In 10 years of travel to Europe, one suitcase has worked for me. No lost, delayed or damaged suitcases. No waiting at the carousel. (Except for Ryan Air and the cheap ticket was worth it). Of course, this may change if they implement some of the changes they are talking about. We will have to wait and see. It still won't stop me from exploring Europe.

I suggest the airlines assign a baggage handler to each passenger, double the size of the overhead bins and half the number of seats. By halving the number of seats, luggage could be kept in the passenger compartment where each passenger could monitor his own luggage after it is placed there by his personal handler.

Since prices would have to rise substantially many fewer people would fly and congestion at the terminals would ease.

Or you could fly First with a larger hand baggage allowance and priority baggage handling. Although this priority baggage handling rarely comes off the carousel first.

There ya go... problem solved. :D

rj007, note that Ryanair now allows you to take 10 kg of hand baggage carryon. EasyJet is now also the same. So if you fly Ryanair or Easyjet, you can probably get away with no checked luggage now.

There's no wrong way or right way. One way is not better than the other way. Whatever works for you.

WillTravel

Thanks for the update. I am glad to hear that.

I'm an American expat living in the UK, but travel back to the US each month for work. In the 50+ trips I've made overseas, my luggage was delayed once. It was brought to my house about 3 hours after I arrived home.

I'm with traveldawg. I board the plane armed only with my small (purse-sized) backpack, which usually contains my MP3 player, a book, wallet and passport, and a bagel. Unless you have kids, there's no reason to travel with anything more. Never have to worry about room in the overheads because my bag easily fits under the seat without taking up any leg room.

Also, not all European airlines have abandoned the practice of loading from the back of the plane. And for those that have, I can tell you from experience that it does take much longer to board the plane. It's completely chaotic, and I've learned just to wait until final boarding is called to even attempt to board. There's no point in even trying before that. And besides, I'll be on the plane for 8 hours anyway. Why prolong the agony?

Nothing is much worse than sitting on a plane, at the gate, and watching people trying to stuff all their worldly goods into the overhead. HOWEVER, the airlines do NOT routinely enforce carry-on limitations so who can blame people?

I'm amused at the posts above that include the words; "I can't imagine....(doing this or that)" All I can say is that traveling with you, whether you packed it all into a carry-on or not must be pretty dull!

I am simply too old to deal with "much" carry-on.
Other than the (international) delays in the late PM at IAH, I don't mind waiting to get my bags which seldom contain anything of real value.
M

I would love to wait till the end of boarding but...

you have people who are considered elite flyers who jump on and hog the overhead space

you have the pre boarding crowd many of which are no more of need of extra time than the man in the moon and they also hog the overhead space.

The problem does indeed reside with those who take large parcels onto the plane and take up the overhead space forcing me to uncomfortably put my carry ons, very reasonable, on the floor in front of me.

One time. I had put my stuff in the overhead consisting of my lap top computer and attache case along with my coat. Along comes somebody from the back of the plane with a large case the size of which I checked and the flight attendant has the gall to ask me to take my stuff out of the overhead and put them on the floor making me uncomfortable while this whatever takes up my overhead space with his carry on that should have been checked.

The nerve. Of course I refused which caused a bit of a ruckus. And you know the result, he was forced to check his bag as there was no other overhead space. And he looked at me as if I was crazy.

Sorry, I'm a checker. I want what I want when I want it...my caveat to myself is only "can I lift and carry it". I've never heard of the water-logged luggage problem...I believe you...of course, yuck... probably would make me say "fudge"!

What plagued me most about this whole incident is that I rarely check luggage! The airline that we flew was (for some undisclosed reason) being really strict about carry-on luggage, and taking anything more than a briefcase from people as they boarded the plane and "valet checking" them. (not sure what that meant - apparently, that you luggage gets to stand in water for a few minutes).
I managed a 5 week business trip to 7 European countries with just a rolling bag and a briefcase, so it's not like my luggage was excessive. But given no choice...
Also, we're still waiting for financial settlements regarding the cleaning bills, and I think our night in the hotel without luggage is just going to have to be written off as an annoying inconvenience.
For what it's worth - there was no place to shop at my destination - hard to imagine, but there are not stores EVERYWHERE in the world...

TopMan,

Dull? Have we met and I found you so uninteresting that I can't remember antything worthwhile about you? (Oops, I'm stooping to your level, quick..let me stop now.)

Why is it that sincere questions regarding travel by the internationally unitiated must be met by some people on this board in such a rude manner?

Yo yo yo Dawg. Sorry... hope it didn't seem like I was slamming you... I was having a strange "Randy Jackson" (of American Idol) moment... he always said, Yo Dawg. My poor sleep deprived attempt at wit. No offense intended.

BTW, I didn't say I was "worried" about security... just that I think it has played a role in the changing rules about carryong because, like you said, it is certainly delaying things when people carryon their entire lives. And with the recent Annie Jacobsen "dry run" incident (was posted about here on Fodors) it certainly made me rethink the whole carryon issue. Maybe, GASP, they shouldn't allow on ANY carryon and every bag should be checked so it can be scanned.

Another poster mentioned that they were "too old" for dealing with all that carryon, and I can admit that at 34 I'm starting to feel that way too. It's true that when I started my "carry on" preference I was in my 20s, travelling with a bag on my back (that was certainly heavier than 13 lbs but the right "dimension".) Of course now also I have a baby, lots of gear, and a nicer wardrobe, and I'm resigned to checking the luggage. It'll probably grow on me and I'll wonder why I ever made such a fuss about getting it all into one bag. But I don't think it'll ever be an excuse to overpack... because I still prefer to travel lightly while on the ground.

And granted, when I said I could travel with 3 weeks of clothes in a carryon, that's with doing laundry at least once, maybe twice, on the trip. And wearing a lot of the "Fodors" black. :)

This has been an interesting topic... I think my opinions on carryon are certainly changing.

~k

Easyjet just changed their handbaggage policy. This ought to make those cramped little flights even more cozy...

From www.easyjet.com:

Introducing Europe's best hand baggage allowance!
easyJet today announces another pioneering development by introducing Europe's most generous hand baggage allowance. It will be better than that offered by any other airline in Europe - even the Club Class allowances of the dinosaur national airlines!

From Monday 12 July 2004 easyJet is removing the weight restriction on hand baggage for all passengers. The only stipulation is that you must be able to lift your bag safely into the overhead lockers yourself without assistance (or giving yourself a hernia!), so the weight must be within reason.

In order to comply with safety regulations of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, and to reflect the limited space in the overhead storage bins, there will be a size limit, which means that your bag must not be bigger than 55x40x20 cm - but this is 40% bigger than the current allowance! Our fantastic new hand baggage rules will give passengers the freedom to carry more than they can on the Club Class of traditional airlines - but without the extortionate fares!

This new allowance will be particularly attractive to easyJet's many business passengers who already fly with Europe's number one low-cost airline, benefiting from conveniently located city airports (not airstrips miles away), 30 minute check-in times, high-frequency routes, great punctuality, and some of Europe's lowest fares!

Can't think of any.

I just flew two flights on EasyJet on July 18 and July 23. For the July 18 flight out of Paris Orly to Berlin (SXF) the clerk was abiding by the old 7 kg policy. For the July 23 flight from Berlin SXF to London Luton, the clerk seemed to using a 10 kg or less policy (my bag was exactly 10 kg and the clerk let it go onboard). Neither was using an "all-you-can-carry" policy.