Airplanes And The Overhead Compartment

Here's another aspect.

That is another aspect for sure R1 -- people trying to jam bags in there that don't fit.

Suggestion B seems sensible, but I don't think there's enough space to allow one compartment for each seat.

It's become a nightmare since people too cheap to check a bag are now trying to shove a suitcase in what was never intended to hold more than a small, soft overnight bag.

It has nothing to do with cheapness R4 -- you usually get at least one checked bag on a domestic flight.

It has everything to do with the massive inefficiency of checked luggage and the propensity of airlines to lose that luggage.

One of my first jobs out of school was for a big company that paid for business and first class tickets and that was the first thing I was taught by the higher ups I traveled with-- never check a bag unless forced to because odds are high the airline will lose it or you'll waste 45 minutes waiting for it to come off the baggage carousel.

This never happened, Defarto. Or are you Bookmaven tonight?

0/10.

Blame it on the airlines - they charge for everything now. And what do you still get a packet of peanuts and a coke anymore on flights of more than an hour?

r4 I think Southwest lets you check a bag free. Pretty sure all the other airlines charge now.

they are making bigger overhead compartments on new planes AND doing some enforcement of carry on sizes at LAX before you can get up the escalator for security.

[quote] —LuciferTheLightBringer

Defarto, will you be assigned four red numbers when this signature catches up to you?

Sorry OP/R5, R4 (and R7) has it exactly right.

After airlines started dropping the standard one free checked bag en masse, I started seeing passengers carrying on some ridiculously oversized suitcases that clearly were never meant for overhead compartments.

That may be true R10 and I don't know when the fee for checked bags started, but it was always a road warrior rule to never check bags and many of the executives at the big consulting firm I worked for back then would rather pay for the hotel to do their laundry than have to check a bag.

I am sure the checked bag fees did have something to do with it, but they are easily avoided if you are Gold or Silver (frequent flyer status) on many airlines or you have certain credit cards.

R11 - Most business travelers aren’t away more than a night or two. Civilians generally are flying on longer trips. That being said, now even if I’m gone a week or more I pack as minimally as possible in a true carry-on that will fit under the seat if the overhead is full. I’d rather do a load of laundry than give an airline extra money for something that should be part of a ticket. They started charging for checked bags “temporarily” when there was a jet-fuel shortage / price increase years ago. The fees never went away once that crisis passed, so fuck them.

[quote]I think Southwest lets you check a bag free. Pretty sure all the other airlines charge now.

Two free bags.

Did this "not enough room" thing really start with airplanes charging for checked luggage? I feel like people were bringing roller bags on board even when checking a bag was free.

Only trailer trash take huge bags onto the plane. Thank goodness I’ve never had to sit “back there”.

I saw a guy board the plane (economy), stuff his suitcase into the first available overhead space he saw, then walk walk walk to his seat, which was way in the back of the plane.

I once had a guy (sitting directly behind me) who stored his crap in the overhead above me. He got out of his seat and started moving things around in the overhead. He had some type of old-fashioned camera and it fell on my head. I was really angry.

People don't know how to pack light. I don't miss any of this airplane shit.

[quote] Only trailer trash take huge bags onto the plane. Thank goodness I’ve never had to sit “back there”.

That's because R15 has never actually been on an airplane. He drives to Myrtle Beach every year for his vacation!

Regardless of *why(* people bring small suitcases onto the plane, it's a thing and is not likely going away, especially on short haul domestic flights where you have a lot of people who are just going away for a long weekend, and the lack of adequate overhead space delays flights and affects everyone on board as the FAs attempt to jam extra suitcases into every available slot, whether it's first class or coach (and on many short haul flights "first class" is just six slightly larger seats at the front of the plane.

You'd think airlines would try and find a solution for this.

It has everything to do with the checked bag fees.

Jet Blue is starting Option C this summer with its Blue Basic fares. Don't know how they'll enforce it, but those passengers are to pay for anything that doesn't fit under their seats.

What r19 said

Baggage fees aren't going away though.

Airlines use them to be able to game sites like Expedia because they know people will likely choose whichever flights come up first, even if they are ultimately more expensive due to baggage fees.

Hence the Basic fares many of them are rolling out.

checked bags used to get misplaced a lot but technology,(scanning) has made the service much more reliable. i always check and just carry on my lap top and CPAP

In the past 20 years or so of being a relatively frequent traveler I have had my bag misplaced exactly once. Even in that case, I found it understandable as there were two flights on that carrier between my cities within a short time frame. I was staying at an airport hotel as it happened, so was no problem picking up my bag the next morning. I love that the Delta app has the ability to track the bag(s) yourself!

