SopMan99

I'm going to be traveling to Greece this summer but I have a connecting flight in London. Since I'm coming from the US, I am allowed to get on the plane with one piece of hand luggage and one "personal" bag (laptop, purse, etc...)

If I have a carry-on bag and a seperate laptop, will the British authorities give me any problems on my connecting flight through London on my way to Greece?

rkkwan

<b>No!</b> One piece total only. You cannot have the personal item, even if you're just connecting.

Robespierre

I think rkkwan means <b>Yes!</b> The Brits will give you problems.

rkkwan

Thanks. That's right. YES - you will have problem. NO - you can't take two bags.

Clear?

flanneruk

&quot;will the British authorities give me any problems on my connecting flight through London on my way to Greece?&quot;

<b> YES, of course </b> You'll have to throw one of them away unless the basg conforms to British rules, and the laptop fits inside it.

wombat7

If your two pieces of hand luggage are small, take one of those small fold up cloth bags and put both pieces of hand luggage into the bag when you go through security

rkkwan - thought your first post was perfectly clear

SopMan99

hmmm... ok

So i'll just put my laptop inside my other carry on bag.... time to buy another, small laptop case.

Heimdall

Here is the current info on security restrictions at Heathrow: http://tinyurl.com/ego9c. Keep checking between now and your flight this summer - it may change.

JoyC

Not only do you have to carry 1 hand luggage but if your hand luggage happened to be a rollaboard, it must fit into one of those metal containers including the wheels!They are quite strict on this.

alanRow

&lt;&lt;&lt; I'm going to be traveling to Greece this summer but I have a connecting flight in London. &gt;&gt;&gt;

By the summer the UK rules will apply EU wide so when you return from Greece it'll be one bag only (allegedly)

SopMan99

Ok so what happens if something is just a bit too large or if someone has more than one carry-on (as is allowed when boarding in the US)?

Do they make you check it? If so, does anyone know the fee for an extra checked bag (a small rollaboard).

flanneruk

If you declare the extra bag at the checkin desk, your airline's rules will apply.

Though, since only you know which airline that is, and how much other luggage you might have, it's not very clear why you're asking us rather than the airline.

If you don't check in the second bag on your original flight, you'll have the choice of throwing one away at UK transit security, or going through immigration and customs to checkin, queuing, and then returning to the airside security queue. Allow at least two hours for that process.

flanneruk

If you declare the extra bag at the checkin desk, your airline's rules will apply.

If you don't check in the second bag on your original flight, you'll have the choice of throwing one away at UK transit security, or going through immigration and customs to checkin, queuing, and then returning to the airside security queue. Allow at least two hours for that process.

carolyn

On my last trip to London, I flew U.S. Air and was told before leaving that I could have one carry-on bag plus my purse in both directions. Worked fine from here, but at Gatwick coming home, I was told I could only have ONE bag. When I told the woman I had a neck pillow in the carry on, she said I should put the pillow around my neck, put my purse in the carry on, and go on through. Same items--different arrangement.

Rules are rules. They don't have to make sense; they are just rules.

lyb

rules can be silly..because if you put your bag inside the &quot;one&quot; bag...what will you do? what will I do? most likely take it out the minute I'm inside the plane, put my purse under the seat and the rest in the compartment over the seat...how this new rule will prevent terrorism is a wonder to me...but I guess we've got to play by their rules!

fnarf999

Terrorism is not the reason for everything. The one bag rule is to counteract the situation that holds in American airports, where &quot;one bag&quot; tends to mean a rolling bag, a big duffel, a purse, a laptop, a coat and a shopping bag or two, all of which must then be schlepped down the aisle of the plane, banging on people's ears, knees and feet the whole way. It makes loading the plane slow and difficult.

Heimdall

Once through the security check you can take that laptop or handbag out of your &quot;one bag&quot;. You will probably want to do some shopping in the airside duty free shops, so you will need your handbag out anyway.

I prefer to have the items to put under the seat out of my bag before getting on the airplane, so as not to block the aisle for other passengers trying to reach their seats while I'm fumbling through my main bag.

SopMan99

agreed... I think that I'm just going to get a small laptop bag. Probably the smallest one that will fit a 15&quot; powerbook.

If I take my laptop out of my main rollaboard (after the security check), would the flight crew or security give me any problems as I'm boarding the plane?

Heimdall

I doubt the flight crew will even notice you have your laptop out when you are boarding the airplane. Many passengers are carrying extra bags from the airside shops as well.

nibblette

You need to have just one piece going through the main security. Once past, you can take the luggage apart.

Security is VERY strict about the one piece. If you cannot consolidate, you will have to either check the second bag or get rid of it somehow. You will not be allowed thru with 2 bags.