Qantas Cabin Baggage Survey Results Email

[DejaBrew]

A very warm aboard AFF @Catherine B and sorry to hear about your additional “in-flight beverage”

 

[sobrien]

Not Qantas but on a European airline last year I boarded with only a small bag. They made me put it under the seat. They only allowed big bags (some of them huge!) in the overhead lockers! That made me a bit cross.

 

[RB001]

Not Qantas but on a European airline last year I boarded with only a small bag. They made me put it under the seat. They only allowed big bags (some of them huge!) in the overhead lockers! That made me a bit cross.

Welcome to posting, @sobrien !
I'm sure I've read on here somewhere that a similar situation occurred on CX - agree that it makes zero sense.

 

[Himeno]

Not Qantas but on a European airline last year I boarded with only a small bag. They made me put it under the seat. They only allowed big bags (some of them huge!) in the overhead lockers! That made me a bit cross.

Some years ago, shortly after BA started pushing their cabin bag enforcement, I was flying into LHR from CDG (IIRC). Backpack and laptop bag. At check in, they insisted on tagging the laptop bag for under the seat. After they had given me a boarding pass for row 1.

 

[jastel]

My last QF trip last week I noticed staff (at the gate) pulling people out of line and getting them to use the box and scales...by the unhappy looks they were made to check it in.
There must have been a music thing on as every second person had a trumpet or ukelele case, these were allowed through but despite their weird shapes, and the plane was very full.
Maybe its selective on loadings.

 

[MJW Kangaroo]

I am a weekly commuter SYD - BNE on QF, mostly economy but J about a third of the time with points upgrade or when special s are available.(QF Gold), mainly fly Late morning ex BNE tuesdays and early afternoon ex Sydney Thursdays . I like the newly enforced boarding groups and would like to see enforced carry on limits also. It’s annoying when I pack to conform as a FF and get to my seat and a fellow NON frequent flyer PAX is obviously way over the carry on limit , jamming bags into the locker/lockers and I have no space…. I understand no one owns a locker on an aircraft, but everyone should have to play by the same rules …

 

[KiwiFlyer79]

North A

I disagree. The result they wanted was

"Our customers told us that they wanted us to charge for bags brought into the cabin, to discourage too many being brought on board."

(There was a story on more airlines doing this recently but I can't find it now.)

Edit: Found one (Herald-Sun):

The airlines charging for carry-on in the name of ‘more choice’ for passengers​

North American airlines are the worst. I was just walking through a United terminal in a US city and we were having this very conversation. Flying in the US is not like flying in Australia. I applaud the Qantas moves and only wish they'd enforce it in the US. People take the piss to the extreme here and staff do nothing about it.

If passengers get cranky about following the rules they agree to when they purchase the ticket then I suggest a sprinkling of Airport Security/Police stop by on their rounds just to dissuade those who think it's appropriate to act out. Seems extreme but misbehaving as an adult and quick escalation should continue to be discouraged and not accepted in public despite what some 'anything goes' people think.

 

[auscal]

I disagree. The result they wanted was

"Our customers told us that they wanted us to charge for bags brought into the cabin, to discourage too many being brought on board."

(There was a story on more airlines doing this recently but I can't find it now.)

Edit: Found one (Herald-Sun):

The airlines charging for carry-on in the name of ‘more choice’ for passengers​

This information on United is incorrect. All United fares, with the exception of basic economy, include a free, carry-on bag, and personal item.https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/baggage/carry-on-bags.html

 

[marki]

My carry ons is always a small backpack that goes under the seat in front of me. If I want something during the flight it is in easy reach. Everything else is checkin. Overhead bins should be restricted to people who are seated underneath them. You should only get one piece of luggage in the overhead. It would be great if they called forward everyone with just under seat luggage so we weren’t held up by people clogging the aisles wrestling with putting their luggage in/taking out of the overhead. It might encourage more under seat luggage.

Probably not the best, and I see where you are coming from. However Business class passengers often carry two or more ( I have seen)

 

[Rembrandt]

About time this occurred, but I have little hope there will be any real changes. Carry on is starting to get out of hand and can slow down the boarding process too.

I still remember flying in economy on a VA flight and I paid additional for extra leg room. The flight attendant then wanted to move my backpack half way down the plane as there wasn't enough room for another passengers larger bag in the overhead storage, they were in normal seating behind. My bag was there first and I stood my ground. It was frankly ridiculous that I should be inconvenienced for someone that should've checked their luggage in.

 

[dylarr]

Why can't they just check your carryon at time of check-in.

My guess is that a majority of the culprits are adverse to checking in anything at all, will do online check-in and head straight to the gate with everything including the kitchen sink in tow. However I find at major ports especially during peak times there is someone weighing carry-on at the security line and sending people who are over to check their bag.