What frustrates me is the failure of the gate crew to force compliance. You get too many people trying to game the system. It adds up to delays and creates congestion on board. On the flip side, the passengers can be intimidating because, like so many things in life, flying is now a variant of The Hunger Games.

Each gate should be staffed by some six foot four guy built like a brick shit house who's job is to say yes or no and give you a Barbara Bush glare if you talk back.

The worst are families with children. Each child has a massive backpack almost the size of them! I miss the days when you got at least one free checked bag. People didn’t bring everything into the cabin,

Fair point R25, especially since at that point they just gate check the bags and don't charge extra for them.

Or just increase restrictions on how much mooks are allowed to carry on.

First of all, what airline was this? And was your flight from LaGuardia to Boston on a regional jet? Because those are smaller than a regular plane and have limited overhead space to start with, so more people usually need to gate check bags on those flights.

why wouldn't you just take Amtrak, OP? Those tiny Embraer jets used for short-haul routes have always been short on space and comfort. The newer Boeing 737s have larger overhead storage so roller bags can be placed on their side instead of lying flat, thereby offering more space.

[quote]I saw a guy board the plane (economy), stuff his suitcase into the first available overhead space he saw, then walk walk walk to his seat, which was way in the back of the plane.

THIS is one of my pet peeves about flying. Someone give me a reason why someone does this instead of using the compartment above their own seat.

That's an easy one R31

They either think they may not find a spot nearer to their seat and/or they don't want to lug the bag down the aisle.

Not condoning, just explaining

R31 because then he doesn’t have to carry carry carry his his bag all the way down to his seat. Sheer selfishness.

Actually you don't get one checked bag on the cheapest tickets. People are using carryon more and more instead of checking - so much that airlines are going to start charging form them too, and weighing passengers, charging more for fatter people.

LOL R34, that was the other piece of flying I quickly remembered. Watching the fatties waddle down the aisle and seeing the looks of relief on people's faces as they passed them by.

r35 the funny part is they said they were making them buy two seats. The last time I flew I could not get first so I tried to book a row of three for myself and my husband. I could not do it online because it would not let me assign the same name to two seats. I called the airline and explained I wanted to book two seats together under the same name. She could not understand so finally I told her "Look I weigh 600 pounds and need two seats and rather than you tell me that when getting to the airport, I want to buy them now so I am not embarrassed. She told me she had no way to do that. I asked her how can they do it at the airport? She didn't know." I just gave up and booked a different flight to get first --

What really angers me is when coach people try to use the business overheads and the cabin crew does nothing to stop them.

They need to reverse it. FREE checked and charge for carry on.

Boarding will be faster and flights on time.

Problem is you'd have to hire more baggage handlers, making $3 an hour or whatever pittance they're paid.

For people who use carryons, what do you use for a razor? Can you get a razor through security?

I recently had to fly for the first time in over a year. Man, I didn't miss that shit at all. And yes, the carryon drama continues. I've seen some flight crews really take charge of that process and make it work, stopping people upfront to say no, that bag will not fit in the overhead. Then there are the lazy crews.

Before the pandemic, I had a selfish woman who wanted her small carryon with her despite there being no more room. It was a small plane and she was one of the last ones on. First, she tried over and over again to cram her small carryon in the overhead compartment. I and a few other passengers, as well as the flight attendant, kept telling her it wasn't going to work. She repeatedly told us to mind our own business. My seat in our row was the only one where there was nothing under the seat because this woman also had a large purse she carried on that she stored under her seat. She insisted she put her carryon under my seat, and the flight attendant let her. i spoke up and said that would leave me with little room to put my feet on the floor, plus her carryon was sticking out beyond the zone under the seat where they usually make you put it in the carryon or check it. The flight attendant ignored me and walked away.

We were already running late and I was worried about my connection, plus it was a short flight, so I sucked it up. But I was crammed in my seat with barely any room on the floor. I complained to the flight attendant as I was deplaning, and she basically told me she didn't care. I complained to the airline, who offered me free drink tickets. I now simply avoid booking with them if I can. Sometimes, though, based on where I live, I have to take that airline depending on where I go. But airlines that let selfish passengers get away with shit like this are not getting my business.

Count me in, too, for the people in economy who dump their carryons in first class. I've complained about this before and won. Of course you win if you book first class. They suck up to you there, so I book only first class if I can get it.

