BA Cityflyer to allow hand baggage to be checked in without charge

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• J says:

  16 Jan16 January 11:22

  I find BACF usually ask for “volunteers” on most flights to check carry-on cases in the hold – and as a lowly Blue in the last boarding group I’m normally affected.

  • Rob says:

    16 Jan16 January 11:41

    Heathrow seems as bad now – asking Groups 4-6 to hand over their hand baggage is fairly common from what I’ve experienced.

    • Andrew. says:

      16 Jan16 January 12:02

      I’m a domestic regular and now use a trolley case bought for use on Norse on every EDI flight. This means that it fits under the seat in front of me and no risk of it being confiscated at boarding.

      At Gatwick, last summer, we got the “flight is full, please check hand luggage” message ahead of the flight. We were travelling LGW-MCO.

      Absolutely everyone complied. The overhead bins were empty. The Crew member near us remarked that she’d never had an Orlando flight loaded so quickly or the seen the bins so empty.

      Big problem.

      MCO Terminal C isn’t exactly known for its prompt delivery of luggage at the best of times, imagine what happens when around 300 holiday makers check their cabin bag *and* their hold bag. Double the number of bags in the hold means double the length of time to deliver all the bags to the belt. Almost 90 minutes after the door opened we had the last bag, and then we joined the immigration queue.

      • Sunguy says:

        16 Jan16 January 15:18

        MCO T-C is a big pile of …. well, Im sure you can guess….

        Ignore MCO – use TPA … much easier and nicer, often cheaper – and beyond a better experience – until MCO really up their game!

        Dont even mention the idiocy that is Avis at MCO either!

      • Chrisasaurus says:

        16 Jan16 January 15:22

        Immigration is before baggage?

        • Paul says:

          16 Jan16 January 16:28

          Not at a few airports, MCO is one of them.

        • Ant says:

          16 Jan16 January 22:49

          Same in Seattle bags before immigration – people dragging their loaded trolleys around the queue

• Swifty says:

  16 Jan16 January 13:19

  If ba go with nicks suggestion of becoming a lcc carrier with hand baggage charges, no one will fly them. The baggage is literally the only difference for me for flights under 4hrs anyway

  • J says:

    16 Jan16 January 13:29

    Since I’m now Blue, I’m always in one of the last boarding groups and I’d say the majority of the time I’m forced to check a carry-on case (albeit FOC). For me, I actually prefer LCCs where I know my carry-on won’t be checked because I’ve paid for priority boarding. But, if work are paying I’ll still use BA because LCY or LHR is always more convenient.

• TimM says:

  16 Jan16 January 13:38

  RyanAir had the right idea by encouraging everyone to travel hand luggage only by charging a fortune for hold baggage then realised just how much they were making from it and stuck with it.

  Some could argue that those paying hold luggage fees cross-subsidise the air fares of those travelling with only hand luggage. However, how much would be saved by not having check-in desk at departure or luggage carousel at arrival?

  I would like to see an airline have a useable cabin-luggage-only policy with enough locker space, de-densified, more legroom and hold baggage only sent by cargo.

  Sadly, that is not the direction of travel.

  • Andrew says:

    16 Jan16 January 13:56

    But the problem now is that so many people are travelling hand luggage only that it’s actually hurting the airlines. Too much hand luggage means delayed departures and a poor customer experience upon boarding. If everyone took advantage of BA’s generous hand baggage allowance even the largest of jets wouldn’t have enough locker space. The Embraers out of LCY aren’t even close. So like it or not airlines need to encourage, not discourage, bag checking and “charging a fortune for hold baggage” is not the way to do that.

  • abc says:

    16 Jan16 January 13:57

    This would mean that they have to redo the cabin layout, though, to have more space for hand luggage (which probably means less seats unless they somehow increase the size of the cabin vs the cargo area). It’s a neat idea, though, imagine you could get rid of all the check-in and baggage handling infrastructure…

    • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

      16 Jan16 January 15:26

      United have added cabin bag ‘cabinets’ between the Y and J cabin on some regional jets for this purpose. It means a cheaper option than trying to do something drastic with the tight overhead spaces on some US regional jets.

      • CamFlyer says:

        16 Jan16 January 15:50

        US airlines also often do gate check and reclaim for RJ flights, where security-screened baggage is both collected AND returned airside. without the need to go to baggage claim. This makes it far easier to surrender hand baggage (after removing computer and other essentials) on a short flight or multi-sector itinerary, as it is back in one’s possession for the next flight.

        • Roy says:

          17 Jan17 January 12:38

          Are you saying this *doesn’t* happen in the UK? If they take your bag off you at the gate because of a lack of space, surely they give it back to you at the end of the flight? Don’t they?

