Lufthansa carry-on?

Applying to College
#1

<p>I'm currently in Germany until December and vaguely worried about luggage. I flew out on United, and my checked bag was just below the weight limit. I had my backpack as my carry on.</p>

<p>I packed a small duffel bag and was figuring that on my return, I would put my extra weight in this (aka lots of chocolate), have that as my personal item, and have my backpack as my personal item.</p>

<p>On US airlines, I know I could get away with this duffel bag/backpack combo (I do it all the time flying between home and school), but my flight back is a Lufthansa flight (codeshare with United). From what I've read, they have an 8 kg weight limit for carry-on, and explicitly say 1 carry on, and a small personal item.</p>

<p>I'm concerned that they're more strict with this. Does anyone have experience with Lufthansa's strictness on carry-ons and carry-on weight limits? Do they check the weight, for example? And how small does the personal item have to be?</p>

<p>I'd really like to avoid getting slapped with a hefty baggage fee at the airport...</p>

#2

<p>It depends on how many seats are vacant on the plane. If it is overbooked they may be strict.
On several occasions my hand luggage was checked for weight and I have seen people get into trouble with large bags. But then, some people carry huge bags on board and nobody seems to mind.</p>

#3

<p>So basically I have to hope I get lucky? I’m flying back around Christmas, so planes will probably be full, and it looks like I might be bringing back some electronics equipment for my research. This will be interesting…
Thanks for the info, though!</p>

#4