Carry on question

[WDWjen]

Hi we are flying Delta and trying to avoid $250 in baggage fees so we are all just taking one carry on each. In the past we have flown jet blue and southwest and have always checked bags for free...so now I have a silly question about the boarding process...

My question is this.. When they call for boarding and everyone rushes to get their seats and their carryon in the overhead bin, what happens if you get on board and there is no room left for your bag? Is that even a possibility? Does that mean it has to be at your feet? Or Do the flight attendants move the luggage to storage where they keep the strollers?? We just want to be prepared for that possibility b/c we are planning on packing things to keep the kids busy on the flight, and if they will not have access to their bags it will change things.

Leaving on 6 days and trying to plan for everything...

 

[Jestocost]

Hi we are flying Delta and trying to avoid $250 in baggage fees so we are all just taking one carry on each. In the past we have flown jet blue and southwest and have always checked bags for free...so now I have a silly question about the boarding process...

My question is this.. When they call for boarding and everyone rushes to get their seats and their carryon in the overhead bin, what happens if you get on board and there is no room left for your bag? Is that even a possibility? Does that mean it has to be at your feet? Or Do the flight attendants move the luggage to storage where they keep the strollers?? We just want to be prepared for that possibility b/c we are planning on packing things to keep the kids busy on the flight, and if they will not have access to their bags it will change things.

Leaving on 6 days and trying to plan for everything...

If there is no overhead bin space available when you board, any bag that does not fit completely under the seat in front of you will be checked and you will not have access to it during the flight. Since each passenger is allowed one personal item (purse, briefcase, laptop bag, backpack, etc.) in addition to a full-size carry-on bag, I would suggest that you pack at least one bag that definitely will fit under the seat with anything you absolutely need to have on the flight for your kids. That way, even if your bags wind up being checked (it really doesn't happen all that often) you will have access to that bag. It's also generally a good idea to have that stuff in a bag under the seat and not overhead regardless, since on any given flight you may or may not be permitted to get up to access a bag in the overhead bin or your bag may not be directly over your seat.

 

[goofy4tink]

If the overheads are full, and there are still passengers boarding, they will gate check the carryon bags of those boarding at that point. I don't think they will charge you for gate checking if the bags fall into the correct size catagory.
Have you considered checking just one bag??? You could use it for everyone....and then not have to pack so many carryon bags.
Traveling with a family, and carryon bags only, can be a huge headache unless the kids are good about taking care of their own bags. My dd, now 18, has been taking responsibiliy for her bag since she was 4. But, most kids don't do that...mom or dad has to take care of it.

With Delta's checked baggage policy, there are a ton of passengers trying to get away with carryon only. It has been on Delta that I have seen the very worst carryon bag sizing offenders!!! If you are among the first half to board, you should be okay. But...after that, it's anyone's guess whether or not there will be overhead room. If a bag is put at your feet, it has to go completely underneath the seat in front of you...it can not hang out into your foot area.

 

[sam_gordon]

Your other option is to sign up for the Delta AMEX card. It gives you one free carryon bag for every member of your party. The first year the card is free.

 

[Sandi]

As the PPs said, they will gate check your carry on bag and you won't have access to that bag during the flight. We've always had kids carry stuff they need during the flight in a backpack they can easily manage and which easily fits under the seat in front of them. Then whatever happens to the carry on which was supposed to go in the overhead bin is not such a big deal if you can't carry it onto the plane.

One thing we found on Delta flights going out of Detroit is that the gate agent will say that there is no more room in the overhead bins so we have to check our bags -- not gate checked, but put with all of the checked bags, so we'd have to go to baggage claim to collect them. We did that on one trip to MCO (we had to rush from our originating flight to get the connection, so we were nearly the last on the plane) and, when we boarded there was a lot of empty overhead bins. We tried to retrieve our carry ons to no avail. We had to collect them at baggage claim -- we were using ME for our checked bags, so it was obnoxious. I complained to the FA when we were boarding and she said that the gate agents make the judgment in Detroit and a few other airports all the time without first checking with the FAs to find out whether there is available overhead space. Since that experience, I've said that I'd take a chance and if they need to check it, they could take it from me on the plane. Haven't had to check since that one time.

 

[ancestry]

The last flight I was on (US Airways) there was a family who was obviously trying desperately to not check baggage. There were four of them -- 2 adults and 2 teenagers. They had all chosen window seats no where near each other but yet everyone knew they were family because of their loud conversations before boarding the plane.

They each had two bags which, in my opinion, violated the size requirements of carry-on and personal items. They boarded first since they had the window seats and they all placed BOTH of their items in the overhead compartments, instead of putting what was supposed to be their personal item under the seat in front of them. This family alone took up four overhead bins with their stuff, leaving very little space for anyone else in the middle section of the aircraft.

I was fit to be tied. The worst part was that the flight attendants didn't say a word to them. Maybe they didn't realize exactly what had happened but it was very frustrating.

The airlines really need to get the carry-on baggage problem under control, in my opinion. I've been on flights where people have gotten rather nasty about the over head bin space.

 

[goofy4tink]

The last flight I was on (US Airways) there was a family who was obviously trying desperately to not check baggage. There were four of them -- 2 adults and 2 teenagers. They had all chosen window seats no where near each other but yet everyone knew they were family because of their loud conversations before boarding the plane.

They each had two bags which, in my opinion, violated the size requirements of carry-on and personal items. They boarded first since they had the window seats and they all placed BOTH of their items in the overhead compartments, instead of putting what was supposed to be their personal item under the seat in front of them. This family alone took up four overhead bins with their stuff, leaving very little space for anyone else in the middle section of the aircraft.

I was fit to be tied. The worst part was that the flight attendants didn't say a word to them. Maybe they didn't realize exactly what had happened but it was very frustrating.

The airlines really need to get the carry-on baggage problem under control, in my opinion. I've been on flights where people have gotten rather nasty about the over head bin space.

Drives me nuts as well. I watch as those boarding the plane put their carryon in bins closer to the front and they then continue back to their seats...thereby making it next to impossible for those in the front of the plane to use the overhead bins!! Or the people that shove and push to get the too-big bags into the bin, and of course there in no room for anything other than that one bag. And the FAs never say anything.
Perhaps it's time to start charging for overhead bin space. Maybe if the airlines charged you $10 to carry a bag on board that would go in the overhead, things would get better. And the planes could be turned around more quickly that way as well....less time at the gate.

 

[DebbieB]

The carryon luggage situation is crazy, especially on the airlines that charge to check bags. People push and shove when boarding to get on first so that they will have a spot for their bag. They call zone 1 and people in zone 5 are running up to be right there when 5 is called and everyone with earlier zones have to get around them.

If they would just enforce the rules it would be better. There was a woman on my last Delta flight who had a suitcase stuffed so full that it would not fit in the overhead. So she's standing in the aisle removing clothes from the bag and it took 3 guys to stuff it in the overhead. They should have just forced her to check it right away instead of causing a delay in boarding.

 

[seashoreCM]

... not gate checked, but put with all of the checked bags, so we'd have to go to baggage claim to collect them. ... and, when we boarded there was a lot of empty overhead bins. We tried to retrieve our carry ons to no avail. We had to collect them at baggage claim -- we were using ME for our checked bags, so it was obnoxious. ...

Magical Express will still transport your bags to the resort, without yellow tags. See the CM behind the welcoming area counter.