Hand luggage question

[tennisfan]

I was wondering how strict Virgin are on the weight of hand luggage, they state you can only have 6KG but I have to pack my laptop going out and that is going to take a fair bit.

Coming back won't be a problem as the laptop will be my personal item.

Thanks

 

[wayneg]

Hi Nikki
They usually look at the hand luggage and have an idea what 6kg looks like, we have had ours weighed a couple of times in past year luckily just been within 6kg limit.

Don't know what you mean it will be your personal item coming back, its 1 bag each person both ways.

 

[gbrchill]

What I contemplated was one of these

and then just taking things out of the hand luggage until it was under weight.

Well, I did contemplate taking the battery out of my laptop and bunging it in my pocket if my bag was over weight. Then my book and so on... It's a bit like having a bin liner so that you can turn your hand baggage and other carry on items into a "single bag" for the 30 seconds it takes to get past the person enforcing the one item of hand baggage rule.

Most of the check in agents I've been processed by haven't been that interested with my hand baggage volume or weight, as long as it doesn't look grossly over weight or size.

 

[tennisfan]

Hi Nikki
They usually look at the hand luggage and have an idea what 6kg looks like, we have had ours weighed a couple of times in past year luckily just been within 6kg limit.

Don't know what you mean it will be your personal item coming back, its 1 bag each person both ways.

Sorry I have been looking at so many airlines, I thought Virgin were like the others and allow you to have 1 piece of hand luggage & a personal item coming back like many of the others, I have just seen this isn't the case.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

[wayneg]

Sorry I have been looking at so many airlines, I thought Virgin were like the others and allow you to have 1 piece of hand luggage & a personal item coming back like many of the others, I have just seen this isn't the case.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Its not the airlines now, its security measures. We tried taking 1 hand luggage each plus a carrier bag with food thru, when we got to security we were told we had to stuff the food into my camera bag, they have a strict 1 bag for 1 person. Coming back they were not as strict at MCO but Manchester were checking every single person.

 

[Jakey Rowling]

Its not the airlines now, its security measures. We tried taking 1 hand luggage each plus a carrier bag with food thru, when we got to security we were told we had to stuff the food into my camera bag, they have a strict 1 bag for 1 person. Coming back they were not as strict at MCO but Manchester were checking every single person.

Whilst appreciating the rational behind the security measures somethings do irritate me.
Not allowing a laptop as a individual item for example and then insisting it is separated from the rest for individual screening seems silly.

In my experience if your bag in easily within the size constraints the check-in staff wont give it more than a cursory glance.

 

[disneyholic family]

last time i flew out of london i had a very frustrating time with hand luggage weight...
i was so annoyed with them....it was the one time i wasn't flying business class..
they claimed to me that the restriction was for security - so i said that when i'm on business class, no one checks and they said, well that's business class...so i said, then don't try to claim the restriction is for security if on business i can carry it and in economy i can't....

in the end i moved stuff over to my suitcase to bring the weight down...it took me several moves to get it down enough (i was carrying books in my carry on bag)....

and then i was so angry i went into the bookstore that's past security and bought HEAVY books to fill up my carry on....i must have added a ton of weight (5 of these really massive books)....i didn't care the cost, i was just so annoyed with them....

 

[AliceGardner]

No, it is generally a safety/space issue.

There is a lot of controversy about the weight of luggage that people put in overhead bins - many safety experts believe this is dangerous (i.e. in an accident, there is more weight to come done on your head... hope those extra heavy books were above your head and no-one elses... ).

The other issue is space - certainly a few years ago (before the current restrictions were in place) people brought FAR TOO MUCH as carry-on bags: you were lucky to get space in an overhead locker. Now things are better.

Of course it makes sense for Business Class to have a bigger/heavier allowance. In Business Class the number of passengers to overhead locker ratio is much lower... so, in the Business Class cabin, the individual passengers can have more weight (and, when it was allowed, more items) in the lockers (because 6 business class passengers probably have the same locker space as 12 economy passengers).

Alice

last time i flew out of london i had a very frustrating time with hand luggage weight...
i was so annoyed with them....it was the one time i wasn't flying business class..
they claimed to me that the restriction was for security - so i said that when i'm on business class, no one checks and they said, well that's business class...so i said, then don't try to claim the restriction is for security if on business i can carry it and in economy i can't....

in the end i moved stuff over to my suitcase to bring the weight down...it took me several moves to get it down enough (i was carrying books in my carry on bag)....

and then i was so angry i went into the bookstore that's past security and bought HEAVY books to fill up my carry on....i must have added a ton of weight (5 of these really massive books)....i didn't care the cost, i was just so annoyed with them....

 

[wayneg]

I once got really mad with Thompson holidays, only time I have ever flown from Newcastle, Hand luggage was 5kg/person. We had a standard size camera bag but packed solid so it came to 8kg. 2 x5kg=10kg, I thought well under. No when we checked in we had to split it in 2, she told us we can't pool allowance. Luckily we had a carrier bag split it up no problem. Walked 5 yards away from the desk and put it all back in camera bag again, I can understand oversize but people were taking loads bigger but lighter than us no problem.

