Additional cabin handbag on flights

Question

It's quite common, that in addition to cabin size hand baggage you can take also smaller bag like handbag or small laptop case to the plane. I'm interested in knowing if someone hasn't been allowed to take average size laptop bag as an additional "handbag". Is this usual?

Answer 1

The standard rule is one bag for the overhead, plus one small "purse" that fits under the seat in front of you.

Caveats:

• Airport and airline staff are busy. They are unlikely to pay attention to what you're trying to bring on the plane in many cases. That said,
• When you get on the plane, if you are later in the boarding process or if the flight is full (which is very common nowadays), you may find that there is no room in the overhead bin. This is your problem, not the airline's. Some people feel like it's the flight attendants' responsibility to magically cause 6 suitcases to fit in the space of 3. Believe me, if they had that kind of power to alter the laws of physics, they wouldn't be working as flight attendants.
• You may also find yourself sitting in a seat where there is NO room under the seat in front of you. This may be because you are in an exit row, or behind a bulkhead, galley, or bathroom, or in a business class or first class where there are fancy reclining seats that go all the way to the ground and have no room for storage below them.
• No-frills airlines (RyanAir, etc) operate on a business model that consists of torturing you unnecessarily, then charging you fees to remove the torture. They may be very strict about what you can bring on board. If you're on a super-cheap airline, check their website for specific rules and expect them to be enforced.

On US domestic flights, if you simply can't find a place for your carry on bags, you will be able to "gate check" it. People are unnecessarily terrified of the "gate check". Here's how a gate check works:

• Flight attendent takes your bag and puts a special tag on it
• He or she gives your bag to a luggage handler who puts it in the cargo hold in the very front
• When the flight lands, the very first thing that happens is that the luggage handlers remove all the gate checked bags and bring them right up to the front of the plane
• By the time you're getting off, your bag is usually waiting for you -- in the worst case scenario you might have to wait a minute or two.

So the frequent flyer's best plan is:

• Carry a rollerboard with clothes and stuff that you don't need on the flight
• Carry a laptop bag, purse, or knapsack with everything you need for the flight
• If you can't find room in the overhead bin, gate check your rollerboard and enjoy the flight.

Answer 2

From experience with a number of airlines in Europe, your laptop bag does not count to your cabin baggage limit. It's treated similarly to a lady's purse, so if it indeed looks like a laptop bag (i.e. has an arm strap and everything), it should be allowed without a problem.

Please note that some low-cost companies (cough Ryanair cough) still insist that you need to have exactly one bag, regardless of its function.

Answer 3

In North America, using Star Alliance airlines (Air Canada, United, Continental) I have never had an issue with one backpack (technically my laptop case, since my laptop is in it - this is the sort of backpack you get at conferences, not the kind you go hiking in or camp across Europe with, but it's full of stuff beyond just the laptop) and one small bag (labelled a "tote" by the vendor) with clothes etc in it. I have seen people with roll-aboards that could have easily held both my items. When I go for 4 days or less, I go carry on only :-) However when I get onto a very small plane, I sometimes gate check the tote, because their overhead compartments can't hold much more than a coat.

Answer 4

Discount/cheap airlines in Europe (Ryanair, Wizzair, EasyJet(?)) are very strict about "1 item of hand luggage total" rule. Even if you want to carry 2 very small items instead of one maximum size it's not allowed. I've seen multiple "scandals" with airport personnel enforcing this rule and passengers trying to reason with them based on common logic. Passengers never win and in several cases it ended up with passengers being escorted from the airport. In best case scenarios it ends with 20-40 Euro luggage fee and in-place repacking.

The bottom line is - check the rules of the airline you are flying with and obey them instead of relying on common sense.

After seeing these incidents I try to travel with either only one bag, or, at least, in a configuration that can be assembled into one bag.

Answer 5

In my experience, the only practical criteria is that the "personal item" has to fit under the seat in front of you, so that it does not take up space in the overhead bins.

Answer 6

There is no "rule of thumb" for things like this but I can probably put a few guidelines:

1. If it's of the size of the small suitecase it's probably too big.
2. You shouldn't be able to roll it.
3. Don't stuff your back pack as you would a suitcase it is likely to be frowned upon.
4. A small bag looking like a dufflebag is probably not a good idea.

Beyond that you are probably at the mercy of the gatekeepers at the airport.

Answer 7

Be aware that RyanAir, EasyJet and many other LCC (low cost carriers) are EXTREMELY pedantic about the one piece of cabin luggage. This includes a jacket you may be carrying, a hat, a netbook, anything. It all has to fit in one piece of valid-sized luggage, or be checked. And if you're trying to check when you reach the gate, you're in trouble :/