Ash UK/US

According to the United web site the hand luggage size allowance is:
22 inches tall X 17 inches wide X 10 inches deep... you seriously believe a lap top cannot fit into a hand luggage bag this size?

The same price as everyone who is allowed only 1 bag

Muqawim

So you suggest that I would buy a new bag ? Now tell me how I would have been able to do that when I was stuck in the middle of Heathrow, trying to get to terminal 3 for my connection flight, arguing with the employee that I would be unable to check my laptop or my backpack in (because it had electronics in them) and that I would be more than willing to buy a hand luggage except that there are no stores at that god-forsaken area of the airport (the closest one being, AFTER you enter the terminal, which I was not allowed to do....)? Tell me what the hell is the point of having to fit it all into 1 when you can easily take the size of two and see if it takes up the size of 1 (btw the two bags I had was not even half the size of 1 carry-on that people were carrying)? FFS, that's just pure childishness and a waste of time.

And why on earth would the airlines not tell their passengers about this new rule while checking in? Not everyone would have thought about checking out the Heathrow website prior to flying, nor is everyone computer-savvy for that matter.

Yes, exactly, and the same price as the obese person next to me. Do write the BAA and demand that they would not allow people above a certain weight to go through unless they prove that they have paid for two seats. I would kindly appreciate it. Maybe you can also demand that annoying children who would not stop crying for 7 straight goddamn hours on the plane, would have to sit in a separate, sound-proof area. Because listening to a kid crying for 7 hours, or not being able to take up more than half the seat you paid for, is, I would think, a bit more annoying than having to put your carry-on 2-3 rows behind your seat.

Deedee13

best laugh i have had all day. If that is all the problems u have on this sunny day then good on ya!!

Muqawim

Oh, it's not even a problem. Last time this luggage controversy threatened to keep me indefinitely stuck at Heathrow, let's just say I made my way past the airport employee without having to check in either of the two bags I was carrying.

With a bit of imagination you can outsmart those who are intent on making your time spent at Heathrow an unforgettable experience.

franc11s

They are all friggen jobs worths...

I love the US airports where as you go through security to remove your stuff (belt, shoess, phone (not in shoes), fluids > 3oz (you can have 5 x 3 oz's), wallet, jacket, laptop (seperate from phone and everything else).... anyway, I digress...

I love the US Airports where it looks like they have brought tables from a pikey or car boot sale. The tables being different heights and not all joined (stuff quite literally falls off the end). Some airports have been able to afford perfectly streamlined stainless steel gurney (sp) tables that look like they have come right out of surgery (LOL).

And after all that shite, you MUST remember to keep your boarding pass in your hand in the unlikely event that one day, Saddam Hishbid-e-something prints a boarding pass that doesn't have the correct date on it....

Friggen Jobs worths..

Oh, by the way, on an Air Alaska flight from San Diego to Seattle this week, we were given a REAL METAL KNIFE in first class for our meal... But friggen jobs worth won't let you take one through security !!

Friggen Jobs worths.

ANd when TSA tells me to "dress" - "over there" whilst I'm collecting my belongings from 3 separate trays with my trousers around my ankles - I really want to tell him to bugger off or give me 6 more hands and legs....

Friggen Jobs worths...

And please.... can we skip the chirade of checking my boarding pass 3 times when it's the easiest to forge document on the planet and printable on a printer at home for less than the cost of a second hand match-stick.

Jobs worths.

helens

Do you feel better for that ?

Ash UK/US

Given travel issues on terriosts/flying I would think anyone with half a brain would check on luggage allowance esp on an international flight. You do not have to be 'computer savvy' to get the information.

My advice to you... buy your own jet!

Deedee13

so well put~

Dan725

People with lots of hand luggage are bloody annoying. Its an American trend, and its led to whole new rules how planes are boarded.

Most US carriers have the "zoning" system, whereby preferred passengers, early checkins etc can get on first. I find this creates a situation where everyone bum rushes the gate - you see people stood up queueing about an hour before boarding is due to start.

The reason why people do this is because they have to get on the plane first so they can ensure all of their crap is able to go as hand luggage right above their seat.

This bum rushing queuing situation pisses me off more than the luggage, but its a consequence of it.

When you board by seat rows, no-one feels obliged to stand in line forever, and the plane is boarded in a much more orderly fashion.

helens

Unless the line if full of us Brits We love to stand in line forever !

gsnichol

It wouldn't be so bad if people actually had some comprehension of volume and packing... many's the time I've played tetris with those big wheeled cases to make some room for my backpack.

