Airlines have carry-on allowances, and often they can be ridiculously low. While researching something related to Air Côte d’Ivoire (as one does), I stumbled upon what I’m convinced is the world’s most generous carry-on allowance… by a long shot! I feel like I almost have to fly this airline just to drag 80 pounds worth of stuff onto the plane.
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Air Côte d’Ivoire allows up to 80 pounds of carry-on bags?
Air Côte d’Ivoire operates two Airbus A330-900neos, which are in a four class configuration, and fly between Abidjan (ABJ) and Paris (CDG).
I desperately want to fly the carrier’s first class (because in the coming weeks, it’ll be the world’s only first class I haven’t flown, after I check Starlux Airlines off my list). So I was doing some research, and was checking the carrier’s product page for its “La First by Air Côte d’Ivoire experience.”
What’s the first feature listed for first class? “2 x 18 kg of cabin baggage.” That’s right, the airline allows two carry-on bags, each weighing up to 18 kilograms (or 40 pounds), for a total of 36 kilograms (or 80 pounds) worth of carry-on bags.
That is by far the world’s most generous carry-on allowance, as far as I know. In terms of hard product, first class seems more like a “business class plus,” so perhaps the extra carry-on allowance is one of the primary selling points.
As a point of comparison, business class passengers receive a total of 18 kilograms (or 40 pounds) worth of carry-ons, which is still generous, though is half of what you’ll get in first class.
I’ve gotta say, as someone who tends to travel with a fairly large carry-on, I still couldn’t imagine boarding a flight with 80 pounds worth of stuff!
I appreciate a realistic baggage allowance, for once
Obviously Air Côte d’Ivoire is probably the other extreme, but I always find it frustrating how some airlines have ridiculously limited carry-on allowances, even for premium cabin passengers. It seems that some airlines publish really low limits, but then just turn a blind eye for first & business class passengers, which is also sort of frustrating, since it comes down to individual enforcement, and makes it tough to manage expectations.
For example, Singapore Airlines’ baggage allowance for Suites and first class passengers is two cabin bags weighing up to 7 kilograms (or 16 pounds) each. If you have a Rimowa hard-sided carryon bag, that can weigh as much as 4.3 kilograms (or 9.5 pounds) empty, meaning you have 2.7 kilograms (or 6 pounds) for your actual belongings.
Look, I’m not saying other airlines should go as extreme as Air Côte d’Ivoire, but if you’re actually going to market an exclusive product and charge a lot for it, it’s nice to see a policy for once that’s based on being more generous than needed, rather than less generous, where you’re just crossing your fingers that you won’t have to gate check a bag.
Real talk — I have to imagine that many people flying first class between Paris and the Ivory Coast may have done a lot of shopping in Paris, so perhaps this increased carry-on allowance is one of the primary reasons one would have to book first class, so you don’t have to check most of your “haul.”
Bottom line
In a world of airlines with ridiculously low carry-on allowances, credit goes to Air Côte d’Ivoire for standing out. First class passengers can take two carry-on bags weighing a total of up to 36 kilograms (80 pounds), while business class passengers can carry-on up to 18 kilograms (40 pounds).
I really need to figure out a good way to fly Air Côte d’Ivoire first class, and you can bet that I’ll be showing up with 80 pounds worth of carry-ons, just because! 😉
What do you make of Air Côte d’Ivoire’s generous carry-on allowance?
Well, it does beat LH by 6k, but how often do I fly to Cote d'Ivoire? We just got home from Helsinki, and our annual beat the heat vacation. 5wo days after flew north, it was 45c in Malta.
On our return, after much of our usual shopping(including Costco in Stockholm), we each came home with one large suitcase and two banana boxes filled with Helsinki Long Drink.
Now that is for business, It...
Well, it does beat LH by 6k, but how often do I fly to Cote d'Ivoire? We just got home from Helsinki, and our annual beat the heat vacation. 5wo days after flew north, it was 45c in Malta.