I haven't flown to Europe in ages. First class is just far too expensive. How do they treat you in business class? Still not cheap, but far less than first class. Some of my colleagues who go to Europe say business class is the way to go.

Jet Blue's short-haul E190s have a lot of overhead space.

R37 is exactly. I paid for First, get your smelly bag away from my bin and don’t even try to use our toilet.

If you buy a second home at the place you're going and keep duplicates of everything in there, you just need a backpack under your seat. That's what we do.

R44 how tiny are you? I could never put anything under the seat because I have legs and feet that need to go there. “Premium Economy” with its 34” of legroom is what basic bitch economy used to be 20 years ago. The biggest mistake was to give airlines money during the pandemic. They should’ve all gone under and returned with decent seating and service.

Once, coming home from Puerto Vallarta there was a straight couple who scammed the early boarding line, some trumped-up disability. They were each carrying armfuls of rolled up "art" they'd of course overpaid for, and proceeded to take up a huge amount of overhead bin real estate. Then they sat there watching like hawks for anyone who dared put a bag in "their" self-designated space.

My mother keeps two places. UPS's a box or two from each place just before leaving.

r39 I once knew a baggage handler for Delta, and while he wasn't rolling in the dough, it wasn't a pittance either

[quote] why wouldn't you just take Amtrak, OP?

Amtrak is always late and unpleasant in its own ways.

What I hate is on a few occasions, FAs have asked people to remove their coats from the overhead so people can put their luggage up there. No - I checked a bag, that space is for whatever I want to put up there. Another asked me to remove my laptop bag and put it under the seat in front of me - no, this is my only bag and I'm not sacrificing my leg room cuz some idiot doesn't want to check their bag.

I used to travel a lot for work and almost always checked my bag because I was usually gone a week and I could never understand how you can pack for a week and fit into one of those tiny rollers.

I've never had any problems with my luggage being lost or delayed. Now, they have fucked it up though and that's why I don't buy expensive luggage.

The smugness of some travelers and the 'I never check a bag' was always weird to me. I don't want to roll my luggage around the airport everywhere I go to save 15-20 minutes (MAX) at the luggage carousel.

[quote] I once knew a baggage handler for Delta, and while he wasn't rolling in the dough, it wasn't a pittance either

Which is exactly why the wretched airlines are trying to induce the ghastly sardines to carry their own bags on board.

Simple solution. Make everyone SIT on their carry on bag.

R51 = Violet, Dowager Countess

R50, hissing about having to move his coat and needing several large suitcases in which to pack a weeks worth of clothing for a business trip, including, no doubt, antimacassars to use in the hotel room because "all sorts of ghastly people may have put their heads against the divan!" is EXACTLY what I imagine many DLers to be like.

[quote]to save 15-20 minutes (MAX) at the luggage carousel

45-60 min at MIA, JFK, LAX, ATL, IAD and any international flight. Time is money.

Not to mention the stress of wondering when and if your bag will show up, R55, and having to elbow aside the people crowding around the luggage carousel in groups, plus the likelihood of a tighter schedule because your flight was already delayed several hours due to "mechanical difficulties"

I always check my bag, even if I have to pay. Never mind that whenever I go visit family I have tons of local stuff I take with me to give out, so my luggage is hella big.

I laugh at all those cheap idiots who cram all those ridiculously small bags into the overheads. Really, what can you fit in them?

I prefer to fly on a 757 whenever possible, because they board through the 2 Left Door, so when I’m sitting in First Class, I’m not even aware of the unwashed masses heading to their coach seats and all of the overhead drama going on back there.

There really should be a designated overhead space linked to every seat by number, like a locker. However, as others above have touched upon, I think the airlines deliberately sow chaos with the overhead space so that experienced travelers will just say "fuck it" and pay to check a bag. Regardless, there's no way I'd pay in advance to check a roll-aboard when I could just check it for free at the gate if I have to.

Thank you R59. I agree with that 100%--it would make life so much simpler.

[quote]the airlines deliberately sow chaos with the overhead space so that experienced travelers will just say "fuck it" and pay to check a bag.

“Experienced” travelers aren’t paying to check bags. They have airline-branded credit cards or frequent flyer elite status that get them free checked bags.

Recently flew out to Colorado on Frontier Airlines. A "personal item" (briefcase, purse, laptop bag, small backpack) was free, but must go under the seat and they boarded those people first. Any carryon that did not fit under the seat had a charge. Not sure how much they enforced that, though.

