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AIR TRAVEL costs more. Even passengers need to pay additional fees when they have to pay for baggage that exceeds capacity.
Recently, social media has provided some tips to avoid inflated baggage fees. Apparently, airlines are starting to take a stricter approach to what they allow on board. Many have reported that their luggage has been rejected by officials.
A professional speaker from Los Angeles, United States, Sergio Diaz, said American Airlines made him pay US$50. This was because he was carrying a projector that was to be used for a presentation.
Although Diaz said the projector was no bigger than a laptop, the airline employee said it was too big and wouldn’t fit under the seat. “I think it will be fine,” he said as reported by Best Life, Friday (02/10), 2023.
A similar situation occurred with a passenger who posted on his Tiktok account on Saturday (4/2/2023). He claims the airline tried to make him pay US$99 for his personal items.
In the viral video, user @dejatheexplorer shows that his suitcase from Take Off Luggage is in accordance with the dimensions of the personal luggage box checker by Frontier Airlines officers. “They can’t charge me if it matches,” he said in the video.
In the comment’s column, another traveler said he had experienced the same problem. The officer almost made the traveler pay US$100 for personal items, on the grounds that his small backpack was slightly protruding in the front pocket. Then there are several other comments that also experienced the same thing.
Actually, airlines have different size rules for personal items. Most airlines allow passengers to bring personal items on board for free, to be stored under their front seat during the flight. But there is no set standard for the size of these bags.
As it turns out, most major airlines in the US have different and sometimes confusing definitions when it comes to personal items. According to Clever Journey, American Airlines and Frontier Airlines limit the size of a passenger’s personal item to 18 x 14 x 8 inches, while United Airlines limits it to 17 x 10 x 9 inches, and Southwest Airlines restricts anything larger than 16.25 x 13.5 x 8 inches.
Meanwhile, Alaska Airlines and Delta Airlines have no specific size or weight restrictions on their flights. Alaska only states that personal items must be stored under the front seat, while Delta also notes that items must fit under the front seat.
Both airlines agree that a passenger’s personal items are typically a wallet, briefcase, laptop bag, camera bag, or toddler gear bag. “Select items such as these or of similar size to store under your front seat during your flight,” Delta Airlines wrote in its guidelines.
The different policies allow airlines to tighten up what passengers will carry. The difference in personal item sizes between airlines is largely related to the fact that they fly different types of aircraft. [sources/photo special]
