<p>The last flight I flew on only allowed ONE carry-on & it had to be < or = 25 pounds, plus a SMALL personal item. Everyone’s “stuff” fit on the airplane. It was a small plane with 2 seats on one side & one on the other side of the aisle. The time we flew that airlines in the summer, the weight limit was 40 pounds so we didn’t have to really pay attention. This time, we had to reshuffle things at the check-in counter because we were checking in some luggage & hand-carrying the rest. They made sure none of our bags were over 25 pounds!</p>
<p>I really hate that the airlines are slowing things down and the policies DO encourage people to bring numerous bulky & heavy things aboard the plane that would be MUCH better stored in the luggage sections of the plane. Hubby & I check luggage whenever possible & feel the $10-15 fee per bag is well worth the added peace of mind. My college kids travel lightly & have no trouble fitting their stuff into a small backpack that easily fits in the seat in front of them or overhead bin.</p>
<p>Have never had the experience the OP wrote about, but am somehow not all that surprised, just sad that air travel is becoming increasingly unpleasant. It is one of the few ways to get out of our island state, so we don’t have a lot of alternatives. :(</p>
<p>I’m becoming a more frequent flyer (about 40-50K miles this year), but depending on funding may become a less frequent flyer. Part of it is because it is increasingly stressful to fly because of all these distracting issues and partly all the “bugs” you can catch while travelling.</p>
<p>Well…back in the day…there were “closets” in the front of the plane for garment bags to be hung up. Anyone remember those? Frequently, business travelers had one of those. Heck…when I was a little kid all we had was that heavy, hard sided luggage and it ALL got checked (thank God they didn’t weigh it…the suitcase weighed more than the contents). The only ones who had those slick carryon bags with the wheels were the FLIGHT ATTENDENTS.</p>
<p>They still have those for the first-class cabins! </p>
<p>And yes - I remember that heavy, hard sided luggage. I got beautiful Hartmann luggage for my college graduation, and it just sits there, unused, since who uses those big suitcases anymore? I now have a Hartmann rollerboard. </p>
<p>Other frequent flyer suggestion - don’t get a black rollerboard! Get a distinctive color. My Hartmann is the classic brown and beige tweed and it stands out among the sea of black.</p>
<p>I actually find the airlines are speeding things up - they are much more strong about starting pre-board way before the departing plane time and having everyone in their seats ahead of time. No more getting to the gate 5 minutes prior and hopping on.</p>
<p>OP, what an awful situation. I can’t imagine chosing stuff I really need to have in my carryon, and then having it checked - on a LATER flight - WITHOUT a computerized tag. Especially if you have a connecting flight - I think I’d have asked to rebook MYSELF on the later flight with my bag. I almost never use the overhead bin, I’m not that tall and I just prefer to have my stuff under the seat in front of me. I use a soft cloth bag and stuff it in with my feet if I have to.</p>
<p>All this is making me nervous, DS is flying to Europe in Jan for a semester’s stay. He’s changing planes at Heathrow. He plans to check a large suitcase, and today we bought a backpack to use as a carryon. It’s technically 1/2 inch too long for British Airway’s standard, but anything shorter was too short to fit properly on S’s back (he might use this backpack for actual backpacking some day). It’s well within the width guideline, and depth should be ok if he doesn’t really stuff it. I really hope he’s allowed to carry it on, otherwise it will be $60 for the second checked bag.</p>
<p>Be forewarned at Heathrow. Unlike the US where you can have 2 carryons (say, a briefcase and a duffel), at Heathrow they only allow ONE carryon through security. So you have to shove everything into one bag and then separate it back out as you see fit. It sounds as though he just has one carryon, but just consider yourself forewarned.</p>
<p>Also, changing planes at Heathrow is miserable. Allow 2 hours. I am not exaggerating or kidding.</p>
<p>His layover is 2 hours 10 minutes, and there are 2 more flights to his final destination that day. But thanks for the heads up on the ONLY ONE carryon thing. I think he will only have the 1 carryon. Will he have to clear security again, since he’s just changing planes?</p>
<p>Yes, British security standards are different than other countries so he will have to go through security at Heathrow. If the UK or Ireland is not his final destination, he should stay on the international side and not clear UK customs and passport control. I don’t know how strict BA is on carryon size but prepare to check it. Because the UK is not part of the Schengen Agreement, transiting through London can be more difficult compared to Continental Europe. Plus, BA doesn’t seem to like giving frequent flier miles.</p>
<p>Yes, he will have to clear security again. I don’t mean to make you paranoid, but tell him to be the first off that plane and run or walk with purpose to his next destination. Don’t stop to go to the bathroom or anything, and make sure that he has just that one carryon all set to go. They are very strict on the one carryon rule. For example, a girl with a handbag and a small backpack has to shove her handbag into the backpack.</p>
<p>When he is on the mainland, he likely won’t meet such scrutiny. Likely won’t have to remove shoes, either. Heathrow has had many of their security measures in place since long before 9/11 because of the IRA.</p>
<p>Going back from Vegas last month the gate attendant announced early on that anyone who wanted a carry-on checked free of charge to their final destination at the gate could do so in order to speed up the boarding. I gladly took them up on that offer, - wouldn’t do it if the bag was going on another flight or if my layover was tight though. In that case the people who paid to check their bags beforehand weren’t too thrilled.</p>
<p>Going to/from Orlando last week I crammed everything in one weekend-sized tote that I was able to squeeze between two rollerboards in an overhead, could have had it under the seat if I had to, people just have to learn to pack lighter…</p>
<p>Now I fly AirTran quite a bit, and on flights that I know are going to be full or that I can’t check in early enough, I pay their fee ahead of time to get a good seat assignment. On every flight though there is someone with the “can you move so I can sit next to my spouse/child/companion” sob story, who could have just as easily paid the same fee that I did to ensure sitting together, and I get the nasty looks when I refuse!</p>
<p>Geez, and he picked this flight specifically because he WANTED to go thru Heathrow.
