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Tags: Holiday Travel / Luggage / Carry-On Luggage / → All Tags
Is CNN Right To Blame Carry-Ons For Frustrating Holiday Travel?
We've talked about this before in a much broader context, but there really is something about packing the overhead bins that turns people into animals. It's not stress; no one was pushing in line on the skyway to the plane. It's not rational anger; people should be calmer the closer they are to settling in for the flight. And it makes no interpersonal sense as people rarely fight that viciously over armrests or seat pitches, both of which are at least as important on a long flight. There's just something about putting "my stuff" in "my space" that drives people absolutely insane.
Now CNN has taken that basic psychological fact and somehow spun an entire article out of it. The basic idea: business travelers live by a set of unwritten guidelines that holiday travelers—the clumsy aviation bumpkins of our story—comically stumble into. Or not so comically, since Jim Kavanagh of CNN seems to believe that this tension is a match at the fuse of all holiday travel. He's obviously on the right track since there really is something weird about the way people stow luggage. But in another way he's very definitely wrong. First let's look at his little sociological writeup:
Tags: Airline News / Virgin America / Airports / Baggage / Carry-On Luggage / → All Tags
Virgin America Tests Allowing Baggage-Free Passengers To Board First
Ever the innovators, Virgin America is testing a new boarding scheme for speed and efficiency. They've ordered agents at targeted airports to let people without bags board the airplane first, the idea being to seat them and then let everyone else slow down the line while fighting for overhead space. It's the kind of thing that, if you run it through your mind, seems just crazy enough to work. So naturally everyone, us included, is trying to come up with reasons why the new policy is doomed to failure.
Travel blogger Cranky Flier is worried that overly ambitious, roll-a-board toting business consultants will try to sneak onto the plane along with legitimately carryon-free travelers. That would put gate agents in the awkward situation of either having to contradict a customer or letting them cheat. It's not that these passengers would be jumping the line in the strict sense—they have more of an incentive to do that in the status quo, where they're not assured that the people ahead of them will leave overhead space—as much as a "what do you mean my 'backpack' counts as a carryon?" kind of scenario.
Tags: Celeb Travel / Janet Jackson / Jermaine Dupri / Carry-On Luggage / Luggage Flair / → All Tags
Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri Show Off Their Luggage Flair
Hat? Check. Sunglasses? Check. One carry-on easily identifiable by luggage flair consisting of an LV scarf? Check.
Janet Jackson and her boyfriend Jermaine Dupri landed at New York's LaGuardia Airport the other day and while we're sure the duo had some monstrous caravan of Louis Vuitton-monogrammed luggage awaiting their bodyguards and assistants in the baggage claim, the couple did look like they were carrying-on light with just one bag a piece.
She was toting a beige, reptile skin bag and he was making it work with a small carry-on. Of course, he followed the age-old traveler's rule of making your black rolling suitcase stand out from the others by tying a Louis Vuitton scarf to his handle.
Cute as ribbons and LV scarves may be, we like our luggage flair to be a bit more practical which is why we use a small day-glo green ID tag on our carry-on handles. It won't blind you looking at it thanks to its small size, but we can always see it from afar on the baggage carousel, in those dreaded times when we have to check a bag for some reason.
We wanna know...What does your Luggage Flair look like?
Related Stories:
· Celeb Trfavel [Jaunted]
· Carry-On Luggage [Jaunted]
· Janet Jackson Jets With Jermaine [Just Jared]
[Photo of Janet and Jermaine via Just Jared]
Tags: Carry-on Luggage / Travel Gadgets / TSA / → All Tags
The Rolling Shopper: For Grannies Alone?
If you won't admit it, we will: Occasionally we find ourselves browsing the sale rack of sad-looking bags in the airport gift shop, the last resort for travelers who are going home with slightly more than they brought with them. Once we scored a pretty cool toile-print tote bag, and we're thinking lightning might strike twice. But we've noticed a new and terrifying breed of bag taking over, not just in stores but around airports from here to Harare.
