bealine

The only variation that I have heard to this tale, (and this is from the BAA's "Men In Green" who are currently being briefed on the changes) is that the weight limit will be strictly enforced at an absolute maximum of 7kg, regardless of what any of the airlines say - even US carriers operating out of the UK will have to conform. Apparently BA, and some other airlines, are currently in discussions with the CAA on this issue - so Watch This Space!


The Cabin Baggage thing will be enforced by the BAA and CAA - the airline staff will not be involved - except in checking-in bags rejected by BAA/CAA staff.

No delays to aircraft are expected - but a few passengers or their bags may miss the departure if the rejection of cabin baggage occurs after the flight has "Finalised". This is the main reason I first posted my caution about BA's baggage change policies because, certainly in the early weeks, you are well advised to allow extra time in case there's any unpleasantness!

PUCCI GALORE

Phil Dearest. This is totally OT - but as this tread was started by me, and is on my favourite subject - namely me - and it is the BA Borad where compliance to threads is stricly optional on any Day spelt with a Y - I will allow this discussion on me and mine to continue.

I will admit this. The world was my oyster and I settled for the shell. I dreamed of marrying a prince and look what happened. I grew up and learned that Fairy Stories only took place in the Galley of the Best Airlines.

I could make sexist and ageist remarks at this particular stage but as we will be celebrating 20 years of marital bliss next year and as it is a Sunday I believe that a little Charity should be called for. I am perfectly content to say this knowing that there is remarkably little chance that he will read this as the On switch from anything remotely high tech is a cereral challenge. Remember that he has been in the police for many years and that when he started many of his colleagues had an IQ measurable on a room thermometer. This is no longer the case - you may be glad to know - he left uniform branch years ago.

What have I done? Adored him. What has he done? Ensured that I come home to a clean, warm, fridge-filled house with laundry done and in most cases ironed. Do I deserve less you will ask? No, Hi is not allowed trainers, he is not allowed to wear shorts except at home, on the beach (has has got lovley legs for a man), or in resorts, never at the airport or to fly. Trainers I cannot stand and in truth neither can he. I stopped him putting the milk bottle on the dining table years ago, and he never dresses to go out with me without asking me how I like how he looks. I allow Rugby, Cricket, and even Football to dominate the television and have tolerated the language that goes with it - though as a true daughter of the suburbs I ensure that the windows are closed in case the neighbours think that he is addressing me as opposed to some player or referee whose legitimacy he questions. We never row except in the car because he is always right.

Yes I wear heels and your observation about the Dominatrix is only stating the obvious. Ask any crew member. Those I told laughed their socks off!!

So - for sharpness of perception I shall appoint you as a Muccitte of Pucci and not go the whole way as you appeared to defend Him Indoors and I have a Dominatrix Reputation to defend!!

XX

Cheetah_SA

Ouch!!!

Given that:
- you can't get a rollaboard that weighs less than, what?, 1.5 kg empty, and
- you can't put anything of value in your checked luggage (think documents, laptop, underwater video camera with housing etc etc etc)
what hope in hell have you of complying with 7 kg? Basically the new rules mean you can't fly with valuables that weigh more than 5.5 kg.

I have no problem with size limits - it cheeses me off when some pax hog all the overheads with their galumphing great steamer trunks. But the limits are based on overall dimensions so the gauges are never going to be very satisfactory.

And, by the way, my MMB for my upcoming flights does not say the allowance is "1 piece + 1 personal item". It says "2 pieces, 9 kg each".

Oh, and nice post MSY-MSP ! ^

Phil the Flyer

PUCCI - we are not worthy of you! Great reply, we love you. You should have your own show on TV, you are so compellingly entertaining. There's nothing to beat an intellectually stimulating woman.

If Him Indoors ever decides to pull the plug on you may I please be the first in line to replace him - I'll even throw my trainers away. Sensing your preference for good breeding in men I can advise that I am public school and university-educated. On the down side I was born in Essex, a county I know you look down your nose at - although I left there many years ago.

At least Him Indoors has some uses. Through his police-related job he presumably is able to keep you supplied with handcuffs.

Now all I need to do is go and figure out what a Muccitte is.

phillipas

You contradict yourself there.

Personally I'm not too bothered as to what rules BA/BAA/CAA come up with, but what I do want is certainty as I vary either between no hand baggage at all if I'm checking bags (oh, the feeling of freedom as you walk through the airport) and pushing the limits to the boundary of reasonableness (albeit never more than one bag).

The trend in business today is very much towards consistency rather than 'each case (no pun intended) on it's merits'. How it will pan out in practice I have no idea, but consistency is what Waterworld will be aiming for.

SLF

I can see it all happening...

First class pax leaves the lounge and strolls up to the gate with 10 minutes before closing...

Gate Agent: Sir, you bag is too large to take on board as cabin luggage. You'll need to check it.
Pax: I can't be separated from this bag. I'm travelling in F; there's always plenty of space.
GA: You'll have to check the bag. It's regulations.
Pax: Please offload me then.
GA: But Sir, we will miss our slot and delay the departure.
Pax: So be it. I'll transfer my fully flexible ticket to VS. Be sure my checked bags get offloaded too.

