How to stop the airlines giving you a handbagging over your carry-on case
THE great ‘cabin baggage con’ will step up a gear this Easter when tens of thousands of holidaymakers are fined for taking hand luggage on board that is either too large or too heavy. Travellers are being fleeced out of billions of pounds a year as a result of these underhand airline tricks, bamboozled by a mind-boggling array of confusing charges and ever-changing bag size regulations.
Airline Flybe is the latest to tamper with its baggage rules. It is now enforcing a ‘zero tolerance’ policy, demanding £50 from passengers that break a strict hand baggage limit.
Although the right to impose the ‘fine’ has been in existence for the past three years, it is only now that it has enforced it.
Flybe’s move follows that of Ryanair. It introduced a fiendishly complex policy last November to squeeze every last penny out of long-suffering passengers. It now demands customers pay up to £10 per journey to take hand luggage that was previously allowed for free.
Adam Ewart, founder of airline luggage handling firm Send My Bag, says: ‘About 80 per cent of all luggage handled by airlines is now hand baggage. Carriers want to charge as much as they can get away with to pay for the hassle of dealing with it. All the various bag rules are designed to confuse and benefit no one except greedy profitdriven airlines.’
The Mail on Sunday investigates this murky world of hand luggage shenanigans to discover exactly what each airline allows – and the price you must pay for the privilege of taking bags on board. We also explore the unfair penalties for those who accidentally break hand baggage rules.
Cabin baggage allowance and
cost: One tiny bag – a handbag or small laptop – can be taken on board for free. This must fit under the seat in front of you and be no more than 40cm x 25cm x 20cm in dimensions (length, width and depth).
If you want to take an additional cabin bag with dimensions up to 55cm x 40cm x 20cm that weighs no more than 10kg, you must pay between £6 and £10 for ‘priority and two cabin bags’. This is per flight so for a return journey the sum will be double this.
Penalty if you exceed baggage
limit: The larger cabin bag is only allowed for those who have paid between £6 and £10 for priority boarding. If your hand baggage is deemed too big or heavy at the gate you will be charged £50 and it will be put in the hold. Cabin baggage allowance and cost: One slim piece of cabin luggage that is no bigger than 55cm x 35cm x 20cm – including any wheels and handles – can be taken on board for free.
You can also bring another smaller bag no larger than a handbag or laptop case – to be stowed under the seat in front of you for free.
However, the combined weight of
both bags must be no more than 10kg in total. Penalty if you exceed the cabin
baggage limit: If the hand baggage is found to be too big or heavy at the departure gate you will be fined £50 and the bag will be stowed in the hold.
Cabin baggage allowance and
cost: One cabin bag no bigger than 56cm x 45cm x 25cm can be taken for free. Even a tiny separate handbag is considered an additional piece of luggage so must be stored in the cabin bag to avoid a charge. There is no weight restriction. Penalty if you exceed the cabin baggage limit: Should the bag exceed the size limit it will be put into the hold. If this happens at the bag drop-off desk you will be charged £40 – or £50 if this is discovered just prior to boarding.
Cabin baggage allowance and
cost: A single piece of hand luggage can be taken on board for free, provided it is no larger than 56cm x 45cm x 25cm and weighs no more than 10kg. You can also take on board an additional ‘small personal item’ at no cost – such as a handbag or a laptop in a cover bag. Penalty if you exceed the cabin baggage limit: The bag will be checked in as hold luggage if it is too big or heavy. You will pay £45.
Cabin baggage allowance and
cost: A small carry-on bag no larger than 40cm x 30cm x 20cm is free. You must pay a ‘priority’ fee to carry on a trolley bag measuring no more than 55cm x 40cm x 23cm in size. This is usually £22.50 at the airport or between £4.50 and £26 if booked in advance. The maximum weight for each bag is 10kg. Penalty if you exceed the cabin baggage limit: If a bag exceeds the free allowance but is no bigger than 55cm x 40cm x 23cm you pay about £20 to take it on board. Exceed these dimensions and you pay about £50 and the bag is put in the hold.
Cabin baggage allowance and
cost: One piece of hand baggage no larger than 56cm x 45cm x 25cm can be taken on board for free. You may also take an additional small item – no bigger than 40cm x 30cm x 15cm – for no extra charge. Each of these bags can weigh up to 23kg. Penalty if you exceed the cabin
baggage limit: You will need to check hand baggage into the hold if it is larger or heavier than the allowance.
The good news is that most travellers have a free hold bag allowance of 90cm x 75cm x 43cm and it can be included in this at no cost. However, if the total weight of the checked-in bags is now more than 23kg there is a £65 levy.
But passengers who have booked BA’s new ‘basic’ fares for short haul flights have no hold luggage allowance.