An American Airlines passenger shares a bizarre interaction boarding a flight in Asheville, North Carolina. Their family of four had seven total carry-on bags but were told by the gate agent that their children had to carry their own bags – parents could not help! – or else the bags would have to be checked.
The passenger explained that these bags were all within allowable sizes, and the gate agent had no issue with that.
We had 7 bags between us: a roller, a small folded garment bag, a gym bag sized duffel, two adult backpacks, and two mini children’s backpacks. Everything but the roller would easily fit under the seat in front of us.
However, the father was carrying three of the bags himself (backpack, roller, and garment bag on the roller). The gate agent said, “you have three bags” and he agreed, “I have four people.”
- Each passenger is allowed one full-sized carry-on and one personal item
- A family of four, with four tickets, can bring eight items total
The agent disagreed: “you’re only allowed to carry two bags through the door.” The dad “always” carries most of his family’s stuff on board while his “wife wrangles the kids.” He explained,
I wasn’t going to make the kid carry one of these.
However the gate agent “looked at [the passenger like he] was some kind of criminal,” so he made his 7 year old daughter carry the garment bag though she “could barely pick it up — not because it’s was unusually heavy, but because she’s so small.” He told her, “you just have to carry through the door, then I’ll take it.” And that set the gate agent off:
“No, you won’t!” I said, “Sir, you said I couldn’t carry all three bags through the door.” he replied “Though the door of the plane.”
For context, AVL is under construction and we’re departing from gate 1, so to get to the plane we have to go down a temporary ramp and about 50 yards through a temporary corridor on the tarmac to another agent who will double check our boarding passes, then across the tarmac and up a mobile ramp.
I stammered something like “I’m sorry, I thought you said …” and he cut me off with “Do you want to fly today?”
He made his daughter carry a bag the rest of the way, until they reached the second agent checking boarding passes and asked him “May I carry this bag to the plane for her?” The agent was so confused, he had to “repeat the question twice” since the answer was so obviously “of course.”
The father wondered, “If I was traveling with a 2 year old” would the child not be allowed a carry-on since they couldn’t bring it onboard the plane themselves? I reached out to American Airlines, and a spokesperson offers,
We want every customer who flies with us to have a positive travel experience. A member of our team will reach out to this customer to learn more about their experience.
This gate agent reminds me of Matt in San Diego, the gate agent who demanded I check a stroller because all strollers must be checked even after he challenged me to show him that it fit in the bag sizer and it did.
Or the agent who declared they do not care about DOT rules when removing a passenger from a flight and refusing any compensation. Or the one who humiliated a mom and forced a baby form their car seat in a bizarre power struggle last year.
In the moment it rarely does any good to argue with a gate agent even when they’re wrong. That almost always ends with a question like, “do you want to fly today?” You can ask for a supervisor, but they may not arrive before the doors to your flight close – and they may back up their colleague regardless of right or wrong. Escalation almost winds up with police involved – which is why I love this story so much of a passenger calling police on a gate agent who improperly demanded that they gate check their carry-ons.
I had a similar experience while traveling in Vietnam although the agent wouldn’t allow my child to even attempt to carry it and told me I had to check the roller bag even though it was under the size limit and we were under the number of maximum carry-ons for our family of four. It was at check-in before security and I didn’t flight it more than that as didn’t need the bag and it was free to check, but I still found it strange.
I’ve been worried about this coming up in the past but have usually been okay and nobody has questioned it when they see me traveling with a small child.
So according to the agent, if a handicapped adult who can’t carry his bag will not be allowed carry ons? I think she willbe sued …ever heard of the ada?
I’m with the gate agent on this one.
Gate agent is clearly on a power trip and needs to be disciplined for their clear lack of customer service and common sense!
nitpicking
@Joe — You rightly presume that under normal circumstances the legal protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the ‘ADA’) will and should be appreciated and enforced; however, we are entering an era of ‘vile’ politics and culture, where ‘some’ among us (perhaps, our own elected ‘officials’) do not value the ‘intent’ of that law–no, rather, they seek to ‘diminish’ and/or ‘eliminate’ anyone or any ‘group’ that they deem ‘other’ or ‘weak.’ And you’d better believe that historically, the ‘handicapped,’ are not a protected class, according to those ‘fascists.’ So, we do need to stand up and speak out for the vulnerable, while we still can, as opposed to remaining quiet or ‘piling on’–otherwise, a lot of decent folks are about to get hurt in this and many contexts. It’s no longer ‘over-reacting’ to say so.
