Warning - Carry on luggage - please read

I usually carry my prescription mask, regulator, housing and camera in a small Samsonite with wheels. Both my wife and I have similar bags and have been using them for years.

Yesterday my wife flew from Ft Lauderdale to Puerto Rico on Spirit.

They had to turn over to an attendand every piece of carry on luggage that had wheels. No exceptions. They were all taken to the belly of the plane.

She had to take some things out of the bag and put then in her purse.

Not sure if all airlnes will be doing the same but a warning for all of us that carry all our sensitive and delicate equipment with us.

I guess they figure that if it needs wheels it is to heavy or big to store in the overhead compartment (although it has been done for years) and a way to get you to pay the $25 per checked bag something I would not be offended to pay if I had 99.4% certainty that my luggage will arrive intact at its correct destination.

I posted this in the travel section but feel it is of critical importance for all of us that travel with delicate electronic equipment iin our carry on luggage.

(I carry my prescription mask, laptop, regulator, Housing and camera)

Yesterday my wife took a flight on Spirit Airways from Ft Lauderdale. All passengers had to turn in their carry on luggage to an attendant if it had wheels and it was taken to the belly of the plane! No exceptions!

She had to take whatever delicate stuff she could take and put in her purse.

I am not sure this is a trend but would not be surprised. May want to check with the airlines before your trip

I am already looking into backpacks although not sure I will find one for all my stuff!

Yesterday my wife flew from Ft Lauderdale to Puerto Rico on Spirit.

They had to turn over to an attendand every piece of carry on luggage that had wheels. No exceptions. They were all taken to the belly of the plane.

I have a couple of questions:

1. Did the airline give the passengers a reason for asking for all carry on luggage that had wheels?

2. You say "...and a way to get you to pay the $25 per checked bag". It's not clear to me if the airline actually required you to pay the $25 when they moved the bag to the belly of the plane.

It seems they should have given the passengers advance notice they were going to do this, thus giving some folks the option of packing their possessions in a soft carry on without wheels.

But I've never flown on Spirit Airlines, so perhaps what I'm asking is unreasonable given the current climate in airline transportation.

Ellen

I usually carry my prescription mask, regulator, housing and camera in a small Samsonite with wheels. Both my wife and I have similar bags and have been using them for years.

 

Yesterday my wife flew from Ft Lauderdale to Puerto Rico on Spirit.

They had to turn over to an attendand every piece of carry on luggage that had wheels. No exceptions. They were all taken to the belly of the plane.

She had to take some things out of the bag and put then in her purse.

 

Not sure if all airlnes will be doing the same but a warning for all of us that carry all our sensitive and delicate equipment with us.

 

I guess they figure that if it needs wheels it is to heavy or big to store in the overhead compartment (although it has been done for years) and a way to get you to pay the $25 per checked bag something I would not be offended to pay if I had 99.4% certainty that my luggage will arrive intact at its correct destination.

What was the aircraft? Was it a CRJ or ERJ plane or a full size 737 or 757?

I posted this in the travel section but feel it is of critical importance for all of us that travel with delicate electronic equipment iin our carry on luggage.

(I carry my prescription mask, laptop, regulator, Housing and camera)

 

Yesterday my wife took a flight on Spirit Airways from Ft Lauderdale. All passengers had to turn in their carry on luggage to an attendant if it had wheels and it was taken to the belly of the plane! No exceptions!

She had to take whatever delicate stuff she could take and put in her purse.

 

I am not sure this is a trend but would not be surprised. May want to check with the airlines before your trip

 

I am already looking into backpacks although not sure I will find one for all my stuff!

The crackdown started the other day with one of the majors, and the rest will follow (checking to make sure carry-on sized right or charging and checking). I think if they got there act together and we could be assured that some checked things actually make it on time without ahem, missing items, would be less of an issue

I usually carry my prescription mask, regulator, housing and camera in a small Samsonite with wheels. Both my wife and I have similar bags and have been using them for years.

