Shrinkage of the Bags. Brougth to you by United, American Air, Delta.

Carry-on luggage size has been reduced ...

 

http://boingboing.net/2014/06/13/american-delta-and-united-ju.html

<p>Another reason to take the train... ;-)</p>

Meanwhile the general populace's butts get bigger and bigger, and knee room decreases as well.

 

I've seen some people bring crazy amounts of stuff as check on luggage.

<p>Some bean counter did the math. "We save 0.000001 picoliters of aviation fuel if we cut bag size by 2%!" </p>

<p>He got a $10K raise, we got the shaft.</p>

I'm sick of the size of people's carry ons. Creates mayhem when boarding. Shrink 'em down!

<p>The only "mayhem" that I have ever encountered as a result of carry-ons while boarding was when a woman seated in the middle seat of a row (just forward of the wings) objected to the size of mine, a backpack of modest size with my laptop and camera gear. There was room in the overhead bin only for my pocketbook.</p>

<p>"It's not going to fit!" she said loudly, as I indicated I had the window seat.</p>

<p>"Yes, it will," I said calmly over her objections. She was not too keen on moving to even let me into my seat and continued to object, loudly, to my carry-on.</p>

<p>By this time, other passengers were watching. One of them offered to put my bag under his seat, but I declined.</p>

<p>"Let me at least try," I said to the woman, who finally got up to stand in the aisle so I could take my seat... and easily slide the backpack under the seat ahead of me.</p>

<p>If she had just let me in at the beginning, there would have been no backup of boarding passengers.</p>

<p>(And honestly, the crew should have attended to her/us, but they didn't.)</p>

<p>I do volunteer work at a major US airport. Sometimes the amount and size of some folks "carry-on" luggage is amazing. I've seem people with three or four large bags. I's like to see the airlines strongly enforce their policies, much like American Airlines did during my last trip in May. Two items only, and one of them is the small personal item. The lady behind us was told, not asked, to gate check one of her three bags. The ensuing conversation was interesting, but eventually she got the message.</p>

<p>The best carry-on policy is one bag, period. Not "one and a personal item", not "one and a giant purse". Just one, thank you.</p>

<p> </p>

This has been the standard size limit for most US airlines on domestic flights for years, and there can also be a weight limit, but for practical purposes the passengers should be able to lift their own bags to the overhead (flight crews are not supposed to help with this, but they often do, at the risk of being reprimanded if they are injured). The change is airlines are starting to enforce these rules, as they should, for the reasons given. Over-stuffed animals the size of large children should not be allowed to take up space required for valuable carryons which the airlines' own tariffs suggest must be carried with the passenger.

<p>I just took an Alaskan flight from Orange County to Seattle. They allowed one carry-on which fits the overhead bin, and 1 personal item which would have to fit under the seat in front of me. The bags are positioned top-in-first in the overhead bins so that 3 bags/backpacks/rollers could be held by each bin. All others have to be checked at the gate. For that reason, I have a choice of 2 Think Tank backpacks at home when I travel. One fits in a 737 bin exactly, the other in a CRJ (without laptop) for those flights when I know I will be flying in one. I can't quite carry as much in the smaller bag but I still manage to stuff it with 4 DX bodies with 4 lenses (8-16, 17-70 macro, 18-35 1.8, and 70-400), large ball head (legs in checked luggage), batteries, cards, and filters. All the other less valuable stuff goes in the checked luggage.</p>

<p>I fly quite a lot. Other people's idea of carry-on is a constant irritant and means that there isn't always room for all passengers bags. I'm all for imposing reasonable limits of size and weight and sticking to them. If it means that people who expect to take bags with a couple of weeks supply of clothes etc as carry on can't, well I'm ok with that if it means that I can get on a plane knowing that my rather modestly sized shoulder bag will get space every time, and not run the risk of damage caused by people trying to jam their multi-wheeled cases or huge rucksacks into space that it doesn't want to (or need to) fit. </p>

<p>We haven't flown since late in the last century, but airline baggage, both checked and carry-on, was irritating even then. One trick we used was to ship most of our luggage via UPS or FedEx to one of their stations in our destination city, and pick it up after we arrived. I don't know if you can still do that, but if so, it's an option...</p>

<p>I use a Think Tank Airport Acceleration 2.0, which is supposed to be designed with the travel limits in mind - a quick google suggests 18.5" x 13" x 7", and British Airways quotes 22" x 18" x 10". I usually take the laptop bag out of the front and put it under a seat so I can work on the flight - though some aircraft annoyingly position the support for the seats (especially at the window end, where it's hardest to get at overhead baggage) in the way, rather than near the "wall". I've managed to get the main bag under a seat, but it's unusual. On most aircraft, I can fit it in the bin on its side. Think Tank's replacement for that bag - which IIRC doesn't have the ability to hide the straps so they don't foul on things, like the Acceleration can - is even (slightly) bigger, at 14" x 20.5" x 9" - possibly, having bought more lenses, I should have gone for that.<br />

<br />

It's not uncommon for me to take three laptops, a tablet, an e-reader, a DSLR and several lenses (typically 14-24, 70-200, 300 f/4, 85 f/1.8, 150 f/2.8) on a flight. They fit in that bag, although I won't deny that airport security is a special hell. If I'm travelling lighter and expect to be somewhere with a safe, I also have a Shape Shifter. I'm grateful that airlines don't tend to check (or have) a weight allowance, although I've been known to hang a camera around my neck to lighten the bag if I have to.<br />

<br />

Have I been complained at? One woman complained loudly about "over-size" carry ons in my vicinity, but my bag had little effect on the overhead bin being full before I got there - and others, particularly with wheeled bags, were carrying much more. It's only happened once in about twenty flights. On the other hand, I've seen people breaking wheels off the carry-on baggage on a budget airline in order to meet the size requirements.<br />

<br />

I, on the other hand, am quite over-size. Something I should probably fix, if only because it would let me use the trick of putting a lot of my camera stuff in a vest. Buying something huge in duty free usually has far more of an effect on baggage space than anything I'd take. (I did buy three commemorative cushions once, but I've not made a habit of it...)</p>

<p>Ooh. I've just checked the flight I'm going to be taking from the UK to Canada in August. Carry on is 9x16x20in. Good thing I <i>don't</i> have the current Airport Accelerator. I'm looking a little nervously at the 10kg limit as well, but it appears I might be able to take out either a camera (plus big lens) or a laptop bag (two laptops, an e-reader and a tablet) to get around that one... Thanks for making me think of it!</p>