SchmeckFlyer

So, are BA going to insure valuables that cannot fit into the smaller cabin allowance that one will be forced to check and then subsequently find pillages/broken/missing/atomised? I mean... laptop, laptop power cable, camera, important documents, plutonium pellots, small toilettry bag... easily 7kg if not more.

bealine

As the reduced cabin bag weight is down to the CAA/BAA, I suspect the answer will be negative - and in any event, some of the items you mention have never been covered whether in checked or cabin baggage!

(I refer to "important documents" which are specifically excluded (and always have been) in the Conditions of Carriage)

Plutonium Pellets in any quantity (which I suspect is a red herring) are specifically excluded from carriage by any passenger conveyance by the Department of Transport regulations whether aircraft, ship, train, coach or omnibus due to their radioactive and carcinogenic nature. (The only exception to this is a wooden box I keep in my car bearing the legend "Spent Plutonium" with a large "Radioactive" hazard label and a "Biohazard" warning label which I find keeps thieves at a respectable distace!)

aristoph

I thought the latest view from other insiders was that there was to be NO weight restriction on cabin baggage, simply a size limit? This is getting too confusing now.

MSY-MSP

The decision, if it comes to baggage weight will be very interesting. Are they going to have scales at the checkpoint? That will be intersting to say the least. Further the 7Kg limit is appauling low. Just for fun I did a little experiment in my office. And found the following weights

Empty briefcase weight 3lbs
Laptop weight 6.5lbs
charger for laptop -- close to 1lb
one average size file -- 3lbs
one large file -- 6lbs
So the total weight for this is almost 20lbs or about 9kg. This would all fit in my breifcase. However, I haven't added the additional items that one normally travels with. Pens, pencils, pad of paper, ipod, a couple DVD's, headphones, medicine etc. If I were to hazard a guess these would add at least a couple more pounds to the bag weight.

Now on a typical trip to London, I have with me three to four normal files and one or two large files. So I usually travel with close to 18lbs of paper in my bags. I usually put the files I am not working on during the flight in my rollaboard along with my clothes and toiltries. So my guess is that I probably have around 15-20lbs of stuff in my rollaboard, which empty weighs 8.7 lbs So this bag weighs in total 23.7 -28.7 lbs and my breifcase weighs about 20lbs. Both of which exceed the maximum total weight of 7kg.

As I said before, the nature of these documents requires them to go as hand luggage. If CAA/BAA wants to limit by weight, it could get fun when I produce a court order saying that they have to remain in my possession. I will have to look at the laws of the UK to make sure, but I think that in at least my situation they could have some problems.

If they want to enforce based on size, then I am fine with that. If they want to enforce on size and weight, they have better be prepared for some serious showdowns, and court actions.

Jimmie76

I usually travel with just my electronic/camera equipment in my hand baggage, plus a book (possibly thick heavy hardback) and my travel documentation. I put the electonic and camera stuff in there because when I asked BA where it should go (via the travel shop in Regent Street/Piccadilly circus) that's what I was advised to do. They said also that my bag would be subject to normal handling and storage in the hold and they couldn't guarantee the safety of the contents (i.e.might get squashed) so take it as hand luggage.

As I'm not about to let my expensive equipment into into the hold because it will almost certainly not be covered by my insurance, what other option is there left? My bag rarely exceeds the guidlines listed here for size but has probably on occasion exceeded the new weight restrictions (Never a problem before in NCW).

If the CAA force BAA to restrict BA to these new limits then who is responsible for any consequential damage to items that are 'forced' into the hold?

Yeah there should be a rethink, possibly along the lines of premium cabins (i.e. F & J) should get a larger bag/weight allowance based on the fact that those people flying in these seats will;

i) Have more room than those down the back,

ii) Have paid substantially more for their tickets,

iii) Probably have more need for more stuff, especially if they intend to work during the flight.

nbevan

It is still available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyo..._20_thu_01.ram

House

Of course, as there seems to be involvement by BAA in all this then Pax will simply return to BA ten minutes later having had exactly the same conversation over at VS. As with the introduction of an absolute 32kg limit for baggage, if everyone enforces the same rule then the passenger will simply have to accept that they can't travel until they have got the bag under the maximum weight/size. If that means they miss the flight then so be it.

SLF

So, who wins then?

House

Nobody wins. In fact the UK and LHR probably loses as some people might cite the baggage restriction as a reason to avoid London.

I'm just saying that this might not be a decision that lies entirely (or even at all) in BA's hands, and wanted to emphasise that it may well turn out to be a problem for all airlines, not just BA.

Some rules don't make sense but we go along with them. For example, due to historical quirks we have a piece based luggage allowance on trips to the US, but weight based on trips to Asia. An F passenger heading for SYD is not going to get very far with BA, or with any airline, by arguing that the 40KG allowance on his ticket should be upgraded to 96KG (3 pieces at 32KG) because that's what he would get going to JFK. They certainly won't throw a fit and get their ticket endorsed over to VS because of this, because VS aren't likely to be any more flexible.

More generally, I do wish the checked baggage system worked better (the staff at LHR T4 need to go to ZRH to see how to deliver bags promptly on arrival), and I wish people trusted it. There will always be papers and the like that people have to carry with them, I realise, but I do wish there was a way to avoid having people bringing half their worldly goods into the cabin with them.