A Southwest Airlines passenger tried to board their flight with a travel pillow. The gate agent had a problem with this – because they already had a carry-on and a personal item, and this was a third “bag.” From the photo though they eventually prevailed. Usually they’re right, personal items aren’t always counted as personal items! But there’s ambiguity.
Dear @SouthwestAir I DO NOT appreciate being harassed about my @sleepnumber travel neck pillow. I’ve NEVER had an issue w/traveling with this pillow. Please educate your staff that in addition to a carry on + personal item, a travel size pillow is allowed #travelchronicles pic.twitter.com/dreXN84oKa
— jurist_diction (@jurist_diction) December 1, 2024
There’s a lot of ambiguity in airline carry-on rules. In practice you can usually bring more than one carry-on and one personal item onto a plane, but it depends on the gate agent and how they interpret the rules as well as their mood.
Plus, how busy they are? With the trend towards single agent boarding to save money, there’s often not enough time for a gate agent to pay attention to this (let alone pay attention to whether passengers are under the influence or alcohol or other substances, contributing to more onboard incidents).
However if you’re flying Frontier Airlines you can expect tighter enforcement because the airlines pays bonuses to gate agents for collecting fees related to carry-on bags.
Usually, in addition to your standard carry-on bag (unless you’re flying United basic economy) and personal item like purse or laptop bag, you can bring on – or get away with:
- Travel Pillow: You can generally bring a travel pillow onto the plane in addition to your carry-on and personal item. Personal comfort items won’t usually be treated as extra bags – carry it around your neck and then it’s clothing like a jacket which is fine? Attach it to your carry-on bag, and then it’s an extension of the bag, which is fine if it fits in the sizer?
If All The Carry-On Bags Are Attached, It Counts As One
byu/Finbar-Bryan inunitedairlinesEither way most gate agents are fine with it.
This is also why some people say to bring your belongings on board in a pillow case, since gate agents won’t notice, but that doesn’t always work out so well.
@nolimitua ##travelhack ##travelhacks ##pillowtransformation ##lifehack ##travellight ##noonesgonnaknow ##traveltips ##travellife ##traveltip
- Bag of Food: Bringing a small bag of food is usually allowed. If the food is packed in a reasonable-sized bag, it won’t typically be counted as an additional carry-on item. However, for larger quantities, you may be asked to pack the food inside your carry-on bag.
- Coffee: You can bring a coffee purchased after passing through the security checkpoint onto the plane. Beverages bought in the secure area of the airport are generally going to be permitted on board without counting against your carry-on allowance.
Of course, just because items are within your baggage allowance doesn’t mean you’ll be permitted to bring them on board. That’s because airlines keep asking passengers to gate check their bags even when there’s still space on board.
Knowing this – and I got a lot of heat from readers over this – when United demanded that I gate check a bag last year I took the bag tag but boarded the plane with the bag anyway and had no problem finding space above my seat for it.
Gate agents love to go on power trips. They aren’t paid much, so this is the only benefit of their job. During boarding, they can deny you for any reason, often just on a whim. It is exceedingly difficult to challenge them using facts, logic, or even their own company’s policies. They are the king/queen; you are a peasant. Oh, you’re in first class? Nope. You’re a peon. The only thing that might work sometimes is flattery, luck, or a ‘gratuity.’ You can comply, or choose not to fly. Fight for a refund; end up with expiring flight credit. You think it was discrimination? Well, a pro-business judge looks forward to dismissing your case. Folks, we are NOT heading towards greater consumer protections in the US. Good luck, everyone.
Air Canada ‘Express’ flies old CRJ900 that have tight overhead bins. Luckily, my hard-shell carry-on fits every time, but gate agents almost always initially refuse to let me board with my bag. I explain that I know the aircraft and prefer to try to fit my bag onboard. I present a photo on my phone of the bag fitting on a recent CRJ9 flight. Sometimes I am asked to prove it using the ‘check the size of your bag’ mock setup at the gate. It always fits. For me, this isn’t about saving money on a checked bag fees. It’s about saving time at a baggage claims and having custody over my own items.
I’ve continued to use a small zippered pillowcase to carry my extra set of clothes in my carry-on backpack and it continues to work good. I can sit on the pillow if the seat is too hard or put it in the small of my back. I just have to remember to take it with me. As for the guy arguing about his pillowcase, there must have been a lot of expensive things in there to not want to abandon them. I would be upset but I would dump the clothes on the floor, put the empty pillowcase in my backpack and get on the airplane (I don’t have to worry about this because the thinly filled pillowcase fits in my backpack).
@1990 said: “Folks, we are NOT heading towards greater consumer protections in the US.”
Indeed.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was among the first governmental agencies that Mr. Musk/DOGE said should be eliminated in the new administration.
No surprise really, with billionaires in charge.
It’s the begining of a new gilded age, with extreme poverty for the working class, while the wealthy enjoy extraordinary wealth.
Mark Twain invented the term, as he wrote that the time was glittering on the surface but corruption underneath.
Should be wild.
Get ready to bend over for the moronic DOGE-lord grifters, that are going to recommend to Dear Leader that all consumer protection be eliminated. Acter all, companies have the right to lie, obfuscate and lure gullible marks into their coffers. And of course the right to fund elections. Petty grievances, like comfort or getting what you paid for only serve to hurt those poor companies. Have a heart, slave.