Hand luggage rules for Flights 2023 including British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, TUI...

They check the size of your bag as you board, but also let you take on a bag from the likes of WH Smith airside, so you can use that bag for some things.

Take two Aldi bags on the flight with you, as they never check them (presumably unless you make them look humongous). Use one as your small bag & have the other folded up flat incase you need it. If it's in your pocket, it's not weighed. Even just put your laptop bag & a pair of (filled) shoes inside the one you initially use. I tend to swap sandwiches to the airside WH Smith bag.



Wear as much as you can to board. Once on, you can take your coat/layers etc off & put them in the Aldi bag/s , as they've checked the size already. Dont put anything breakable in the bags as you need to squash them with your feet under the seat Infront, or use the space next to you too if the seat is empty.

If the flight is very cheap & you are likely to use both bags, buying the seat next to you can be considerably cheaper than hold luggage. It also lets you veg out a bit better. (This might not work now it you can't buy specific seats at low prices).

If I'm going somewhere cold, I board wearing boots but swap into trainers, & the boots go in the bag too. Aldi bags handles fit nicely over the extending handle of my wheeled case.

I normally pay for one cabin case & have the small free one, & that tends to be enough.

It kinda became a game, & the largest thing sneaked on was two badminton racquets (which should be impossible).

Before covid I flew often (only once to the canaries since), am a couple of pages from the end of my passport, and probably averaged about 16 flights a year (2/3s IAG & a third on cheapos where the luggage game largely takes place).

I've never paid an excess baggage charge (but sometimes had hold luggage).

Other advantages of doing this are you dont have to wait at the carousel, and your luggage is with you so can't disappear. More likely to get a taxi quickly too.

The only potential downside is (other than Ryanair who tend to give priority boarding with paid cabin baggage), I tend to wait sitting/reading until I'm in the last few to board.

Occasionally this means there's no space left for the larger cabin bag & it has to go in the hold (which then is free), but you're stuck with the carousel. So you need to figure out how busy the plane will be rather than sitting to the end if the flight looks packed & you dont have priority boarding.

Leave the flight with massive bags & a bigger wallet/smile.

Because if they were free (near) everyone would bring a large cabin bag and then there wouldn't be room. Probably.

Plus they want to make money.

The answer to the inefficiency you mention would be to reduce the price of speedy boarding/large cabin bags so a few more people bring large cabin bags but not too many. (Buuut the airline may have done the maths and found that then people then don't buy hold luggage (having bought large cabin bags instead) see above re money)... (edited)

Have we now lost the ability to use a tape measure/ruler?

I'm confused. who does this?

I've done the same and taken bag of stuff bought at airline on board and that was with no checked bags as I had 2 cabin bag seat and crammed a week's clothes into a max sized overhead locker bag and had a stuffed full rucksack too

However they could actually refuse/charge for the bag containing the airline bought stuff if it doesn't all fit in your allocated allowance I.e. warning to leave space just in case or be prepared to pay extra for it (edited)

Airport staff actually get commission/vouchers from each additional charge they apply so it is alway in their interest to catch passengers out. I find they are lenient over here but far stricter abroad. Where your bag may be accepted/ignored flying out, be prepared to be caught out on your inbound flight if your case dimensions to not comply

Also, if you are travelling with someone and do not buy a seat each, after the booking is complete yoy can go back in. There will always be an empty seat next to one if you.
So you can buy one seat
OR
You can look to buy a seat just over 2 hours before you fly. By then everyone will be checked in. There will still probably be an empty seat next to one of you (if the plane us not full) or 2 seats free somewhere else. You can then just sit in them. (edited)

They love rules in Germany.
Cross on a green man, wait on a red man, even if there's no vehicle in sight for 2 miles.

I've never seen a bag weighed by them.

This is just one of many reasons why I despise flying. At every turn there’s a challenge or complexity designed to trip you up and cost more money. It’s not even the cost that bothers me, rather the deceptive tactics used to profiteer.

In your example, literally any other industry would be happy to let you upgrade for free rather than trying to con you out of more money through what is essentially an overly elaborate system designed to complicate what should be a very simple process (edited)

Yeah they don't really check

They should actually be forced by law to do this. Passengers have a lot to deal with these days to need to worry about what bags goes into which flight. Absolute shambles.

Should have just broken the wheels off the bags. Probably cheaper.

Thanks @samwants2save glad it's useful

What's a 20 stone + why'd it need a man & wife to board the plane?

And how you gonna pack them again before flying back?

Certainly sounds like a question a read of the OP will answer.

This is the classical British way ; create useless rules to fine customers.
They intentionally try to complicate things to confuse people so they lose money.

Could you get a bag / suitcase couriered over to your accomodation? Might be a lot cheaper then bringing it with you on a plane.