We were at Las Vegas airport several years ago. After they opened the door but before they began boarding, a toddler ran through the door and down the ramp to the plane. His father dashed after him and was stopped by a militant angry gate agent who told him he was not allowed to board the plane yet. In disbelief, the father reiterated what happened right in front the the gate agent, and the gate agent shrugged and told him he’d have to wait until his section was boarding. The father shoved past him, retrieved his child, and was promptly apprehended by airport security. It was unbelievable. I stopped to voice support for the father and was promptly threatened by said gate agent. What a jerk! Exercising what little power he had I guess.
At a TSA checkpoint I took my wallet from my purse to remove my DL. The TSA agent told me I had one too many “carry on bags.” I said it was my wallet. She said it counts as a carry on bag since it was in my hand. So I put my wallet back in my purse and looked at her. She again asked for my ID. I took my wallet out again, removed my DL, showed it to her then put my wallet back so she’d let me through.
As a retired flight attendant from a major airline, this happens daily, so unnecessary also so embarrassing. Some gate agents, but not all, are on power trips, and need to be educated or retire, ugh!
@Teena — Thank you for standing up for that father and toddler. Obviously, the gate agent should have assisted that family under those circumstances. There should be less ‘malicious compliance’ for rigid rules in such exceptional situations like with the toddler. At the same time, thank you as well for not threatening the gate agent with violence (some others in this comment section were upset with me for calling them out on their wishes to ‘curb-stomp’ and ‘SMack’ the ‘jerk’ agent). My point has been that there is a ‘fine line’ of what is appropriate during and following these incidents.
The total amount being carried is what counts. That’s what ends up in the overhead bins or under seats regardless of who carries it. They need to consider the purpose of having the rules in the first place.
This reminds me of the days when people checked bags and an agent would tell them that if a bag was a few pounds overweight and another was a few pounds underweight, they’d have to redistribute the contents or pay more, even though they were allowed that same total weight, and bags of the respective weights were allowed on anyway.
These days, now that airlines (I don’t know if it’s a handful or all of them) go by total weight, it makes life easier. Of course passengers will still try to balance things to the extent possible for their own sake. But if it doesn’t affect total weight, total space or the baggage handler’s ability to balance the load, it’s a waste of time.
There is an issue with one person carrying so many bags that it delays boarding and deplaning.
Anything that keeps a two-year-old.off an AA flight is OK by me. Book Spirit or Frontier next time, where everyone else in the plane is also an annoyance.
@H — Well said.
It certainly depends on the airline, the airport, and the agent–whether we like it or not, what ‘kind of day’ someone else is having makes all the difference.
And also, the ticket class, status, etc. of the passengers can make a difference as well. Rarely has an airline given me shit as a First or Business class passenger, or as an elite, but it can still happen, and we are beholden to them, so still wise to set expectations that you may have to comply regardless.
Rules are often never as rigid as they seem. “Heaven is high and the emperor is far away.”
I’d rather walk than fly American Airlines! I’ve heard and seen enough stories to keep as far away from that airline as possible!
Is it possible, that in threat assessments, the scenario that you described could allow a malicious scheme to someone to sneak a weapon, or IED, onto a plane, prior to boarding, to be concealed under a seat, or in the seat pocket? It’s conceivable that this scheme may have been a planned step in an attempt to take down an airliner. This may sound ridiculous but who would have thought about a shoe bomb, prior to that attempt?
What an idiot gate agent! Def needs some disciplinary action! Their job title is “Customer Service” and some times need to be reminded of that fact! Absolutely write a letter with specifics to let AA know what is going on. I’m a retired gate agent for a legacy carrier (not AA). It is so much easier to have calm families than to create tension with parents and frustration with children. EVERYONE will experience a much more pleasant flight! That was just a stupid thing to do!
These 2 year olds simply need to get stronger. And taller. I suggest lifting weights and lots of spinach!
Replace all of the gate agents with computer terminals and fire every gate agent. When they ask why, simply hand them a print off of every complaint filed against the airline’s gate agents for the past 5 years. This is why I don’t fly unless it’s required. I’m going to love seeing these companies fail and go under for their lackluster service.
As for the comment about having passengers redistribute the weight: There actually is a lot of sanity to that under US law. The problem comes down to OSHA (?) regulations on lifting–anything heavier than 50 pounds needs to be lifted by two (or more) people. Thus if you have a 55 pound bag and a 45 pound bag that means an extra person is needed when moving the bag around.
