MSE News: Flying with hand luggage? Check its size to avoid airline fees

Former_MSE_Helen

"Passengers can pay up to £75 per item, per flight to put luggage in the hold if their bags don't fit on board..."

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Flying with hand luggage? Check its size to avoid airline fees



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grabouille

Flying from Venice Treviso airport yesterday evening, Ryanair have got a hand luggage measuring cage linked up to a set of scales. There were rigidly applying the rules. There were MASSIVE queues, and only 4 flights due to leave at the time. Carnage. Flying out from EMA, they neither looked at nor weighed any hand luggage.

VT82

Flew on Monarch in May. No weighing or measuring of hand luggage in sight. You're also allowed to split it into two bags (max 10kg combined) - in fact they recommend it, so you can put one in the overhead and have a smaller one for your seat. No women having to force their handbag into their case just to get through the gate! It was a pleasure.

Yinster

I would always encourage everyone to bring their own measuring tape and set of scales as sometimes an airline's luggage cage and scale is not that accurate. (as seen on Watchdog a couple of years ago)

mcfisco

Yinster wrote: »

I would always encourage everyone to bring their own measuring tape and set of scales as sometimes an airline's luggage cage and scale is not that accurate. (as seen on Watchdog a couple of years ago)

I never go anywhere without calibrated and certified scales and large digital vernier calipers, adds 8kg to my baggage but they won't get the better of me

I've always had trouble with scales, as a teenager I was turned down for a career as a butcher, apparently my thumb wasn't heavy enough.

richardw

grabouille wrote: »

Flying from Venice Treviso airport yesterday evening, Ryanair have got a hand luggage measuring cage linked up to a set of scales. There were rigidly applying the rules. There were MASSIVE queues, and only 4 flights due to leave at the time. Carnage......

They've been doing this for years at TSF.

Pincher

Beware of sales. Some carry-ons labelled as "Cabin Luggage" no longer qualify, which is why they are CHEAP. Samsonite has a Laptop Pillow (with two wheels) which is 46 x 42 x 25.5cm.

sjrben

I got stung by Thomas Cook airlines on hand luggage - bags were the right size, but buried away on page 26 of their Ts & Cs on their website - there was a 5kg limit - they weighed the hand luggage when checked in & stung me for £50!

janh_2

I flew with Monarch last month & they seem to be very pragmatic about this all of a sudden.
Initially I was sent an email almost recommending bringing 2 smaller carry-on bags, as long as combined size/weight was within regulation limits (though not at Luton, they are sticking to the 1 bag rule) so none of that nonsense about putting your smaller bag inside your bigger bag at check-in/gate & getting it out again later.
Obviously this improves available stowage space in the cabin as the smaller bags can go under seats, leaving more space in the overhead lockers.
This went smoothly on departure from Manchester.
Coming back from Malaga it was even better, as they were happily checking larger carry-on bags into the hold at no charge if you didn't need them during the flight.
How sensible is that? I don't know how long it will last, or if the free check-in of cabin bags is going to be standard, but I was delighted!

janh_2

This was the wording of the email - it sounds very reasonable!

'Two separate pieces of hand baggage, as long as the combined size is no bigger than 56 x 40 x 25cm and the combined weight no heavier than 10 kilos, plus a small duty free bag from the departure airport.
The free 10 kilos hand baggage allowance is on top of and not combined with your paid for hold baggage allowance.
There is limited space onboard, and we are sorry but on busy flights we cannot guarantee that we can fit all baggage in the cabin. Taking two smaller bags and placing one under the seat in front of you will help to avoid your baggage being placed in the hold.
Remember, size does matter!
If your hand baggage is too large and does not comply with the restrictions you can add a hold bag to your booking now by click here
At the gate, any oversized pieces of baggage will be placed in the hold and you will be charged £50/€60. '

mcfisco

How sensible is that?

A lot of people carry valuables in their hand luggage, I've seen one or two posts regarding said valuables going missing before the bag is returned.