Ahhh! My cabin baggage is too big?

[oceanscape]

I bought a Samsonite "carry on" suitcase. The leaflet on it (and the sales guy) told me it was the standard "carry on" size so would be fine to take on board the aircraft and store in the overhead lockers.

But I've just been on the VA website and they say the maximum size for cabin baggage is:

23 x 36 x 56cm

Mine is 20 x 40 x 55cm

Do you reckon I can get away with it?

Thanks!

 

[wayneg]

Not been with Virgin for almost 3 years so no idea how strict they are, I am not looking forward to the carry on allowance in August, past 3 years I have used US carriers who mostly allow upto 18kg pp or no weight restriction, my bag is within the size but weight of 2 laptops, DSLR, & numerous other items go way over 6kg.

 

[disneyholic family]

Not been with Virgin for almost 3 years so no idea how strict they are, I am not looking forward to the carry on allowance in August, past 3 years I have used US carriers who mostly allow upto 18kg pp or no weight restriction, my bag is within the size but weight of 2 laptops, DSLR, & numerous other items go way over 6kg.

i had a terrible time when i flew back home from london...
on the way to london no one cared how much my carry ons weighed..
but leaving london, they weighed my bags....
i had a carry on and a computer bag.....they were WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY over the weight limit..
it was a nightmare...i had to move stuff to my suitcase..
nothing like repacking in the middle of the check in area...

i was so ticked off about it, that after i checked in, i went into the bookstore (smith?) and bought 4 VERY heavy books to put in my carry on...
i almost didn't care what books they were (but they were really good books as it turned out)..
i spent a fortune on those books, but i wanted as much weight in my carry on as possible....my form of revenge...

 

[wicket2005]

We have been with virgin the last 5 years from Manchester and they have never looked or weighed hand luggage either side. At downtown Disney have left hand luggage in car and checked in. So yes think you will be ok

 

[2Tiggies]

it was a nightmare...i had to move stuff to my suitcase..
nothing like repacking in the middle of the check in area...

It is the absolute worst Espcially since they watch you like a hawk. I haven't had to unpack hand luggage but have had to do hold luggage a few times. I was also less than amused and handed numerous items to my family members and said loudly that I didn't need them and asked them to drop them off at my house. As soon as we had cleared the check in desk I took them back and stuffed them into my hand luggage

i was so ticked off about it, that after i checked in, i went into the bookstore (smith?) and bought 4 VERY heavy books to put in my carry on...
i almost didn't care what books they were (but they were really good books as it turned out)..
i spent a fortune on those books, but i wanted as much weight in my carry on as possible....my form of revenge...

 

[jen_uk]

My bag is bigger than the restrictions, I've had it weighed but they have never said anything about the size. Plus I've seen people take HUGE suitcases onto the plane as hand luggage!

 

[Daysleeper40]

At the end of the day they could check it and if they refuse it as hand luggage that would be within their rights.

I get why people are annoyed about having to repack etc at the check in desk - we had to do a bit of moving about on our return flight this year and it's not much fun - but if you know what the rules are and then knowingly take hand luggage that is over the restrictions you can't really complain if things don't go your way

OP - you will probably get away with it but personally I would take it back and get something that I know is within the allowance.

 

[disneyholic family]

At the end of the day they could check it and if they refuse it as hand luggage that would be within their rights.

I get why people are annoyed about having to repack etc at the check in desk - we had to do a bit of moving about on our return flight this year and it's not much fun - but if you know what the rules are and then knowingly take hand luggage that is over the restrictions you can't really complain if things don't go your way

OP - you will probably get away with it but personally I would take it back and get something that I know is within the allowance.

i didn't know there was a carry on bag weight limit...the time before i flew business class - which doesn't have a carry on bag weight limit..
what REALLY annoyed me was they first said to me the weight limit was for security reasons....so i said that when i flew business there was no carry on weight limit, so how could they say it was for security...
so then they changed the story and said it was just a weight limit..
the irony is, i'd put several books i'd bought in my carry on because they were so heavy....i didn't want my suitcase to be too heavy....so i carried the books in my carry on....and then i had to move them to my suitcase for no reason..

so i went and bought more books to replace the ones i'd moved to my suitcase....smith did well on that trip of mine....came home with lots and lots of books (i tend to go crazy in book stores when i'm in an english speaking country....such fun)...

