Most airlines classify garment bags as full carry-ons, not personal items, regardless of size. Here's why that rule exists and why enforcement varies so much.
It depends on whether or not you’re flying AA. Those ******* at AA will chase Exec Platinums down the jet bridge to ding us for supposedly inappropriate carryons.
Its a carryon.
Tired of OPMs taking up bin space of actual paying pax up front.
Are you suggesting that a person who paid for a FC ticket with cash out of their own pocket should be treated differently than a person who paid cash for a FC ticket with a client's or someone else's money?
(I'm concluding that "OPM" in this case = "Other People's Money," though it's not completely clear from the context of the comment)
By ‘freeloader,’ you mean to say all those trips, miles traveled, credit card spend and other forms of ‘loyalty’ mean nothing? (Actually, may be onto something there…)
Anyone gonna mention non-rev… *gulp*
So the DL FA on the return was just following the rules, even if she could have executed it a bit better?
“I found the interaction unnecessarily confrontational.” - sounds like an average interaction with a flight attendant on a US airline…
@Lucky, I don't think Sam's issue is whether airlines consider garment bags carry-ons or personal items. Sam boarded with three items, which is one too many. The fact that one item was a garment bag that would be put in a closet is irrelevant. Just because enforcement varies doesn't mean that he wasn't wrong. Heck, airline enforcement varies for EVERYTHING, and not just garment bags.
Now, if he had a carry-on, a backpack, a cane, and a medical device, it would be different. This combination would've been ok.
Some here may not like the rules; but, you did accurately cite the general rules (currently, for US carriers, at least). People also dislike getting fines for speeding; there can be selective (even ‘aggressive’) enforcement there, too. Each is a human construct. Not naturally occurring. Can be changed, too.
This is what I don't get either.
Sam knew he had three items and somehow still thought he could board without checking one of the items? It reeks of DYKWIA.
A soft garment bag containing a suit and a shirt or two should be considered more like a coat. It folds up very compactly, and in the overhead it will fit on top of your roller bag, without taking up space that someone would need for their bag. That being said, I do see why airlines would restrict it, because there’s wide variance in how much people try to stuff inside garment bags, and the gate agent shouldn’t have to police it. I’ve flown many times with a roller bag, a backpack, and a garment bag, and never have had a problem, but I know it’s against the rules and I wouldn’t push back if asked by a gate agent to check my roller bag.
Thoughts on this one:
Assuming you're on a ticket that includes a carry-on, can you put your personal item in the overhead instead if it's the only bag you brought on the plane?
Seems like obviously yes to me, but I've had people and FAs try to move my backpack when I've done that before.
100% yes! I see this as you being allowed to stow 1 bag (your biggest bag) above. If you only have one bag, that can go. I’ve also had issues with that though. But I feel like I paid for the space just like anybody else. That I’m using less space than I actually paid for should be a non-issue or a positive even.
That only makes sense if everyone else has enough room overhead that they also paid for.
In this case it does not even look like it is an argument over whether garment bag is carry on or personal. IT is about two items total. One is not supposed to walk on to the plane with 3 items
I've had a similar issue / debate. If I were to carry a rollaboard, a brief case, and a sport coat, it would be no issue as the coat is counted as carry-on or personal item. But the second I put the coat in a coat bag and have it on a hanger, some gate agents consider it a carry-on. To clarify, this is not a garment bag, just the suit bag you get from a men's store when you buy a new suit. My position is that this is not a carry-on or personal item, as it will fold and rest on top of the rollaboard, just as a cost would, and thus take up no additional space (I've not sought to put it in the closet).
I got stopped once and told to consolidate. I pretended to do so and when the gate agent was distracted, just proceeded down the jetway and stored it as described above.
I usually pop on the jacket for boarding and then take it off once I'm on board. Never been questioned for this.
I like this line of thinking. Certain airlines, like Air France on wide-body, long-haul customarily leave hangers for each business class passenger; it’s almost an expectation that you have your personal item, carry-on, and a jacket for them to hang. Now, obviously that’s different than a full-garment bag, but, since you brought up jackets… AF does it well.
Ben asked for our initial impression:
Mine is that it’s a personal item… that may be based on practicality, as using a garment bag for your primary luggage is not something most people do, even for a weekend trip. It’s an accessory piece.
