ons. They strictly limited everyone to only one small item of carry-on and took all the others away at the gate for storing in the cabin hold.
One gentleman tried to avoid giving his bag up and was restrained and refused boarding until he did. I have never witnessed anything like this before. They said it was because economy was unexpectedly full (!) and that they had therefore to limit the storage availability for each passenger. Fair enough, but the manner in which it was enforced amazed me.
Mind you, I travelled KLM to San Francisco last year and a lady was removed from her seat because a tall gentleman wanted it. She refused the man's original seat and was told if she didn't take it she would be removed from the aircraft! I thought that this may have been a one off but obviously KLM take their instructions seriously and without argument.

isabel

My comments earlier about it being unfair if you meet the stated requirements having to check the bag anyway referred to my experience on EasyJet this past March. My bag was definitly OK in terms of size - I even put it in their little "test" thing and it fit fine (plus I've carried that bag on many other flights). And since they say they have no weight limit, only that you have to be able to lift it yourself, then I should not have been forced to check it, but I was. And so were other people in the line I was standing on. Yet when we got to the gate we saw lots of bags that size.