What R61 said

And the experienced travelers are likely taking a carry-on too because they're only going to be away for a few nights and don't need a suitcase full of clothes.

R58 hasn’t flown since 2015. Not many airlines fly 757s anymore…

OP if you can, try to book flights on Delta and Jet Blue’s new Airbus A220 (Bombardier C-Series). They designed it so that the overhead bins for EVERY passenger to fit a roll-aboard carry-on on its side.

Of course some asshole will ruin it by shoving a guitar or stroller into them.

Another plus is that this aircraft has 2-3 seating, meaning fewer middle seats, and those middle seats are actually slightly wider than the ones in the aisle or by the window.

Not surprised that Boeing try to kill this plane by lobbying for punishing tariffs (they failed). It far outclasses the 737-MAX in every way possible, with the exception of design flaws causing fatal accidents - for which Boeing easily takes the prize!

[quote] never check a bag unless forced to because odds are high the airline will lose it or you'll waste 45 minutes waiting for it to come off the baggage carousel.

I am a 2 million mile flyer with United (and a few thousand more on American, Delta, etc) and no airline has EVER lost my luggage. The worst thing that has happened is that it was delayed and came in on a later flight. I either waited or it was delivered to me. This happened maybe twice in 30 years. These days you can track your back on your phone.

As for waiting for your checked bag, yes it can be a hassle, but, sorry R55, my time has never been THAT valuable that I can't wait for a bag.

Advantages to checking a bag v carry-on include 1) not having to drag your bag through security and the invariably long walk to the gate, and having to keep an eye on it throughout your journey, 2) no risk of injury trying to lift and then remove a bag from the overhead, 3) peace of mind knowing you won't have to fight for bag space, which is especially problematic when you have a tight connection, and (most important) 4) you can buy a couple of bottles of interesting alcohol, roll them inside jeans or sweaters and bring them back home.

As a frequent flyer, I have never had to pay to check a bag, but even if I did, to me it's well worth it.

[quote] These days you can track your back on your phone.

s/b "These days you can track your bag on your phone."

I never travel with more than a carryon - even 2 week trips to Europe. A good backpack that is easy to carry and store is a godsend,

Very upset Norwegian Airlines shut down transatlantic service due to Covid. They had great First Class (more like Business Class) fares to Europe. Less than $1,000. Now you can’t find Business for less than $2,500. Hoping someone starts discount First Class service to Europe.

You do you R66

Personally, I've never found having a rolling carry-on to be a hassle AND I can attach my laptop bag to it, so nothing on my shoulder. Pushing it through TSA Pre is not a hassle nor is wheeling it from there to the airline club, where I don't need to watch it because they'll store it for me. A

I am young and strong and my bag isn't that heavy, so no worries about lifting it into the overhead.

I would especially worry about checked luggage on a tight connection (first plane is late) as the odds of the suitcase making it from one plane to the next would be pretty low.

Given that most frequent travelers only do carry-ons I would say you are in the minority.

But clearly you plan works for you, and just as clearly this is not the first time you've felt compelled to defend your choices.

Do you not have hand baggage sizers in the States?

I am young and strong. Grrrrrr!

R66 - I'm R50 and I'm with you. These stories of lost bags and excessive carousel waits are blown out of proportion. Plus, you have to limit your liquids with a roller-bag. I still don't know why we have this rule all these years later, but it's still there and enforced irregularly.

I get the roller cases for 1 or 2 night trips. I guess I'm just not lucky enough to have that type of business travel. If it's not a Mon-Thurs night trip, then it's 2 cities in one week for me. I just can't fit all of my stuff easily in those little bags. I have no idea how women do it.

I'm not a 2 million miler like you, but I'm up there and have the FF status so that I don't pay for checked bags. I don't know if having to pay for that would change my POV or not.

Maybe if the airlines allowed everyone to check one bag for free.

Now a lot of them charge for one checked bag so people try to cram them on the plane.

I'm a semi-frequent flyer, often international, and in the past 20 years I've had my luggage delayed/ missent / left behind (!) no less than SEVEN times, including one time when the bag was lost completely and never found, and one time it took four days for the bag to arrive.

Truly lost bags are the most fun -- trying to remember every single thing that was in the lost bag, to get the airline to give you cash (but they'll only refund the discounted present value of anything, so clothes that you've worn, or an electronic item that's a year old, get you a pittance).

I've started taking pictures of everything I put in a checked bag, to support my memory next time a bag gets lost.

