Are Carry-On Rules Always Enforced For First & Business Class Passengers?

I’ve written in the past about the pros and cons of traveling with carry-ons vs. checked bags, and I’ve also written about how to avoid gate checking bags. An OMAAT reader asked me a question along the lines of this topic, which I haven’t addressed before. I’m sure he’d appreciate other perspectives, and for that matter, I imagine it’s a question others have as well.

Are premium passengers subject to strict baggage rules?

Yuri asked me a question that centers around two main points:

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• To what extent are carry-on allowances enforced for premium cabin passengers, particularly surrounding the personal item?
• What’s my setup when it comes to carry-on bags?

Before anyone starts saying that the rules should apply to everyone, let me say that I think carry-on rules are sort of meant to be broken.

For example, many airlines have an 8 kg limit on carry-on bags, and on a vast majority of flights to and from the United States, I’d be willing to bet that most passengers (including in economy) are exceeding that limit. So this is about practical enforcement, rather than the letter of the law.

With that out of the way, here’s the question in full:

I have a travel question & I feel you’d be the perfect expert to answer based on your experience. I am about to enter a phase in life where I will be travelling a lot internationally & domestically (all in premium cabin), and I’m currently shopping for carry-on luggage, but I am so confused at all the different airline rules across the board. 

Basically, I’d love to use a Rimowa roller accompanied by a backpack or Keepall 50 style duffle as a personal item. The thing is, the personal item restrictions/sizes vary greatly between US & Europe, and I’ve read they are super strict in Europe regarding both weight and size measurements of your carry-on and personal item. However, I also read that for business & first class, they are way more lenient, and European airlines allow 2 carry-ons + personal item in long haul (not sure about intra-Europe). Furthermore, Emirates and Qatar have such a tiny measurement for personal item allowance that makes no sense to me, and I have a hard time believing they would force a business or first class passenger to gate check their roller if their personal item is deemed too big. 

So my question is, based on your millions of flights in premium cabins across Europe, Middle East, Asia, etc: do they really care and check business and first class passengers’ personal item measurements? What have you seen or noticed? Do they make you gate check your roller if they deem your personal item too big? If you travel long haul to Europe and connect to intra-Europe, do they make you gate check your second carry-on? Will I be okay flying internationally on Emirates, Air France, etc., with a Rimowa + another carry-on duffle, or do I need a tiny backpack otherwise they will scold me and check it? Their measurements are so ridiculously small, and most comments online about airline restrictions are regarding economy, and they say “but if you’re in business they don’t care.” So I would really just like to know what it’s like out there, because frankly their personal item dimensions outside the US limit me to a tiny slingbag lol. 

Also, would love to know your personal travel setup, what do you take with you on the plane? Suitcase, backpack, duffle, any gadgets or cases, what are your essentials, any tips?

My take on this premium cabin carry-on question

Yuri is absolutely right that there’s huge inconsistency when it comes to carry-on rules across the globe. In the United States, many airlines don’t even have a weight limit for carry-on bags. Meanwhile in other parts of the globe, it’s a different story, and even in premium cabins, the limits are (technically) ridiculously low.

To what extent are carry-on limits actually enforced? I hate to answer “it depends,” but I truly think that’s accurate here. What factors into this?

• It depends on the airline and cabin you’re flying; if you’re flying in Air France’s La Premiere first class, they really try not to say no to customers, while if you’re flying in British Airways’ intra-Europe business class, I wouldn’t expect to get away with a whole lot
• It also depends whether you actually go to the check-in counter, or just go straight to the gate, as the less interaction you have with staff, the better your odds of getting away with a bigger bag
• When it comes to enforcement, I find the thing that’s most commonly enforced is the weight of the primary carry-on, rather than the size of the personal item
• There are tips and tricks that I’ve shared in the past about how to minimize the odds of having to check bags, and that basically includes moving deliberately around the gate area, and avoiding gate agents seeing your bags as much as possible

Now, specific to Yuri’s question, he references a Keepall 50 style duffle as a personal item, and it appears that bag has the dimensions of 50cm x 29cm x 23cm. To use Lufthansa as an example, the standard carry-on size limit is 55 cm x 40 cm x 23 cm, while the personal item carry-on size limit is 40 cm x 30 cm x 15 cm.

However, some airlines (including Lufthansa) allow business class passengers to have two items, plus a personal item, so that should be fine (forgetting the ridiculously low 8 kg weight limit we frequently see).

My guess is that you’ll get away with that as a personal item on most US airlines, and a majority of the time on foreign airlines, but not consistently. So it’s just a function of minimizing your odds of being caught with that.

Going back a decade, below is what my carry-on setup looked like, where my personal item was almost as big as my carry-on. To be honest, I almost never had issues with it, and I can count on one hand the number of times I had to gate check a bag.

Regarding the question of my carry-on setup, that’s something I still need help with. I don’t mind spending a good amount on luggage, given how much I use it. Currently I have a Briggs & Riley carry-on and backpack that I use when traveling, and that gives me a lot of flexibility.

It’s incredibly functional, but design-wise, it’s so bland and corporate. Yet I still haven’t actually been able to find something better. I’d love something that’s both cool and low key, but that’s easier said than done:

• Personally I’m not a fan of hard shell cases like Rimowa, because you have such little flexibility when your bags is overstuffed (Ford makes fun of how boring my luggage is, but whenever we take a trip, he ends up being very appreciative that my bag can be expanded to carry what doesn’t fit in his)
• Personally I just don’t want heavily branded luggage (like Louis Vuitton or Prada or whatever), even if I were willing to pay for it, since I don’t want to put a target on my belongings, especially given that I travel to some “odd” places

So I’m always still looking for better options, but as of now, I haven’t found any!

Bottom line

Often carry-on limits are almost meant to be broken, given how low they can be. In premium cabins, it’s common for airlines to sort of turn a blind eye, though it does vary based on the airline, how much interaction you have with staff, etc.

If you do have a large personal item, I wouldn’t expect to consistently get away with it, though most of the time it shouldn’t be an issue, as long as you’re intentional. At least that’s my experience.

What has your experience been with carry-on rules being enforced when traveling in premium cabins?