 

Yesterday my wife flew from Ft Lauderdale to Puerto Rico on Spirit.

They had to turn over to an attendand every piece of carry on luggage that had wheels. No exceptions. They were all taken to the belly of the plane.

She had to take some things out of the bag and put then in her purse.

 

Not sure if all airlnes will be doing the same but a warning for all of us that carry all our sensitive and delicate equipment with us.

 

I guess they figure that if it needs wheels it is to heavy or big to store in the overhead compartment (although it has been done for years) and a way to get you to pay the $25 per checked bag something I would not be offended to pay if I had 99.4% certainty that my luggage will arrive intact at its correct destination.

Hi:

Sorry for the previous post without a reply. Still a newbie.

Spirit flies large commercial jets (not sure, I believe they are 737)

The passengers were told that it was a new (Spirit) airline rule. They were not charged the $25 to place the carry on in the airplane's baggage compartment.

I am not sure if it is the same in other countries, but in the US most airlines are charging $25 for the first checked bag and in some cases $50 for the second bag. I am sure the response from the passengers was to load their carry on luggage to the maximum (and more) capacity so they did not have to check bags and pay the $25 fee.

The airline (as far as I know just this airline) responded by saying "if it has wheels it goes below" as a way of controlling the volume-weight that patients were loading into the overhead compartments.

I am not aware of any other airline using this ruling...........but since we carry a lot of sensitive electronic and camera equipment with us, I want to make people aware that one airline has already started doing this and frequently the others follow.

Hi:

 

Sorry for the previous post without a reply. Still a newbie.

 

Spirit flies large commercial jets (not sure, I believe they are 737)

 

The passengers were told that it was a new (Spirit) airline rule. They were not charged the $25 to place the carry on in the airplane's baggage compartment.

 

I am not sure if it is the same in other countries, but in the US most airlines are charging $25 for the first checked bag and in some cases $50 for the second bag. I am sure the response from the passengers was to load their carry on luggage to the maximum (and more) capacity so they did not have to check bags and pay the $25 fee.

The airline (as far as I know just this airline) responded by saying "if it has wheels it goes below" as a way of controlling the volume-weight that patients were loading into the overhead compartments.

 

I am not aware of any other airline using this ruling...........but since we carry a lot of sensitive electronic and camera equipment with us, I want to make people aware that one airline has already started doing this and frequently the others follow.

Did you tell them it was a "camera bag"?

Maybe there is a silver lining. Nobody mentioned a $15 fee.

I'm torn here. It's very frustrating waiting to enter an airplane because people are fussing with the overhead bins. On the other hand, for any short trip, I'd be loathe to check a bag.

It's all about security for me. I'll happily check everything and not deal with the overhead bin hassle, whistle while waiting an extra 30-40 minutes for my checked bags to get unloaded, and yes even pay the new baggage fees, if I knew that my stuff would not be either 1) Broken by baggage handlers that don't give a flying fark, or 2) Stolen, which happens even with the supposed TSA protection and vetting of airline personnel.

But the airline legal teams wash their hands of any obligation on either front, which force me to consider carrying on what I cannot afford to lose. It's unfortunate the new baggage fees mean they'll be policing these carryons harder, but hopefully I'm still in the "legal" size limit.

Sorry if there are discontinuities in the thread. Twin topics merged by Moderator.

Last time I made a long trip

NY-Frankfurt-Singapore- Thailand.......................on arrival to Singapore, tired and without sleep, a sweet asian lady informed me at the baggage claim area that one of my bags (the one with my camera equipment) had been "by mistake " sent to ICELAND!!!!!

Since then, I started carrying regulator, mask, housing, camers etc with me.

Rstyle

Please keep travel posts to the Dive and Travel subforum. It makes it easier for people searching for information using the search engine. It's there for precisely this reason. If you feel it is of the utmost importance, write a note to the staff via feedback and we can put it on the front page.

Thanks for your warning.

[moved to appropriate forum by moderator]

Sorry Drew, that was my fault. I merged them in the wrong direction.

Alex