Some tips for those who are about to go on an airplane flight for the first time ever

The BBQ Pit
81

I have never checked a bag for a flight in my life and I never will. But then I also did two weeks vacation in Europe and stayed within Virgin’s 15lb carry on weight limit.

Check a bag if that’s ok (for me it isn’t so much the risk of having to wait for the bag at the carousel as not wanting to deal with lost bags) for you or don’t. But for the love of god everybody, you are almost certainly not moving wherever it is you’re flying to and therefore it is unnecessary to bring everything you own.

If rain at your destination is merely a possibility, you don’t need to bring an umbrella. They sell those around the world. If you expect it to be 80 degrees you don’t need to bring a heavy coat just in case. You don’t need to bring a shower head with you (one friend did that in case he didn’t like the shower head in his hotel).

And if you’re luggage is never more than you can comfortably carry, getting around at your destination is so much more pleasant.

82

So, you want me to inconvenience two people instead of maybe inconveniencing one?

The only time this is an issue is when I travel with my husband as I get bulkhead when I’m traveling alone, but I’m not getting why having two people get up and stand in the aisle twice is better than briefly using a seat back for balance.

83

Meh. I always check my bag and then don’t have to worry about lugging it around the airport. I have heard of lost luggage, but it’s never happened to me and I’m fairly certain with today’s technology it rarely happens at all. Waiting an extra 15 minutes for luggage at the airport is nothing. YMMV.

84

using the “seat back for balance” is a earth shattering event for the unfortunate person in that seat. It’s jarring and unpleasant.

85

Trust me, when you decide to crawl over me on your way to the aisle you’re inconveniencing pretty much as much as you would if you waited until I stood up.

When I take an aisle seat (and I always do if I can) I understand it comes with the obligation to let the people inside out to pee every once in a while. So long as you’re not hopping up and down ever three minutes I’m more than happy to get out of your way.

86

Like I said, I can comfortably carry my luggage for extended periods of time. So that too isn’t a hassle. And I know several people who have had their luggage lost or delayed in just the last couple of months.

Plus, I never have to struggle to get bags into/out of cabs, hotels, etc. I’m not dragging a roller bag over cobblestone streets. I don’t have to rent an SUV for the storage space.

And even if a lost bag happens to me just once in my life the hassle of that would far outweigh the benefits (of which I can’t currently think of any) of checking bags over the rest of my life.

But yes, people who can’t leave the house without 200 pounds of luggage should definitely check their bags for the sanity of everybody else. It is because of the overhead abuse that i do care about getting on the plane early to ensure I have space.

Even though my bag is almost always small enough that I could put it under the seat if need be, I’m tall enough that I’d rather be able to put my feet there.

87

Sadly, I seem to have angered a baggage handler god in a past life. The times I have checked bags and had them lost or delayed seems all out of proportion to my number of flights and is directly proportional to how much I need the items checked.

But I must disagree about it happening less. According to this story, the number of incidences of lost/delayed luggage is up 6.4% from last year. (First 10 months–see item 4.) To add insult to injury, I have to pay to have the airline lose my luggage.

88

Gate-checking is one of the relatively lesser-known secrets used by power flyers everywhere. Yes, you have to carry stuff all the way to the gate, and you can’t use it for actual suitcases…but gate-checking is our standard option for small bags, baby strollers, etc.

Pack right, and you can have everything you need the second you get off the plane (essentially zero waiting, unless you were seated right by the 2L door) and zero risk of the airlines losing your luggage.

89

A first for me last week. They lost my gate checked bag.

90

It is, which is precisely why the airlines should start charging regular checked-bag rates for gate-checked bags. Install a credit card swiper right at the gate if you have to, but stop all these selfish assholes from slowing down security lines because they’re too lazy too wait 15 minutes at the carousel.

As for those who bring oversized bags onto the plane, it also drives me nuts that the airline staff don’t enforce their own rules, and i agree with Duckster that the airlines should work with the TSA, and simply set up a system that doesn’t allow bags bigger than carry-on size through security in the first place.

91

When there is turbulence everyone should grab hold of the backs of the seats of the people in front of them. When everyone does this it helps stabalize the plane.

92

First you’ll have to get the airlines and individual airplane models to all agree on what the maximum carry on size is. My bags are always pretty small compared to official limits but I’ve been on puddle jumpers (after going through the same security screening) where they barely fit overhead.

93

While it’s true that different planes can handle different sized bags, all of the airlines already have fairly specific guidelines for the allowable dimensions of a carry-on bag. They even, as others have noted, give you a little cage at the check-in area where you can test your bag to see if it fits.

In my experience, all of those little templates look pretty much the same size, so i decided to check some of America’s major airlines to see what their actual carry-on size limits are. All measurements in inches.