On our return, after much of our usual shopping(including Costco in Stockholm), we each came home with one large suitcase and two banana boxes filled with Helsinki Long Drink.
Now that is for business, It is the same for biz, whether flying intra Europe or international. When we fly fc, we are entitled to four pieces each.
As for cabin bags, two each, with suposed weight of 8 kilos. Never saw any Biz or FC passengers stopped for search, unless they drop from exhaustion while carrying double the weight. At a certain point, gate personnel turn their back on what is carried by FC and Biz customers.
They must have a lot of passengers that carry on gold bricks
It's hit or miss whether airlines actually weigh carry-on bags. When I've traveled with 2 bags (backpack and rolly), I've probably been packing over 20kg total. Rarely has an airline been adamant about checking a carry-on on weight alone, but it does happen. It's just wild to see them *explicitly* allow such heavy total weight. I think they're basically saying, we're not gonna bother you much about your carry-ons if you fly this class of service.
carry on bag . . . 18kg each! :-o
Imagine heavy turbulence's and this bag stored above you, hat rack opening and landing on YOUR head.
.... could be typical US flight scenario, so in terms of safety of others sitting around such oversized people, who think they need to look like DL, AA or UA Crew, arriving with overload on a quick 4 day trip.
That's what i call DANGEROUS these...
carry on bag . . . 18kg each! :-o
Imagine heavy turbulence's and this bag stored above you, hat rack opening and landing on YOUR head.
.... could be typical US flight scenario, so in terms of safety of others sitting around such oversized people, who think they need to look like DL, AA or UA Crew, arriving with overload on a quick 4 day trip.
That's what i call DANGEROUS these days in terms of flying.
P.S. did ANYBODY ever see a Business or First Class passenger store the carry on on the ground instead of in the bin above?
18kg on anybody's head, i hope that person gets a laws suit then, that will be a lesson for life, while another might be carried off the plane, because someone does NOT know how to travel these days!
18kg/40lbs . . . try at home, (just drop a tire of your SUV at home on your foot, not head please) then EVERYBODY will understand what it means.
The only 'excuse' is that the widebody bins don't have doors exposing their contents. The business class passenger can then feel good about their 20kg carry-on...until they catch their connecting flight on an A220 etc and it falls on somebody else's shoulder!
no matter if a A380 (sorry, 787, since no US airline is flying such a big plane) or a Dash8 or A220, the damage on somebodies head might be the same.
Even 8kg can end up as a crazy dangerous piece of luggage if it falls on somebody's head or eye. Seen it live when a passenger was hurt by a falling wheely and got hit on her eyes, was a bloody scene, lucky...
no matter if a A380 (sorry, 787, since no US airline is flying such a big plane) or a Dash8 or A220, the damage on somebodies head might be the same.
Even 8kg can end up as a crazy dangerous piece of luggage if it falls on somebody's head or eye. Seen it live when a passenger was hurt by a falling wheely and got hit on her eyes, was a bloody scene, lucky no serious longtime damage, but blood en mass. All while deplaning and another passenger pulled out a second carry-on by accident and fell on the passenger underneath.
I thought many Chinese Airlines allow 2 70lbs bags in international business? Or up to 66lbs in domestic business?
That has to be the limit for hold luggage, don't give anyone ideas!!
@Throwawayname is correct. 32 kg (2) for checked luggage for international business class. I think for carry on it is 8 kg (2) for international business class.
Well, it's still not as generous as most US carriers who have no weight limit on cabin baggage! Technically, you can bring a 1,968lb tungsten block as a carry-on, and a 1,337lb block as a personal item.. if only you can lift them up.
I often travel with family on mixed tickets (someone in Business, someone in cattle class) and I have it confirmed that LUFTHANSA in FRA and her friends at SWISS in ZRH will stop the guy or gal with the 2x8 suitcases thinking he or she is trying to pull a fast one. When the Business class ticket is produced and they are proven wrong, they get in Alternative für Deutschland mode and 100gr excess will...