          (Now trying to think if it’s ever happened to me other than on connecting flights in the US)

• Andrew says:

  16 Jan16 January 14:34

  Economy basic on the E190 ensures no middle seat, so for me there is no danger of randomly being stuck in a middle seat with no leg room, unlike A319,321,321.
  That means economy basic is fine, with hand luggage.
  This mostly is an offer for those travelers, unless the others are maximising checked and carry-on.
  Would be interesting to know the % of economy basic tickets per flight.
  Still can’t see many taking this up though when you can just walk off the other end without waiting for your case.
  Best to enforce the basics to check in the carry-ons over a certain size

• jek says:

  16 Jan16 January 15:13

  Even when my ticket includes check-in luggage, I usually travel only with cabin luggage. BA should incentivise check-in luggage instead of cabin luggage! Give me a discount of £20 and I might sacrifice the time needed to drop off luggage and to wait at the carousel.

• LD27 says:

  16 Jan16 January 16:16

  Last year booked last minute flight out of LCY and only Avios ticket day before was in Business. There were only 3 rows in business. Plane was full and only empty seat was next to me. Boarded Group 1, but with all crew bags, equipment etc overheads filled very quickly. Fortunately I was able to put bag under seat. Passengers were invited to have their bags checked in at the gate, so we’re allowed to board first.

  But let’s hope they don’t go down the Qantas route. When checking in baggage in Melbourne for our flight to Wellington last November, not only were carry ons weighed but handbags, coats and anything else they could find! Fortunately we boarded early, as the plane and overhead lockers were full and bags had to go in the hold. We were on a 737-800 with only 12 business seats and booking late meant we were down the back. Seat pitch terrible. My knees were in the back of seat in front. My OH at 6ft 3in said it was worse than last EasyJet flight he was on and if you were sitting next to the window, the arm rest was pushed right against it. We wished we were back on our Vietjet flight which had so much space, especially as we were able to select the two seats by the window at the back.

• NorthernLass says:

  16 Jan16 January 17:13

  It seems like such a no-brainer to have people who already have hold baggage check their hand baggage, instead of begging people to volunteer (and repeating numerous times as selective deafness descends).

  • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

    16 Jan16 January 17:32

    Mmm not sure I follow that logic at all. On a 7 day work trip I’ll be checking in a case with sufficient workwear and ‘hotel clothes’ to see me through the week – far beyond what would fit in a cabin case. Then the cabin case and personal item contains my devices and at least one change of work and hotel clothes – in case the checked bag goes missing/gets delayed. I’ve seen too many green colleagues travel with checked baggage only and miss the first half of day 1 of a work trip due to having to go out and buy an entire new work wardrobe.

    • CamFlyer says:

      16 Jan16 January 19:48

      The first thing I learned when I started travelling for business was never, ever check luggage, no matter how far or long one is travelling. And the corollary is never volunteer to be separated from one’s hand luggage.

    • TimM says:

      16 Jan16 January 20:21

      Blair Waldorf Salad, you really need to learn about cabin bag only travel.

      I am the only person I know who always takes a suit on holiday. In a 56 x 45 x 25 cm trolley case, I have an infinite wardrobe, i.e. enough for every situation, and every weather, forever!

      Yes, if staying three weeks or more, it is helpful to find a local laundry to avoid paying hotel laundry charges. But really, the average five-star hotel room only really has enough storage space for one well-packed cabin bag if everything is hung correctly.

      Almost everyone over-packs and then lives out of their suitcase because they can’t fully unpack. That is a poor quality of life.

      One quality suit can be used in so many different ways from casual to semi casual to totally formal with bowtie.

      I maintain spreadsheets of different packing scenarios – always cabin baggage only.

      • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

        16 Jan16 January 23:12

        What happens when you spill a drink/egg yolk on that one suit? I’m not sure you’ve met me and my approach of shirt for day, shirt for night….

        • TimM says:

          17 Jan17 January 07:08

          1) Don’t do it. Why would you spill an egg yolk on a suit?
          2) Clean it off immediately.
          3) Shirts may be worn several times if you shower twice a day.
          4) Local laundry/dry cleaning

    • NorthernLass says:

      17 Jan17 January 07:22

      You can fit all that in a bag which goes under the seat in front! Obviously no need to check in anything that size.

• vneiz says:

  16 Jan16 January 18:00

  Is there anything stopping someone from going to check in desk and “offering” to check in their hand luggage, and then also bringing another hand luggage on board?
  Its basically a free checked bag upto hand luggage size…

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