United		22 x 14 x 9
Delta		22 x 14 x 9
American	22 x 14 x 9
Southwest	24 x 16 x 10
Alaska		24 x 17 x 10
Frontier	24 x 16 x 10
Hawaiian	22 x 14 x 9

JetBlue		26 x 18 x 12 (Airbus A320)
		24 x 16 x 10 (Embraer 190)

Pretty damn consistent, no? JetBlue is the only airline that explicitly gives different sizes for different planes. The rest are all within a couple of inches of one another, and on every single flight over the last ten years i’ve seen dozens of people with bags that clearly exceed those limits.

94

…and crawling over me? No thanks, we are not monkeys.

95

When it comes to designing luggage the difference between 22x14x9 and 26x18x12 is actually pretty large. And if you want the TSA to enforce it it does need to be more specific than “hey, some of those bags seem rude” it does put them in charge of enforcing individual airline policy.

Then there is Virgin which technically has a carry on size limit of 9x14x22 and a maximum of weight of 22 pounds (just recently increased from 15 pounds). While I’ve never seen them really enforce the size limit I have seen them enforce the weight.

I agree that people shouldn’t take much on a plane (though I argue that they shouldn’t be taking much with them at all regardless of whether it goes into the cabin with them or gets checked), but as satisfying as it might be to have TSA enforce it I thin it should be left to the airlines.

Personally, I’ve never been slowed down by someone gate checking their bags so I don’t care why they’re doing it that way (to avoid fees or because they thought their car’s roof rack would fit) and I’d like to see the gate agents be more aggressive in doing it.

And while i suppose that may make it slower overall to get everybody on the plane, I’ve had way more planes delayed pushing off over the years due to slowness in getting bags/cargo loaded below than from getting people loaded above.

96

Not really, no. Those are absolute maximums across the fleet. They don’t preclude smaller maximums for individual aircraft.

For most of these airlines, there are also disclaimers on each of their webpages that individual aircraft or individual airports may further restrict the size of carry ons.

These restrictions are probably going to be more applicable to the small regional carriers they employ (like American Eagle for American or Delta Connection for Delta).

It’s entirely possible you hop onto an American Eagle flight and find the overhead bins don’t accommodate the posted maximum sizes from the American site.

97

Right, but for the purposes of my argument about an airport- or TSA-enforced limit, you could, at the very least, have a system-wide limit that was at the upper limit of the airlines’ largest allowable carry-on.

So, looking at the figures i gave earlier, you could institute a system-wide policy that no bags with dimensions greater than 26 x 18 x 12 would be allowed through. Period. The airlines could then, if they chose, enforce smaller limits for their own companies, and/or for individual aircraft types.

I understand that this is never going to happen, but i like fantasizing about ways to make life more difficult for the assholes who, by insisting on hauling their massive bags onto the plane, make life more difficult for the rest of us.

98

It seems to me it wouldn’t just make life for difficult for assholes but for me as well. Gate checks don’t get in my way. People arguing about (or trying to cram their bag through a small hole) this at security will.

99

Get a fucking carry on that fits under the seat in front of you. Nobody says you need to bring a goddamned three foot high rolling suitcase onto every flight.

I travel a lot and one of the best things I ever did was get a bag like this. I say “like” that because I am a cheap mother fucker-- mine is from TJ Maxx and was like, $22.

Forgive my ire, but I just don’t get people who miserably crawl through the airport, lugging their giant carry ons. Why? Why would you do that to yourself? And what the hell are you bringing? My carry on has: my passport, my wallet, a small plastic bag of liquids (hand sanitizer, hand lotion, and a dry lip product, usually), a travel pillow, headphones, my laptop & DSLR (since I’m obviously not putting those in a checked bag), and my phone (which doubles as a e reader, music player, and movie machine). Depending on where I’m going, I might throw an extra dress or something in there in case my luggage is lost-- but that’s really if I’m going somewhere like Egypt where I’m not sure I’ll be able to find proper clothes easily. Going to Chicago? ALL THE CLOTHES GO IN THE CHECKED BAG and if it’s lost? They’ve got Target there, it’s fine.

I think I definitely over pack, so color me horrified when I see everybody else making me look like some sort of backpacker.

You’re a douchebag. The worst kind of douchebag. I bet you also fully recline your seat on the plane, too.

Fortunately, most decent airline employees are hip to this stupid game. I’ve seen more than one holler after someone, “Sir, you forgot your bag! It needs to go by YOUR SEAT. We can check it for you if you’d prefer.”

I’ve seen this, but it’s usually on really long “overnight” flights. So, while it may be daylight as we’re flying over Iceland, it’s now the middle of the night LAX time (where we left), so everybody wants to sleep. Anyway, only international flights.

100

The great thing, though, is that arguing with the people at security has far greater consequences than arguing with the airlines’ gate staff.

Go ahead, next time you’re flying: tell the friendly TSA folks that you’re not going to take your shoes off, or remove your belt, or leave your full water bottle behind. I’ll chuckle as you’re pulled aside for a cavity search. Which is precisely what the people with massive carry-on bags deserve.