 

[gbrchill]

i went into the bookstore that's past security and bought HEAVY books to fill up my carry on....i must have added a ton of weight (5 of these really massive books)....i didn't care the cost, i was just so annoyed with them....

It's a good job then that they didn't have a second check at the gate and make you gate check the heavy books!

 

[disneyholic family]

No, it is generally a safety/space issue.

There is a lot of controversy about the weight of luggage that people put in overhead bins - many safety experts believe this is dangerous (i.e. in an accident, there is more weight to come done on your head... hope those extra heavy books were above your head and no-one elses... ).

The other issue is space - certainly a few years ago (before the current restrictions were in place) people brought FAR TOO MUCH as carry-on bags: you were lucky to get space in an overhead locker. Now things are better.

Of course it makes sense for Business Class to have a bigger/heavier allowance. In Business Class the number of passengers to overhead locker ratio is much lower... so, in the Business Class cabin, the individual passengers can have more weight (and, when it was allowed, more items) in the lockers (because 6 business class passengers probably have the same locker space as 12 economy passengers).

Alice

no they said it was a security issue, not safety on the plane...security as in terrorists.....
i carry exactly the same amount of hand luggage weight when i travel around the US in economy class (i only fly business internationally) and it has never ever been a problem anywhere.....
no this was a particular issue in London that i haven't encountered anywhere else....
but i had a fun time loading up my carry on bag with lots and lots of weight at the bookstore....a few of them turned out to be pretty good....(one about the british empire, i don't recall the title, another the time travelers wife and a few others)...
and i got my little revenge on them by having an even heavier carry on than when i started....
oh and i also had a few grocery bags, that i'd dumped some stuff in to reduce the weight...i put all of that back into the carry on as well...

 

[tennisfan]

Its not the airlines now, its security measures. We tried taking 1 hand luggage each plus a carrier bag with food thru, when we got to security we were told we had to stuff the food into my camera bag, they have a strict 1 bag for 1 person. Coming back they were not as strict at MCO but Manchester were checking every single person.

I know it is the airports this side that are restricting the hand luggage but I was under the impression that flying into the UK isn't restricted and that you could take a personal item & 1 piece of hand luggage.

 

[disneyholic family]

It's a good job then that they didn't have a second check at the gate and make you gate check the heavy books!

indeed....

 

[disneyholic family]

I know it is the airports this side that are restricting the hand luggage but I was under the impression that flying into the UK isn't restricted and that you could take a personal item & 1 piece of hand luggage.

that's been my recent experience flying around the US and from the US....i had my laptop case plus a small carry on bag....no one bothered me about it...
but i wasn't on virgin so i don't know if they're ok with that...

 

[tashasmum]

I know it is the airports this side that are restricting the hand luggage but I was under the impression that flying into the UK isn't restricted and that you could take a personal item & 1 piece of hand luggage.

Coming back from a recent trip in Sept dd brought a very large Minnie Mouse back for a friend with no trouble. Along with that we had rucksacks, camera bag and a couple of carrier bags but going out was very strict.

 

[AliceGardner]

That may be what they said, but it isn't correct... the staff you spoke to were probably not particularly with it...

The Americans are particularly poor with regarde to how much weight is stowed in the overhead lockers... When accidents happen, overhead lockers can fly open and the things inside can fly out like missiles (or, in your case 20kgs of heavy books). So you could survive an accident only to get your skull crushed by someone's heavy books...

Alice
(used to work in transport related safety).

no they said it was a security issue, not safety on the plane...security as in terrorists.....
i carry exactly the same amount of hand luggage weight when i travel around the US in economy class (i only fly business internationally) and it has never ever been a problem anywhere.....
no this was a particular issue in London that i haven't encountered anywhere else....
but i had a fun time loading up my carry on bag with lots and lots of weight at the bookstore....a few of them turned out to be pretty good....(one about the british empire, i don't recall the title, another the time travelers wife and a few others)...
and i got my little revenge on them by having an even heavier carry on than when i started....
oh and i also had a few grocery bags, that i'd dumped some stuff in to reduce the weight...i put all of that back into the carry on as well...

 

[Steve and Sarah]

From experience of travelling both within and/from the US the restirctions on hand luggage are a one way thing (ie. From the UK only). The 1 piece rule is a governmental requirement.

Travelling within and/or out of the US hand luggage it appears it is fair game to take as much as you can possible carry and then have good moan when it won't fit in the overhead locker and/or you cannot lift it in there because it is too heavy (Like the bloke next to me flying from SFO to MCO earlier this year). Seriously they seem happy to allow more or less anything as hand luggage.

 

[Lindy Loo]

I once got really mad with Thompson holidays, only time I have ever flown from Newcastle, Hand luggage was 5kg/person. We had a standard size camera bag but packed solid so it came to 8kg. 2 x5kg=10kg, I thought well under. No when we checked in we had to split it in 2, she told us we can't pool allowance. Luckily we had a carrier bag split it up no problem. Walked 5 yards away from the desk and put it all back in camera bag again, I can understand oversize but people were taking loads bigger but lighter than us no problem.

We did the same thing too I always pack a carrier in my pocket now, for that purpose, if not needed I throw away.

I also always buy my mags and books after check in, as they weigh alot !