England is one of the countries he wants to visit while in Europe. (He’s spending the semester in Barcelona). </p>
<p>I gave him 3 choices (based on times and airfares): change at Heathrow, change in Newark (direct from there to Barcelona) or change in Frankfurt. Well he had already submitted his VISA application,and didn’t apply for the Schengen Visa, so he had listed his first point of entry to Spain as Barcelona - so that ruled out Frankfurt. After that he said, “I’ve been to Newark. I’d rather change in Heathrow.”</p>
<p>Frankfurt is an easy airport to change flights in, IMO. Sorry about Heathrow :-). </p>
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<p>I don’t know AirTran’s policy, but as someone who is a frequent traveler, I don’t mind a bit if someone asks me to move so they can sit next to a spouse / child / companion, and I’ll always accommodate unless there is a really compelling reason that I can’t.</p>
<p>It’s quite common to see business travelers sit in another seat to be next to a business companion and then when the occupant gets there, say, “Do you mind taking 10D instead of 11D so my business associate and I can sit together?” Most people traveling alone would say yes, because what the heck is the difference between 10D and 11D, and what difference does it make to take the 10D and give your 11D to the person traveling with 11F?</p>
<p>^^I’ve traded seats to accommodate people many times. I’m especially sympathetic to parents sitting apart from their young children or people with medical conditions who would be better off in my location. And for anybody I have no problem trading for another seat of equal value. But when someone wants my aisle seat that I specifically requested in exchange for their middle or window seat just so they can sit by their spouse or girlfriend for the next three hours, I’m going to be very reluctant.</p>
<p>I think Rachacha’s point was that the family could have paid to have seats together on AirTran or other airlines that charge for advance seat assignments. As for there being no difference between seats in the same class of service apart from window, aisle, or middle, another forum I frequent concerns itself a lot with these differences.</p>
<p>The UK has been big on security for a long time. Even outside the airport, look at how few garbage cans there are in open spaces, there is a security reason for that. If Lafalum84’s son is considering flying intra-Europe, especially on low cost airlines, the carryon restrictions are different and do often have a weight restriction which may be something small like 5kg.</p>
<p>I wasn’t aware of the importance of point of entry for a visa when a country, like Spain, has signed the Schengen Areement (the UK and Ireland haven’t). Depending on my exact study abroad location, I intend to be visiting many different countries on weekends and such and want my visa to include intra-Schengen travel.</p>
<p>Just talked to DS. SEA_tide, your VISA to any Schengen country allows you to travel within all of them. There’s no more Spanish Visa, German Visa, etc - they’re all Schengen. The only issue is that the application does ask for your point of entry, so you need to know the first airport you’ll come into within the Schengen countries. I hadn’t booked his flight when he got the VISA, so he put Barcelona.</p>
<p>He could have waited to get the VISA until after we had the plane flights, but there was a professor at his school who was going to the Spanish embassy and getting VISAs for everyone who needed one if you gave him your paperwork (and a notarized letter authorizing him to apply for you). That was a lot easier than DS having to trek into NYC to go to the embassy, but it meant that he needed to fill out all the applications sooner than we had realized.</p>
This was true at UK airports but they changed the rules (early last year I think, it was one time I was over there when my Mum was sick that they announced it) and now you can have your carry on plus a small ‘personal item’ such as a purse. I always stuff my purse into my carry on anyway as the less pieces I have to contend with the less likely I am to misplace something. </p>
<p>Actually I always look like a dork when I fly because I wear a fanny pack to carry my passport and wallet and tickets. I just like to reduce my stress levels when traveling as much as possible and having my ticket & passport easily available works for me and I am past caring if I look like a dork.</p>