It is the absolute worst Espcially since they watch you like a hawk. I haven't had to unpack hand luggage but have had to do hold luggage a few times. I was also less than amused and handed numerous items to my family members and said loudly that I didn't need them and asked them to drop them off at my house. As soon as we had cleared the check in desk I took them back and stuffed them into my hand luggage

i had a bag of fruit with me - fruit i'd bought at a little store near my hotel in mayfair....i'd bought the fruit to eat during the week i was in london..... i hadn't eaten it all and it was really beautiful so i was taking it home with me...
but of course that also made the carry on overweight - so i handed the bag to the ground agent....told her to enjoy while rolling my eyes at her......

serves me right for flying cattle class...

what annoyed me was how there was absolutely no flexibility...

 

[wayneg]

i had a terrible time when i flew back home from london...
on the way to london no one cared how much my carry ons weighed..
but leaving london, they weighed my bags....
i had a carry on and a computer bag.....they were WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY over the weight limit..
it was a nightmare...i had to move stuff to my suitcase..
nothing like repacking in the middle of the check in area...

i was so ticked off about it, that after i checked in, i went into the bookstore (smith?) and bought 4 VERY heavy books to put in my carry on...
i almost didn't care what books they were (but they were really good books as it turned out)..
i spent a fortune on those books, but i wanted as much weight in my carry on as possible....my form of revenge...

One that sticks out in my mind was a Thomson flight to Spain, hand luggage was 6kg pp, we had a bag between 2 of us weighing 10kg but still within size limits, at least 4kg was food we were going to eat before we boarded. Check in lady made us take 4kg out(the food) into a carrier. This took about 5-6 mins with a long line behind us, within 10 seconds of walking away from the desk we put them back together again. Matt also had a bag weighing just over 6kg but she said nothing about his. Not flown with Thomsons since so no idea if they are still so strict.

 

[disneyholic family]

One that sticks out in my mind was a Thomson flight to Spain, hand luggage was 6kg pp, we had a bag between 2 of us weighing 10kg but still within size limits, at least 4kg was food we were going to eat before we boarded. Check in lady made us take 4kg out(the food) into a carrier. This took about 5-6 mins with a long line behind us, within 10 seconds of walking away from the desk we put them back together again. Matt also had a bag weighing just over 6kg but she said nothing about his. Not flown with Thomsons since so no idea if they are still so strict.

yes, that's what makes it so annoying....the silliness of exactly that...
that you had to take it out and then OF COURSE you're going to put it right back in...but in the mean time you're embarrassed that you have to hold up everyone else in line....
just one more thing to make your trip unpleasant....have a nice day

argggggggggggghhhhhh

there was a lovely woman standing behind me who offered to let me put stuff in her suitcase, but i didn't have a problem with suitcase weight...but it was so sweet of her to offer....she saw how flustered i was by the whole thing..
i think what's most upsetting is becoming the center of attention...
my face was all red.....i really hate that...

oh well....i really don't understand how it's possible to carry a computer under 6 kg....the computer bag itself has a certain amount of weight...then the computer and the various cords and whatnot that you have to have...
you'd think they'd want to make business travelers lives easier not more difficult...after all, they make a lot of money off of last minute business travelers...

 

[Red-Snapper]

It is a bit of a farce.

Had our carry on bags weighed at the gate for our recent VA flight to Jamaica.

One of our bags was quite a bit over and the other a small amount under.

The gate attendant let us start swopping things between the 2 bags (even though total wieght of the two would be over the combined limit).

Weight was books we had brought with us - we had a carrier from Smiths with water and a further book in it bought after security- which we then filled with the books we had brought with us.

Loooked around and the VA woman had gone to see to another family - so we just walked on anyway

 

[2Tiggies]

Just checked Contintental and they are staying hand luggage, subject to size restrictions, has a max weight allowance of 18 kg Can this be right?

http://www.continental.com/CMS/en-US/travel/Pages/BaggageCarry-On.aspx

Carry-on Bag

Continental will permit one bag plus one personal item (see below), per customer to be carried on the aircraft.
The maximum combined linear measurement (L + W + H) of the carry-on bag is 45 inches (115 cm)up to 14 in x 9 in x 22 in. The maximum weight of the carry-on bag is 40 pounds (18 kg).
Please note: All carry-on items must be stowed under the seat in front of you or in the overhead bin. Items may not be stowed in the seat back pocket. Any item in excess of carry-on baggage size or allowance requirements as listed above will be checked to your final destination and may be subject to applicable checked baggage fees.