I often travel with family on mixed tickets (someone in Business, someone in cattle class) and I have it confirmed that LUFTHANSA in FRA and her friends at SWISS in ZRH will stop the guy or gal with the 2x8 suitcases thinking he or she is trying to pull a fast one. When the Business class ticket is produced and they are proven wrong, they get in Alternative für Deutschland mode and 100gr excess will suffice for them to force a gate check just because. Assess authority. Don't let the peasant paying EUR 600 for a intra EU ticket have it.
This applies particularly to the older, short haired, near retirement dinosaur, emm gate agent, with a chip on her shoulder that seems to be 90% of LH gate agents in FRA lately.
This is about the only thing that LH get right. The 8kg limit stems from a safety restriction- if anything, premium pax are more likely to be familiar with that sort of thing than the once a year traveller.
Speaking of H&S, I got pretty annoyed flying IB a few years ago when they wanted to gate check my hand luggage, I said that I didn't really fancy lending them the CPAP machine that...
This is about the only thing that LH get right. The 8kg limit stems from a safety restriction- if anything, premium pax are more likely to be familiar with that sort of thing than the once a year traveller.
Speaking of H&S, I got pretty annoyed flying IB a few years ago when they wanted to gate check my hand luggage, I said that I didn't really fancy lending them the CPAP machine that was inside, and they only relented upon discovering I was sitting in front of the curtain. These things shouldn't depend on cabin class.
Ben, it’s been discussed here before - BA has no weight limit for carryons. As long as it fits the dimensions and you can bring it onboard, you’re fine. So clearly that’s the most generous baggage allowance?
The trouble with that statement is that you're forced to use "BA" and "generous" in the same sentence and that doesn't feel very good
BA are being very generous with the limbs of their passengers!
Qatar first class travel has a policy of allowing up to 2 cabin bags each of 15kg each. In practice, on various airlines, premium cabin passenger bags are rarely weighed; and so if you make it to the boarding gate and have cabin baggage items whose linear measurements don’t seem outsize and wield the bags as if they aren’t heavy, then it would fly in the passenger cabin whether or not the cabin baggage of...
Qatar first class travel has a policy of allowing up to 2 cabin bags each of 15kg each. In practice, on various airlines, premium cabin passenger bags are rarely weighed; and so if you make it to the boarding gate and have cabin baggage items whose linear measurements don’t seem outsize and wield the bags as if they aren’t heavy, then it would fly in the passenger cabin whether or not the cabin baggage of the premium cabin passenger complies with any weight limits noted in the airline’s policy.
OMG you're finally flying Starlux!
Let's be honest, SQ has never enforced any sort of weight restrictions for first / suites class passengers. And in both of those cabins, carry-ons fit under the seats (first) or in the the closet (suites), and if they don't, the crew will find a place for the bags, point being the bags aren't going to fall on anyone.
I would love to know if any reader here has ever had their first / suites carry-ons challenged, least of all even *weighed* by SQ.
I’ve had my carryons weighed by SQ at JFK at least twice (while flying business class). It was wild, given that on an earlier trip they forgot to offload my checked luggage in FRA (on JFK-FRA) and it went all the way to Singapore, so I was understandably reluctant to part with my carryon too…
This has got to be the most Lucky post of all time.
Searching how to fly an obscure airline first class you’ve never flown, noticed a detail most of us wouldn’t think about, then diving into a cross airline analysis on the topic. Fun to read such passion!
Over the last decade or so, passenger liability insurers have been insisting on more stringent carry-on weight policies to reduce payouts for injuries due to bags falling from overhead bins. The industry standard of 7-10kg is not going to change.
You've said it time and again, but Ben and other people who should know better choose to ignore the H&S aspect of carry on weight limits. I also own an aluminium rollaboard but 90% of the time it goes into the hold.