The “Applications Manual for the REVISED NIOSH LIFTING EQUATION” (DHHS [NIOSH] Publication No. 94-110 [Revised 9/2021]) uses 51 pounds for the maximum lifting recommended weight limit for a single person. This is a recommendation, not an absolute requirement. In the 1960s and 1970s fertilizer came in 80 pound bags and were carried by one person. Cement came in 96 pound bags and were carried by one person. In the mid 1970s, while unloading 6 cubic feet bags of peat moss for my boss at the nursery, I carried bags weighing sometimes over 100 pounds because some were very wet. On another farm job unloading 50 pound fertilizer bags, we actually threw them from the truck over to the person stacking them and we didn’t break any of them. If I tried some of those tasks 20 years later, I may have been hurt. Still, when I left the rim of the Grand Canyon in 1995 for a backpack to the bottom and back, I was carrying 65 pounds in my backpack (I weighed myself and then myself with the backpack on). NIOSH guidelines are for all people, not just those very fit for the job, so the recommended limits are lower.
We have had this happen a few times as well! I would always just take the bag back from my kid as soon as we got on the jetbridge. I have also had gate agents and passport control people insist that my kids hold their own boarding passes and passports, even when they were as young as 2 and 4! I would have to lift them up so they could slide their passport across the counter to the official, but they did hand it off themselves, which, I guess, is important?
just don’t fly with US or Europe airlines.. you don’t have this problem if u fly with asia or middle east airlines
My solution to these situations is to make the gate agent suffer from their poor choices. So my kid can barely carry the bag? Great! It is now going to take me 10 minutes to get down the jet bridge. Everyone is stuck behind me? Great! Go talk to the gate agent about it after I explain the issue. Kinda like using 7 bins to get through security at an airport I won’t name.. Laptop. Bin. iPad. Bin. Shoes. Bin. Toiletries. Bin. Food. Bin1. Bin2. Coat. Bin. And then a backpack and a carryon. Oh I filled the entire conveyor myself? Oh well I am just following your rules….
Never fly AA rude, arrogant and have an over inflated sense of their own importance
Par for the course for American Airlines. Sad to say you’re better off on Frontier or Spirit. AA’s service is abysmal and their gate agents are Nazis. Speaking based on 40 years of flying experience.
I quit giving airlines my money. I used to round trip fly every year, now I drive. When it became a prison search to fly, I figure it is too dangerous for me to risk. They act like everyone is a terrorist so I won’t pay to play.
If you purchased the seat you purchased the space for the bag. Do infants cary their own car seats and diaper bags? Of course the parents help the children cary the bags. My husband pulls his roller with his backpack on top and also my roller with my backpack on top. Suddenly there is an issue about who carries it over the threshold?
No big deal i bought a small rolling case for my 3 year old and she was proudly pulling her suite case. So make it fun. do not create drama.
Gate agents are the worst or the best. There’s for some reason, no in between. Flight attendants are even worse nowadays.
It’s Asheville…’nuff said. They do things differently in that little one horse town
“So according to the agent, if a handicapped adult who can’t carry his bag will not be allowed carry ons? I think she willbe sued …ever heard of the ada?”
If a handicapped adult can’t carry a bag – then by very definition – they can’t have a carry on.
…ever heard of reality?
“At a TSA checkpoint I took my wallet from my purse to remove my DL. The TSA agent told me I had one too many “carry on bags.” I said it was my wallet. She said it counts as a carry on bag since it was in my hand. So I put my wallet back in my purse and looked at her. She again asked for my ID. I took my wallet out again, removed my DL, showed it to her then put my wallet back so she’d let me through.”
Why is your ID in your wallet in your purse when standing in front of a TSA agent? Thanks for holding up the line for the rest of us.
PS- TSA agents don’t care how many carry on bags you have, so you obviously have no idea what you were doing.
That non competent , and lacking common sense employee should be fired
This is a problem of personality. Some people don’t have the psychological capacity for implementing rules according to the intended outcome and instead implement rules in a counter productive or capricious manner. You shouldn’t be allowed to have a job like this if your personality traits are unfit for the job requirements. Too many persnickety people who shouldn’t ever interact with the public and need to know they are bad for business.
Thank goodness i don’t live near an AA hub. It seems 2/3rds of bad press stem from them.
AA employees are convinced that they are showing up to a service that provides free flights for themselves and their families and that paying passengers are an imposition on their vacation time. They need to fire them all and start from scratch. The culture is rotten from both ends.
This isn’t a rogue agent issue. AA’s agents are out of control. There is no accountability. After multiple negative interactions with them, the final straw was in 2022. An agent in Dallas started screaming at me because I had casually tossed my ID across the large counter to her. She started yelling that I would not treat her like that and unless I picked up my ID and handed it to her I was not flying that day. Mind you I had not spoken a single word to the agent and she had just walked up to the counter. It took me a minute to comprehend what was happening. Then she repeated, “Pick that up now and hand it to me!” I said probably three words through the whole interaction and thankfully kept my cool. I filed a complaint but received zero response.
Pleeeaaase. Such outrage because a family of four shows up with too much carry on luggage. Welcome to entitled and whiny America. I have been on too many flights with families like this and it’s ridiculous.