 

[disneyholic family]

Just checked Contintental and they are staying hand luggage, subject to size restrictions, has a max weight allowance of 18 kg Can this be right?

http://www.continental.com/CMS/en-US/travel/Pages/BaggageCarry-On.aspx

wow - that's a lot!! worth it to fly continental!

 

[2Tiggies]

wow - that's a lot!! worth it to fly continental!

I don't recall if I ever checked the hand luggage allowance as it tends to be fairly standard for economy. I did check hold luggage at the time of booking and seem to think it is the standard 23kg but I am not opposed to purchasing allowance for an extra bag on the return so I didn't worry too much. This is off their own website so it should be current - but it does seem a bit odd. Of course if they allow this much for hand luggage PLUS a personal item like a laptop, I will give DD my DSLR, I will have my laptop and we will put all our heavy stuff into hand luggage. That saves the purchase of an extra bag

 

[wayneg]

As I put earlier most US carriers are 18kg or no limit, just size. I had forgotten how limited VA were til someone reminded me a few week back.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

We have bought some hand luggage bags to suit those continental measurements. They are really generous - you should see some of the cases people bring onboard though. They didn't even look at ours this year - we also had carrier bags with odds and ends too.

Due to this it can be tricky getting a spot in the overheads. I would do this asap. We never used to rush onto the plane but now we go as soon as our row is called

 

[2Tiggies]

As I put earlier most US carriers are 18kg or no limit, just size. I had forgotten how limited VA were til someone reminded me a few week back.

Yeah, but they sure make up for it when it comes to overweight and oversized checked bags

Just had a look on the CO website. Up to $200 per piece for exceeding 23kg but under 32 kg
Up to $400 per piece for over sized bags

Pretty hefty

A pre purchased extra bag is $70. Looks like planning ahead (and a good set of luggage scales) is in order here! I shall be measuring my suitcases very carefully. Have not flown international with CO before so I don't know how strict they are if you are borderline with your weight and size - but at the above prices, I am not going to be gambling to find out

 

[disneyholic family]

I don't recall if I ever checked the hand luggage allowance as it tends to be fairly standard for economy. I did check hold luggage at the time of booking and seem to think it is the standard 23kg but I am not opposed to purchasing allowance for an extra bag on the return so I didn't worry too much. This is off their own website so it should be current - but it does seem a bit odd. Of course if they allow this much for hand luggage PLUS a personal item like a laptop, I will give DD my DSLR, I will have my laptop and we will put all our heavy stuff into hand luggage. That saves the purchase of an extra bag

i also don't worry about an extra suitcase when flying back from the US...
or overweight....i'm happy to pay it knowing all the goodies i have inside

i just had to upgrade DSIL and DH to business class for our trip in august....so as i was having this conversation i thought to myself - woo hoo, we'll be able to take a lot of extra suitcases back with us (hah)..

 

[disneyholic family]

Yeah, but they sure make up for it when it comes to overweight and oversized checked bags

Just had a look on the CO website. Up to $200 per piece for exceeding 23kg but under 32 kg
Up to $400 per piece for over sized bags

Pretty hefty

A pre purchased extra bag is $70. Looks like planning ahead (and a good set of luggage scales) is in order here! I shall be measuring my suitcases very carefully. Have not flown international with CO before so I don't know how strict they are if you are borderline with your weight and size - but at the above prices, I am not going to be gambling to find out

those are very hefty fees!!

i have to check if DH and DSIL will be entitled to 2 or 3 checked suitcases...sometimes it's one, sometimes the other....
DD and i will be back in economy....

 

[BethEJo]

This thread just got me thinking - I had never even considered checking the hand baggage allowance with BA for some reason. I had only ever been concerned with the hold allowance

But phew.... all is OK! I was really planning on taking full advantage of my hand luggage when I leave in 2 weeks time, as I wanted to stuff all my heavy things in there like my towels, shoes, bedding, books, laptop etc... If it had been 6kg, I would have had no idea what to do

So I just checked the BA website, and I am ever so happy to find out that I can have one main hand luggage bag and one laptop bag/briefcasey thing And when it comes to weight, it just says: "You must be able to lift the bag into the overhead locker unaided".

Phew