Need advice on carry on luggage and pink tag gate check

[TammyC]

Not exactly a frequent flyer here, so I am hoping for some help from the experts. Last summer we went on a Delta/Comair flight. It was a smaller jet so we had to pink tag/gate check our roller bags and could carry on our purses/backpacks. I really like this system, as we picked up our luggage on the jetway and didn't have to jockey for overhead space.

Any chance of using the pink tags if not required to based on the plane size? For our next trip, DH will not be flying down with us and I am worried about getting the roller bags into the overhead bins - I am vertically challenged! I hate to wait for the flight attendant to help because I don't want to hold up the boarding process. Also, hate to pay for checked bags when we can easily fit into carry on size. Ideas?

Thank you,
Tammy

 

[Tozzie]

Not exactly a frequent flyer here, so I am hoping for some help from the experts. Last summer we went on a Delta/Comair flight. It was a smaller jet so we had to pink tag/gate check our roller bags and could carry on our purses/backpacks. I really like this system, as we picked up our luggage on the jetway and didn't have to jockey for overhead space.

Any chance of using the pink tags if not required to based on the plane size? For our next trip, DH will not be flying down with us and I am worried about getting the roller bags into the overhead bins - I am vertically challenged! I hate to wait for the flight attendant to help because I don't want to hold up the boarding process. Also, hate to pay for checked bags when we can easily fit into carry on size. Ideas?

Thank you,
Tammy

But you don't want to carry the bag on the plane you want to gate check the items to avoid paying for a service you will be recieving and that is wrong.

 

[safetymom]

The only way you would be able to gate check them is if the overhead bins are all full when you board. Sometimes even then they will just put them in with the regular luggage that you pick up at baggage claim.

Why not check the bags and not have to worry about lugging them on the plane?

 

[TammyC]

If I decide to check them, I will choose the luxury of a larger bag with more space, then I will feel free to shop and buy more souvenirs and be heading down a slippery slope!

It is not that I don't want to carry them to the plane - just not sure I can reach the bins. And I don't feel like I would be getting a service for free. I feel the checked bag charge is mostly because of weight which makes it more expensive to fly the plane - thus the fee is more related to size and weight than the process of loading the cargo area.

T

 

[malibuconlee]

Did you do that because of the size of the plane? Were you flying into a very small airport?

I do know we used to have to do this with our carry ons when I would fly into the small airport closest to my hometown. Just one seat on each side of the aisle if I remember correctly. Oh, and a curtain between us and the pilot with no flight attendant!!

 

[TammyC]

Did you do that because of the size of the plane? Were you flying into a very small airport?

I do know we used to have to do this with our carry ons when I would fly into the small airport closest to my hometown. Just one seat on each side of the aisle if I remember correctly. Oh, and a curtain between us and the pilot with no flight attendant!!

Not a small airport - it was Miami, FL. Delta just chose to do a Comair regional jet for this flight.

T

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Not exactly a frequent flyer here, so I am hoping for some help from the experts. Last summer we went on a Delta/Comair flight. It was a smaller jet so we had to pink tag/gate check our roller bags and could carry on our purses/backpacks. I really like this system, as we picked up our luggage on the jetway and didn't have to jockey for overhead space.

Any chance of using the pink tags if not required to based on the plane size? For our next trip, DH will not be flying down with us and I am worried about getting the roller bags into the overhead bins - I am vertically challenged! I hate to wait for the flight attendant to help because I don't want to hold up the boarding process. Also, hate to pay for checked bags when we can easily fit into carry on size. Ideas?

Thank you,
Tammy

One option would be to choose your flights so that they are all regional jets, the kind most likely to require most luggage to be gate checked.

Another option would be to book narrow body planes (those with a single aisle). Not sure of your height, but the lower edge of the bin on the 757 on AA was just about 5'5" (it brushed the top of my head when standing). Not sure how you define "vertically challenged" but if pack appropriately, you may have no problem lifting your bag significantly higher than your head.

The worst choice is likely to be wide-bodied planes, which have higher ceilings and thus higher bins.

Best of luck -- Suzanne

 

[kaytieeldr]

It is not that I don't want to carry them to the plane - just not sure I can reach the bins.

Never a smart idea to pack with the expectation of assistance. If the passenger is vertically challenged to the point of not being able to reach the overhead compartment, or does not have the upper body strength to lift the packed suitcase over his/her head to place it in the compartment (or both), then luggage should be checked.

Not being critical - I can't lift a standard rollaboard above my head when it's packed. All I bring aboard the plane are a suitcase specifically designed to fit under the seat in front of me, a Buxton-style cross-body purse, and my coat. And a cane or crutches, depending. Sure, the America West Flight Attendant who refused to help me lift my rollaboard a number of years ago (stating, "If I get injured and can't work, I don't get paid" and then proceeded to solicitously stow carry-ons all by himself for several taller, first-class passengers) irritated me, but he taught me a lesson as well.