I’m glad Qantas acknowledged the need to improve bag delivery speeds. This is why I prefer carry-on. Any improvements would encourage me to check my bags. I’ve been sending feedback whenever it takes over 30 minutes for bags to arrive (which often happens). The Qantas app’s bag tracking with timestamps makes this easy to prove.

 

[SeaWolf]

Are the people that fly on those airlines not total morons incapable of handling their baggage efficiently or something?

Are you talking about the passengers or the baggage handlers?

 

[milehighclub]

I don’t understand what weighing bags achieves. A small heavy bag isn’t causing any issues.

At one point, passengers bag falling on other passengers was the number 1 injury to passengers, and bags that are over a certain weight are at more risk of causing serious injury. Secondly, overhead lockers have placarded maximum weights which weighing bags ensure it shouldn't be exceeded.

 

[Sabot]

Are you talking about the passengers or the baggage handlers?

Can't it be both?

 

[servicerequired]

About time this occurred, but I have little hope there will be any real changes. Carry on is starting to get out of hand and can slow down the boarding process too.

I still remember flying in economy on a VA flight and I paid additional for extra leg room. The flight attendant then wanted to move my backpack half way down the plane as there wasn't enough room for another passengers larger bag in the overhead storage, they were in normal seating behind. My bag was there first and I stood my ground. It was frankly ridiculous that I should be inconvenienced for someone that should've checked their luggage in.

"carry on is starting to get out of hand and can slow down the boarding process" ... !!

It has been out of hand for years now! It is the number 1 boarding delay / gripe IMO ... it is absolutely ridiculous the size and quantity of cough people jam in the lockers and under the seat.

 

[Happy Dude]

Why can't they just check your carryon at time of check-in.

QF did that to me at LAX once, more than 10 years ago.

That's when I found out why I'd been able to but a Samsonite wheeled cabin bag so cheap. 4kg without anything in it. I still use it for HLO o/n domestic trips. I reckon it's gone 10kgs+ many times but it's never been weighed by an airline here.

 

[PumaPilot]

I flew from Syd-Perth last Thursday. I was in row 5 or 6 and boarded in group 1. Half way through boarding, a man walked past me with 5, yes 5 bags. Many of my flights are delayed as the last PAX struggle to find a place to store there multiple bags. A couple of years ago, Virgin cracked down on it at the gate and I have seen JetStar do the same, Qantas PLS PLS crack down on this behaviour.

 

[SeaWolf]

A couple of years ago, Virgin cracked down on it at the gate

I did see Virgin doing some spot checks at SYD last week for the flight I was on, prior to boarding starting. But again, just weighing the bags, not checking the dimensions or even if the passenger has several of them and no scrutiny of the personal item.

I reckon for most flights you'd be fine if all the roll-aboard go up and all the personal items go down (excepting exit and bulkhead rows of course), but the reality is that most passengers put both up and are often seriously stretching the limits of 'personal item'. I blame the new "no carry on included" fares for this. Once that started up (in the US) it was obvious that luggage companies were going to offer products that would achieve the absolute maximum they could for a personal item and of course we're now seeing more and more people with both a carry on and a personal item that are stretched right to the limit and even beyond it.

 

[PumaPilot]

I did see Virgin doing some spot checks at SYD last week for the flight I was on, prior to boarding starting. But again, just weighing the bags, not checking the dimensions or even if the passenger has several of them and no scrutiny of the personal item.

I reckon for most flights you'd be fine if all the roll-aboard go up and all the personal items go down (excepting exit and bulkhead rows of course), but the reality is that most passengers put both up and are often seriously stretching the limits of 'personal item'. I blame the new "no carry on included" fares for this. Once that started up (in the US) it was obvious that luggage companies were going to offer products that would achieve the absolute maximum they could for a personal item and of course we're now seeing more and more people with both a carry on and a personal item that are stretched right to the limit and even beyond it.

Couldn't agree more. The Lo-Co's drove this attitude, charging an arm and both legs to check a bag in

 

[SeaWolf]

Couldn't agree more. The Lo-Co's drove this attitude, charging an arm and both legs to check a bag in

It's why I don't have much sympathy for the airlines having a crack down on carry-on bags. This is a self made mess. If it wasn't for the airlines penny-pinching (both charging for the bags and cutting costs for baggage handling) then they wouldn't have to worry about the cost of delayed flights due to baggage chaos in the cabin. Supposedly it's about making fares cheaper, but these delays and staff time drive up costs and end up on the ticket price as well.

Inevitably people will look to avoid the charges and the hassle and that means travelling carry-on only, even when a checked bag is really what's required.

Qantas is trying to put a band-aid onto an axe wound, offering things like baggage tracking in the app and Airtag integration to try to paper over the efficiency and reliability issues of their lower cost outsourcers. Having the Qantas app cheerfully inform you that your luggage is in Singapore when you're in Perth (happened to my brother a couple of weeks ago) or that your luggage is at the right airport but is taking an hour to arrive at the carousel, isn't really addressing the issue.