Well, they also allow the passengers in La First 3 checked luggage at 32 kg each. I wonder would any of these passengers have 3 checked luggage at 32 kg each and then take two 18 kg carry on bags. So, it would be a total of 96 kilograms of checked luggage along with a total of 36 kilograms of carry on. Serious shopping being done in Paris for a total of 132 kg of luggage. HAHA!
When Continental was still around, and I was a broke student, and ebooks didn't exist, I managed to carry 2x32 in the hold & 2x10 carry on, so 84kg plus a boombox (!) on a ABQ-IAH-EWR-MAD trip, so I guess that I was an African government official flying La Premiere from Paris, I could easily get to 132 kg, possibly more.
I remember checking in for a KQ fifth freedom sector from HKG (or was it CAN?) maybe 15 years ago. The amount of stuff my fellow pax were carrying back to Africa was unreal- clearly a lot of them had been [probably unofficially] exporting large quantities of electronics and similar stuff.
Neither HKG nor China had export controls for consumer electronics in recent memory, so why the "probably unofficially" qualifier?
@Sean M, that's a good point. I was thinking that they may have been needing/trying to skirt around customs regulations on the other side (which for some was a destination other than Kenya as they were just connecting at NBO) but struggled with the wording as we hadn't been on African soil.
Well, wife and I do that every time we fly home to Malta from Helsinki, we get to two carts, wheel them to e-cab, and driver puts them at our front door. No sweatm, no problem
What do you mean? I see people coming on board E175s with 80-pound duffel bags all of the time.
I think there are a few mistakes in the article: the title says 32kg but the body of the article says 36kg. The screenshot shows 32kg, and 32kg is 70lbs not 80lbs.
A lot of airlines have a 32kg allowance for business class checked bags.
@ David -- Sorry, I accidentally wrote 32kg instead of 36kg in the title, but that's fixed. But if you look at the screenshots, you'll see that the carry-on allowance is 18kg twice, so that's 36kg (the 32kg is in reference to the checked bag allowance).
Oh I see now. Very generous policy. I’ve been on the receiving end of overly vigilant carry on weight check flying J on Eva, so even something as simply as letting people combine their allowance (if they have more than 1 bag allowed for carry one) would be nice.
Wasn’t it EasyJet that had unlimited weight for carry-ons, only requirement was you had to be able to lift it yourself (until a few years ago). Talk about some first class service right there xD
@ Reyyan -- Hah, that's true, so I guess if you were to pack it with bricks, you could exceed that...
Isn’t that most North American Airlines?
I know on Air Canada and WestJet, you just need to be able to lift it into the overhead bin unassisted.
My record was probably a 30-40lb carry on, it flagged at LGW security for the density / weight.
Heck, I can get 20lbs into a personal item, due to the density of tech items. Laptop, iPad, phones.
UA made me do that when I had a domestic flight with them and discovered that my fully flexible expensive Y ticket came without any allowance. I squeezed the wheeled duffle into the suitcase I checked in using the *G benefit and my rollaboard was well over 20kg.
There was no benefit in the redistribution whether from my perspective or of other pax, and only marginal benefits for the airline (they still had to...
UA made me do that when I had a domestic flight with them and discovered that my fully flexible expensive Y ticket came without any allowance. I squeezed the wheeled duffle into the suitcase I checked in using the *G benefit and my rollaboard was well over 20kg.
There was no benefit in the redistribution whether from my perspective or of other pax, and only marginal benefits for the airline (they still had to tag the bag that went in and spend time on the counter making sure everything works).
I have flown SQ suites and first. And I can assure you that my carry ons were in excess of 7kg each. It is a policy that is not strictly enforced.
The most generous cabin weight allowance used to be offered by ... EasyJet! In the past, they didn’t have a weight limit on cabin bags at all, as long as passengers could lift and place them in the overhead bins themselves. During our ski trips, we used to pack the heaviest items, such as boots and books, in trolleys and bring them onboard. Sadly these times are long gone.