Oh, yeah, another option: reserve an aisle seat. Put your carry-on luggage on the middle seat, stand on your seat, and place your luggage in the overhead compartment unassisted.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Someone will assist you with putting your luggage in the overhead bin. Just ask. A flight crew will help or even a nice passenger may help you.

 

[safetymom]

I wouldn't count on a passenger or flight attendant helping put the luggage in the overhead. They may but what if they don't. It isn't the flight attendants job to load luggage in the overhead. Just trying to be honest.

You will also be holding up the passengers boarding if you wait for someone to help load them in the overhead, the same when it comes time to leave the plane.

It isn't pretty when people are trying to load and unload the overhead bins.

 

[TammyC]

One option would be to choose your flights so that they are all regional jets, the kind most likely to require most luggage to be gate checked.

Another option would be to book narrow body planes (those with a single aisle). Not sure of your height, but the lower edge of the bin on the 757 on AA was just about 5'5" (it brushed the top of my head when standing). Not sure how you define "vertically challenged" but if pack appropriately, you may have no problem lifting your bag significantly higher than your head.

The worst choice is likely to be wide-bodied planes, which have higher ceilings and thus higher bins.

Best of luck -- Suzanne

Good thought about trying to book a regional jet, since that worked out well. But, none available for this route.

I am 5'1" and 113 lbs. and of average strength for my size. Sometimes I think the small roller bags weigh as much as what goes in them. I could try duffel bags, but they are a bit hard to measure for size requirements.

Standing on my seat could work too, but I'm not sure how the FA's might feel about that.

I've gotten some good ideas, and will figure it all out.

Thanks all,
T

 

[prncess674]

Someone will assist you with putting your luggage in the overhead bin. Just ask. A flight crew will help or even a nice passenger may help you.

Flight attendants and other passengers are not your baggage handlers. If you can't handle it yourself check it!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Sometimes even then they will just put them in with the regular luggage that you pick up at baggage claim.

This is very true, some of the bigger airports, like CLT now pass on gate checked items to your final destination and will deliver it via baggage claim, not gate side.

 

[snowbunny]

Any chance of using the pink tags if not required to based on the plane size?

No. You will not be allowed to gate check bags on aircraft larger than a small regional jet. Maybe a stroller but it's been a few years since I had to contend with one of those.

Please check anything you cannot lift yourself. No one enjoys have to duck when a person drags a heavy bag out of the bin over their heads or worse yet getting clonked on the head.

 

[robinb]

You may want to check with the airline itself. We were flying Midwest Airlines and did not bother to print our return boarding passes before we left WDW. We had to go to the checkin counter at the Tampa airport to get our boarding passes. While there, the agent offered to check our carry-on suitcases for free "as a courtesy" because the flight was full and we took her up on it. We were limited to 35 lbs instead of the standard 50 pounds. When we asked if they usually offered free baggage check for carry-on sized bags she said they just recently started it.

I guess I am in the minority here. I would have no problem if the OP asked the gate agent for a gate check for her bag. If she's told "no" then there is bound to be someone who will help her. I can understand that some here don't feel that's right ... but IMO it's the greedy airlines that have forced the issue.

 

[safetymom]

The airlines didn't help the carry on issue but many people have been pushing the limits for years. I think the airline should really crack down on carry ons and have more people check their luggage. Most people bring way too much stuff on a trip.

For some people they seem to think that their time is more valuable than others. They will hold everyone up while they try to jam their worldly goods into the overhead bin and don't put anything under their seats.

I am not commenting on anyone here. I am commenting from years of frequent flyer status.

 

[uva185]

Any chance of using the pink tags if not required to based on the plane size?

Yes and no. You are welcome to gate check it, but it will be checked through to your final destination where you can pick it up at the baggage claim.

For our next trip, DH will not be flying down with us and I am worried about getting the roller bags into the overhead bins - I am vertically challenged! I hate to wait for the flight attendant to help because I don't want to hold up the boarding process. Also, hate to pay for checked bags when we can easily fit into carry on size. Ideas?

Pay to check the bag. Seems to me paying the $25 (or whatever) would be worth the convenience of not having to lug your bag around or hold everyone else up if you can't reach the overhead bin.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I am 5'1" and 113 lbs. and of average strength for my size.

I'm 5'1" as well, of admittedly less than average strength, and I see no need to bring weight into this (translation: I'm not tellin', so there! ).

I don't see any reason you shouldn't be able to handle the bag yourself. I've had to stow this one overhead when seated in the bulkhead row, and can. It's maybe 6" x 12" x 14", sloped at one end - about half the allowed size.

 

[TammyC]

New solution: "pumping iron" to increase strength and high heels to help me reach!