Funny thing. When I fly, I like to have my luggage arrive with me, not three days later. Once I checked my suitcase to Zurich. I arrived safely, but my suitcase didn’t. The airline tracked my suitcase and told me it had gone to Phoenix. Three days later my bag joined me in Lucerne.
After that trip, I launched my long affair with carry-on luggage. To this day, I love carry-on luggage although, on occasion when flights are full or I don’t feel like schlepping, I have checked my garment bag. If you’re a carry-on person, you definitely don’t want to be the kind that delays airline departures or inconveniences other passengers.
When United Airlines and Northwest Airlines recently said they were going to limit carry-on luggage to one bag, I said, “Fine with me.” I’ve seen passengers try to board with two or three hefty carry-ons, full-size suitcases, bulky backpacks, not to mention shopping bags full of stuff. While overhead bins on most planes have gotten bigger, they were never designed to carry oversize suitcases, television sets or the kitchen sink. Common sense should tell you that large items won’t fit under the seat in front of you. (Handbags and laptops don’t count as carry-on.)
It’s hard to say what runs through people’s minds when they try to board planes with excessive baggage. And gate agents often are remiss in preventing passengers from boarding with too much bulk.
The carry-on issue is confusing because there is no industry-wide standard mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Each airline makes its own rules, which are then approved by the FAA.
United initiated a carry-on test in December on flights out of Des Moines. “If you buy the lowest fare ticket, we’re restricting you to one carry-on item to free up more space in the overhead bins for those people who are paying more money to fly,” explained Joe Hopkins, a United spokesman. “We define a carry-on size as 45 linear inches (the sum total of height, width and depth).”
Northwest told its passengers they would be limited to one carry-on for all flights, and that bag could weigh no more than 40 pounds.
Delta Air Lines limits passengers to two carry-on bags. “These two pieces must fit in an overhead bin or under the seat,” said Delta spokeswoman Tracey Bowen. To assist passengers on fit, Delta has luggage-sizer units at the gate. If the bag comfortably fits in the sizer, it can go on the plane.
American Airlines recently asked the FAA to issue, and uniformly enforce, rules that would establish a two-bag carry-on limit for all U.S. airlines. “There is no national standard, so let the feds decide,” said Mary Frances Fagan, an American spokeswoman.
As flights have become more crowded, overhead bin space has evaporated. Passengers “forget” that overhead bins are intended to handle the carry-on bags of three people, not just one greedy passenger. The fact that airlines mishandle a lot of bags also drives the thirst for carry-on space. According to the Transportation Department’s November (most recent) Air Travel Consumer Report, major airlines received 4.66 mishandled baggage complaints per 1,000 passengers.
Meanwhile, carriers are trying to resolve the carry-on dilemma. “We’re working on guidelines right now,” said David Fuscus of the Air Transport Association, a Washington-based airline trade association. “Clearly, travel habits have changed over the last eight or ten years. People want to bring more carry-on luggage with them. Couple that with the fact that flights are a lot fuller now than they were a few years ago.”
Fuscus said the ATA assembled a task force with members from all the major carriers six weeks ago to resolve the carry-on issues.
“The solution is going to involve all the groups involved in travel, including passengers,” Fuscus said. “Certainly the airlines need to have policies that are workable. Folks also need to realize they’ve got to check some of their stuff.”
If passengers want to avoid checking that “stuff,” they’ve got to pack smarter and lighter, said luggage and packing expert Michele Marini Pittenger, communications director of the New York-based Luggage & Leather Goods Manufacturers of America.
While carry-ons come in all shapes and sizes, she said the ideal maximum-size carry-on with wheels is 9-by-14-by-22, or 45 linear inches.
“Because consumers want to be more autonomous in their travels, they demanded we (the luggage industry) put luggage on wheels and make it easy for them to transport their belongings,” Pittenger said. “The bottom line is: They don’t want to wait an extra half-hour after a long trip to retrieve their luggage at the baggage claim. They don’t want to relinquish control of their luggage to strangers. They want to make sure the luggage they pack is the luggage they get back, that it hasn’t been tampered with.”
But Pittenger said carry-on passengers must be prudent. “If you can’t lift your bag over your head and put it in a bin, you really shouldn’t be carrying it on. You can’t expect somebody sitting next to you or the flight attendants to lift it for you. You want to be autonomous? So be completely autonomous.”
Pittenger offered her personal packing tips for lightening the load while still looking good:
– Make a list of everything you think you’ll need several days before leaving. Review the list before packing. Eliminate things that aren’t necessary. Call ahead to see if your hotel provides irons, hair dryers and other toiletries that you won’t have to pack.
– Choose one or two color schemes–black or navy–and coordinate your accessories around those colors. Also one pair of heels, one pair of flats and walking shoes.
– Choose clothes made of easy-care fabrics such as cottons, washed silks and light knits.
– Pack only enough underwear, socks and pantyhose for each day and a spare pair. You can always wash as you go.
Pittenger said men have an easier time packing because with a navy blue blazer and gray slacks, they can go anywhere. Men, too, can lighten their bags by eliminating unnecessary toiletries.
Carry-on in some form is here to stay, but travelers need to downsize or lighten up to do it.