R74, since you fly internationally sometimes, do you take business class? Can you compare it to first class on an international flight, which seems to cost so, so much more. I asked the question upthread about comparing the two on international flights, well really to Europe, but no one responded yet.

Lost checked bags are rarer these days because they are tagged with a bar code and as they are loaded onto the conveyor belt, the tag is constantly scanned and the bag is automatically channeled to different conveyor belts, depending on the intended flight. There’s no human involvement. Changi Airport has something like 25 miles of baggage sorting belts. Of course, that’s a modern airport.

R74 - in what countries were these bags lost? 7 times is way beyond the typical traveler's experiences. I think the average is 2 bags per 1000 are misplaced or 'lost'.

R76 is right - the bar codes are making this much easier.

All the bar codes in the world won't do you any good if you land at O'Hare with 30 minutes to catch your next flight.

Ha! I once landed at Narita to change for a flight to HK. Arriving flight was delayed—head winds?—and I was like, well whatever happens, happens. An airline agent was waiting for me as I disembarked and ran me over to the new departure gate. I had picked the exit row right next to the door so as soon as I got on board, they closed the door behind me and prepared to take off. They held the plane for one person, can you imagine? This was United, btw.

Anyway I was so thankful to have made the connection that it didn’t occur to me that my checked bag couldn’t run as fast as I did with the gate agent but United delivered it the next morning to my hotel.

If you have a stamps.com account, you can print UPS postage now for about 25% the price of what you'd pay at the store.

I always have some boxes from home depot ($1 for regular, $2 for heavy duty small moving box) then throw most of my stuff in, print a label, and just drop off at fedex....i have it shipped to where I'm going and it costs under $15. Carry on is for toiletries, prescriptions, laptop, maybe a few pieces of clothes, etc.

oops i meant i drop off at UPS with the label printed from home....

[quote]What frustrates me is the failure of the gate crew to force compliance.

Agreed; as others have noted, I am hesitant to check bags unless absolutely necessary; so I gate check to be a good citizen. But then some pushy bitch comes on board with some clearly oversized bag & proceeds to hold up the works trying to stuff said bag in the OH compartment. Everyone around them is expected to move their shit to make room for this bag. Why could the FA just make the person gate check when they come onboard. Yeah, I get it that they don't want to initiate confrontation, but you expected the rest of us chumps to comply with your rules

I've experienced lost luggage only when on connecting flights. I dread connectors for this reason alone. If time allows, I will retrieve my bag and personally re-check it rather than trust an airline to get it done.

My worst experience with this was on a month-long trip from Los Angeles to London. The airline (Delta) canceled my original non-stop and flew me to Atlanta with a 5 hour layover and plane switch. I asked the counter cretins to please make certain my bag was put on the next flight, to which they assured me this had already happened. I'd have rechecked it personally but this became impossible since I was told it was already on the next flight. Of course, my bag was never transferred. My trip involved driving throughout the UK, never being in one location longer than a day or two. I was forced to buy new clothing, everything from jeans, toiletries and underwear to shoes and I am a hard to find size, being extremely tall, muscular with very large feet. It was hell. They finally found my bag, which had made its way to an English town via Midland Air. This was all happening before the days of everyone having cell phones, making calling around extremely difficult. I finally had to ask my father in Los Angeles, to call the airlines and track down my luggage. It took approximately 2 weeks to get my bag delivered to Liverpool, which I had only planned as a 1 night stopover. Liverpool turned into a 1 week stay, in order to have Midland Air get my bag flown in and delivered. My nicely planned trip became a joke.

This entire experience never needed to happen. Delta is possibly the worst airline I have ever flown, and I have flown all over this planet on many different airlines. Well maybe Aeroflat is worse, but not by much. One thing still gets me crazy is that I used a good chunk of my FF miles to fly 1st class on this journey through Hell. I have never flown Delta since and have vowed never to fly with them again.

The airlines have been trying to crush the baggage handler union for years. They'd rather charge a fee to check luggage in order to incentivize everyone to stuff into the cabin with their luggage than have a well-operating luggage check system.

It really is funny that air travel comes with mostly needed rules, but one the things that impacts others - size/number of bags carried on - is completely overlooked. Most of the TSA crowd are power hungry bitches, just give them another task: "Yo, hey, you ain't bringin' that tuba/ski bag/guitar/3 hatboxes and a cat on any flight, you hear me?"