Tags: Baggage Hell / Baggage Fees / Carry-on Luggage / → All Tags
Excess Baggage? Make An Informed Choice With Airline A La Carte
Ever try prising information out of an airline's "helpful" pre-flight tips page? Sometimes it seems like you'd be better off getting a donation for the ACLU out of Dick Cheney. A new website purports to collect all that information in one place but even its name sets us up for disappointment.
Airline A La Carte conjures up images of glorious choice, but in reality only informs you of the choices you no longer have -- say, to check a bag without paying a fee. The list of airlines' baggage allowances included is fairly comprehensive, and we liked the specificity of some of the rules they've ferreted out.
Tags: Ryanair / LCCs / Carry-On Luggage / Baggage Fees / Baggage / → All Tags
Ryanair Will Fine You £30 If You Have Too Many Carry-Ons
Checking in luggage, checking in at the airport, choosing the seat you want… we already knew Ryanair was the airline that’ll sting you for as much as it can. But just when Europe was getting used to its crazy rules, it’s gone one further.
Ryanair is now only allowing passengers one item of hand luggage on its planes, whether that’s a suitcase or a teeny purse. Ordinarily, this would be no problem. We would just get a big bag, stuff our camera/laptop/handbag inside it to go through check-in and decant it all the other side of security. Besides, the cabin crew would be too busy posing in their scanties to even notice.
But not anymore. Anyone who arrives at the gate with more than one piece of hand luggage will be stung for a flat £30 ($42) and then will have the offending bag relegated to the hold. The crackdown comes after one passenger apparently arrived at the gate with five whole pieces of hand luggage.
Maybe now it's about time to look into travelling on a slightly more reasonable airline.
Got your own carry-on hell story? Let us know.
Related Stories:
· Is Ryanair The World's Crassest Airline? [Jaunted]
· Baggage stories [Jaunted]
· News: Ryanair introduces £30 excess hand luggage charge [Press Release]
[Photo of plane: elward-photography]
Tags: China Travel / Olympics / 2008 Olympics / Beijing Olympics / Beijing Olympics 2008 / Baggage / Carry-On Luggage / Airlines / Luggage / → All Tags
China: World Coming! Must Restrict Cabin Baggage!
While most of the world is slowing lifting restrictions on cabin baggage, over in China they're just getting started. Last month the Chinese authorities added matches and lighters to a growing list of banned items. And as of May 1, they've also restricted the amount of cabin baggage you can carry on.
With the Olympics around the corner and plenty of tourists getting ready to make domestic flights across China, it doesn't seem like a great time to start changing the rules. But for the record, the rules now say that you can only take one piece of baggage on board, and it has to weigh less than 5kg (11 pounds); first class passengers get two bags.
This applies to international passengers who get a connecting flight within China, too. If you're Olympics-bound, this might be a good time to repack your bag.
Related Stories:
· China Restricts Flight Cabin Baggage [The Australian]
· Beijing Olympics 2008 coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: kool_skatkat]
Tags: Carry-On Luggage / Airport Security / Dubai International Airport / → All Tags
Carry On Confusion: Is Peanut Butter Welcome Aboard In Dubai?
You've already--quite rightly--complained about how confused you are about what you can take on a plane in domestic US flights (and BTW, we're still confused about the gummy bears). Well, just to add a bit more confusion to the mix, any flights going through popular hub Dubai are now about to be subject to new carry-on rules too.
Until now, Dubai International Airport has been free of the kinds of restrictions that's made us gobble down our gummy bears before the security check. From June 17, anyway visiting or transiting in Dubai will be restricted in the amounts and kinds of liquids, aerosols and gels they'll be able to carry on.
The basic rules sound familiar: less than 100mL of anything soggy, in individual containers inside a Ziploc bag, maximum 20cm by 20cm. But just like nearly everywhere else, they're pretty vague about exactly what's banned, and we don't know their opinion on peanut butter, either.
Related Stories:
· 3-1-1 Campaign OpenThread: What Can You Bring On A Plane? [Jaunted]
· Restrictions to Cause Delays at DXB [Arabian Business]
[Photo: pbo31]