As long as only one items goes in the overhead bin and the other goes by your feet, it seems odd that anyone would care.
I’ve never had an issue but I do understand the problem re: the coat closet. No one is gonna deal with some rule like that “no more than 3 inches thick” and those closets are usually pretty small. If enough ppl brought one (and a coat), it wouldn’t work. A thin one can be folded in a bag briefly and removed on board if you’re worried about wrinkles. As others said, no one is harmed by putting it above your suitcase, taking up otherwise empty space.
The Coat Closet and the first bins in First, are many times taken up with Flight Attendant stuff, don't you know.
Once I did confront a Flight Attendant who put their bag at 1F in the smaller plane, bulkhead, where they would insist no bags.
The logic was so overwhelming, they moved their bag ---- You stay on the plane until everyone is off, its much easier for you to go to Row 5 to get your bag, than the bulkhead passenger trying to fight their way back.
US Flight Attendants either don't get proper training, or could care less. Asian flights are much better, and work so much better, there are so many ways that training and adherence to those standards, works so much better.
DYKWIA?
The supreme authority with absolute power.
The power trip executioner.
The final dictator.
The harbinger of made up rules.
The one who will kick you off the flight and never be accountable.
The protections under the union cartel.
I am a flight attendant.
The Bennett Winch S.C Holdall makes this post irrelevant.
In the US, people drag on all sorts of shit, way more than acceptable, creating lengthly boarding, confrontations and chaotic boarding process. The incessant me first attitude, selfishness, coupled with the need to save 5 minutes at destination makes the boarding gate process unpleasant.
How can ANA load a full 777. in 15 minutes, but UA/AA/DL can't even load a 737 in 30 minutes? Its all these dam bags, child seats, strollers, garment bags, full lunches, and all sorts of other shit that they drag on.
For me the rule makes sense:
carry-on: something that requires space to be stowed
personal item: something that can be stored under the seat
In Europe this is heavily enforced nowadays, with overhead bins always being at max-capacity. I started using a full-size cabin bag as they will make you stow personal item-size stuff under the seat as well even if you don't have a carry-on bag. Though in J it is a different story as normally you have two carry-ons allowed and generally the crew is more helpful (and you could store things under the middle seat if really needed 😉 ).
I don’t care how you classify it - everyone gets two items (if the ticket allows).
This seems a minor problem compared to the ( as Alert . might . say .) : “ ‘ business jerks ‘ ” with a backpack, a rollaboard, and a laptop bag. All of them go in the overhead compartment before they manspread the middle seat - because apparently they are so important that they booked the ticket 17 minutes before departure but not important enough to get upgraded to F.
US gate agents and flight attendants are usually only too happy to go on power trips at the slightest provocation. Don't give them an excuse to pull you off the flight - just smile, do your own thing, and pretend to be stupid.
I was in group 3 on a Delta Connection (ERJ-175) out of JFK a week ago. Proactively consolidated into two items (large carry-on and under-the-seat sized backpack. Gate agent still decided that my bag is too big, put a luggage tag on it, told me to leave it at the plane door. I nodded, smiled politely, walked onboard and placed it in the overhead bin. It was tight, but it fit. I paid a few more miles for the Comfort+ ticket on a short flight specifically to have access to the overhead bins - I was not going to wait another 40 minutes in BOS to get a soaking wet bag (it was raining in New York) after more than 24 hours of travel SIN-DEL-FCO(thanks, war with Iran)-JFK. Thankfully, the FA paid no attention to the luggage tag still attached to the bag.
On a related note, Air India is a complete 3rd world mess as far as their ticketing/reservation system is concerned. Adding refueling stop at FCO changed the AI 101 departure date (2 am became 11 pm), so their system got totally confused about when I was supposed to fly and decided that I don't have a ticket at all.
This will remain a problem until airlines retire the horrible ERJs with cubby holes above the seats.
A question not a comment .
Do U.S. security and airlines allow as extra a CPAP machine with doctors certificate . This is not used on the aircraft but is in addition to a carryon .
I have carried it all over Europe and to Hong Kong and Sri Lanka without any problems
In the US it is considered medical equipment and not subject to carry-on count. This is a federal policy under the ACAA and does not vary from airline to airline.