Domestic or international, I stick with carry on only. One advantage of carryon only that I haven't seen cited in the thread is the ability to change plans on the fly. I once landed early for a layover and saw an earlier flight that was going to my final destination. Asked to be bumped to the flight and all ready to go until airline worker asked if I had checked bags. It was a rare flight where I did. Told it was a no go. With carryon only, I've been able to change flights and deal with delayed or canceled flights much more easily.

Excellent point R86

You have connecting flights.

Flight #2 gets cancelled because of "mechanical difficulty"

If you have a carry-on, you can switch flights to another airline and be on your way. Checked luggage? Doubtful, unless the next plane leaves several hours later.

^^And sometimes you do need to change planes. There are places you can't get a direct flight from NYC, no matter which airport you fly from.

Bag fees are not the only reason for cramming stuff in the overhead.

After a long trip, people don't want to stand around and wait for the baggage claim to spit out their luggage. It can often be a very long wait for the bags to arrive there. I've waited over an hour at times. That starts to eat in to your vacation, or certainly delays your trip home to relax after a long trip.

But fellas!

R66 has flown two million miles on TWA, Pan Am and Continental and never had these problems!!!

R90, not Pan Am, but yeah, TWA and Continental, plus Western, Eastern, Ozark, Braniff, PSA, and a whole bunch more I can't remember.

What’s the DLers obsession with the word “pittance” on this thread? Do we add this to the official dictionary?

Now I want to hear more about R66/R91's experience travelling with those defunct airlines, in particular Braniff, PSA and Western.

Tis truly ghastly to have to survive on a mere pittance R92!

I flew People’s Express and I survived!

People's Express was like flying the Concorde compared to today's bottom-feeder carriers like Spirit and Allegiant.

No it wasn’t. People’s Express was one of the original no frills airlines. Nobody checked their bags because that was extra. People pushed to get up to the gate because there were no assigned seats and then ran across the tarmac to be the first on the plane. You waited forever to get a seat because people were trying to cram large suitcases into the overhead bins (which were bigger in those days). It was a nightmare.

I can’t stand when everyone jumps up into the aisle and starts jostling for position as soon as the plane stops.

R59 here; I think you and I are having a semantic disagreement over the term "experienced traveler," R61. I consider myself an experienced traveler, as I fly about a dozen times a year, domestic and international (and usually business class for international flights). However, I'm certainly not a million-miler, and I don't use an airline-branded credit card to maximize mileage accumulation, etc. By "experienced" I was referring to travelers who at least fly often enough to realize what a shitshow it can be to fight for overhead space and just pay the 25 bucks to check their bag. That's all.

People in the back, who jump up and start moving down the aisle before other passengers in the rows ahead. If you wanted to get off the plane early, you should have gotten a seat up front. I never jump in front of the rows ahead of me unless the passengers permit it.

R100, I don't either, but I will certainly jump up and get my bag ready, and stand in place near my seat if I do need to get moving for a connection. Whenever I've not been in a huge hurry for a connection, I just stay seated.

I’m an experienced traveler. Card carrying member of the Mile High Club - Gold status.

[quote]who jump up and start moving down the aisle before other passengers in the rows ahead

This is where a well-extended foot or small, hard-to-see bag in the aisle does the trick.

How the fuck do you travel with only a carryon? I get to check 3 large suitcases and sometimes that’s not enough. A carryon? For a vacation? Wtf!

^^^Welcome to Datalounge, Kylie Jenner!

I see your point, R104-- it would be difficult to fit a number of heavyweight caftans and large floppy hats into to carryon. Let alone jewelry boxes for the chunky earrings.

R104 keeps searching for the burly negro porters to carry her steamer trunk.

For me boarding isn't a problem. My particular disability means I get bumped up in priority. No the baggage thing irks me to no end. Had to pay $135 for baggage when we flew home from NC back in February. Of course the later flight was paid for by my brother-in-law.

I don't usually take business class, r75, and I tend to have a lot of connecting flights, which is where the likelihood of baggage loss/ misdirection is highest in my experience. Having a delay/ short connection/ rebooking is the worst; I've learned to assume that in any of those cases, my bag won't make it.

But that doesn't explalin why on at least one occasion, my checked bag failed to leave the original departure airport in the first place, and I eventually got it back only after returning from my 3-week trip, minus the local sweets and wine bottles that I had packed as gifts. No idea how they managed to not get my bag on the plane, and then couldn't even tell me that when I called.

And this has happened at major first-world airports: Heathrow, CDG, Vienna.

I think I'm cursed.