Titchski

My travel items are usually one coat and my laptop bag. Laptop bag holds the laptop, ipod, a book and a magazine, passport and tickets. I'm EXTREMELY lucky with flying as a) I don't have children and b) I get on the plane and fall asleep before we take off (on one trip, upon arrival in Chicago, I had to be woken up by a stewardess as everyone else had got off )

Anyhow back to my usual transatlantic routine... I do not use the bogs on the plane as I have a morbid and wholly irrational fear of going for a piss, being attacked by turbulence mid-stream and being forced to spend the rest of the flight damp and smelling like a urinal. So I generally only wake to the gentle tones of the steward/ess screeching BEEF OR CHICKEN at me, to which I decline politely and nod off again. I may or may not have a beer depending on if its free. I wake up properly to the sight of the dawn spreading its early light over the UK and I know that I'll soon be home due to the fact its pissing down with rain.

Lovely

gsnichol

If only it were like that for most of us. Ahh the joys of melatonin

I was once woken by the thud as the plane "touched down" (more like thudded down) to the announcement "Welcome to Manchester". Trouble was I was supposed to be at Newcastle... thinking I'd missed some sort of important mid-flight announcement about the flight being diverted I looked out the window and then the stewardess apologised for mixing up the cities..

Muqawim

uhm.. excuse me ?
I am not quite sure what this has to do with terrorists.
And flight luggage allowances do not exactly change every day, so not checking if there have been any changes and instead assuming that if there are any, then you would not be allowed to take more than one bag on the first plane heading to Heathrow to begin with, does not mean that one does not have more than half a brain. Except of course, for you, who has gone from talking about people taking all the carry-on cabin space, to luggage allowance changing due to terrorist threats.

I flew on Virgin Atlantic from USA through Heathrow to the Middle East. Upon check-in in USA, I was allowed to take 2 items, one a regular-size laptop bag, the other a small backpack. At Heathrow an employee told me, without looking at my ticket, that I had to check one of the bags in. Now, how on earth did he know I was not flying upper class (upper class is, according to the Virgin Atlantic website, allowed 2)? Hell, I was even wearing a suit, if it was based on 'appearance.' Aside from the fact that I was allowed to take two bags on the plane by the airline, even though they knew I was 1) not flying upper class; 2) was headed to the UK.

Btw, I am good with computers, but I know quite a few people who are not. And no, that does not mean that they don't have more than half a brain.

How rude.

--

As for the lining up issue, with the one-luggage rule, it will only be worse, as more people will be carrying those bigger carry-ons, and those who previously put say their laptop bag under the seat will also be trying to find big enough space above their seat for their big carry-on. So the situation line-up-wise is only going to get worse. Although to be honest I hate lining up early and usually am the last to board, unless they actually do enforce the 'few rows at a time' policy, which they did enforce the last time I flew in and out of Heathrow, which was only a few weeks ago !

Next time I will be totally avoiding flying through the UK! One would think that Brits would be comfortable flying through the UK but I guess we are no longer supposed to afford such 'luxury' of flying without headaches through our own country! Charles de Gaulle causes much less headache. I am not sure if the UK economy needs such stupid actions on the part of the DfT and the BAA, which have already cost billions of dollars in losses. Think about that in terms of the number of jobs lost. All this because of some rash action which claims that there is a correlation between these terrorists' attempts and hand luggage allowance. Btw I flew through Heathrow in June, and had no problems taking two bags. After the terrorist threats my wife changed her booking and flew through CDG instead of LHR and was very happy. From now on, my family will avoid Heathrow like the plague, and we will advise our friends to do the same. Maybe airlines will realize this and pressure the idiots who are making such decisions to reverse them. Or maybe those who are upset at the traffic at LHR (and who are happy thinking that a reduction in hand baggage allowance will make their passage faster and smoother) will finally have something to be happy about.

Ash UK/US

Well I would assume that the new policy is in place to allow for better screening ie 1 bag is easier to check verses 2 bags, plus lap top, plus coat & 2 bags of shopping.

no but they have changed since the last time I flew... so very much worth checking on.

That makes no sense.

This is why one should check first

I think you need to read and understand before you comment... I said 'You do not have to be 'computer savvy' to get the information'. Infact a couple of weeks back I had to call and get some info on a car seat because the info was not available online, I got everything I needed to know right over the phone!

Ash