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Air Canada Carry-On Baggage Blitz


Kip Powick

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Don't you think this may cause problems: offering to gate check bags for free while others paid? Really, why would I pay to check one when I can do it for free at the gate?

Sorry for the late reply, this may have already been answered......

Yes I know that may cause problems. I also know customers are entitled to bring on carry-on baggage free-of-charge. I'm guessing that it will be gate checked for free if you fall within the carryon allowance and if it fits in the sizing device. Over the allowance or too big may result in a charge. I don't know - not really my area of expertise.

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Earlier in this thread it was suggested that oversized carry-ons should be stopped at security. That is a non-starter, IMHO. First of all, security has more than enough power already without making them the baggage police too. Second, not all carry-on baggage policies are identical. The templates for some regional airplanes is smaller than for larger aircraft. How would security know which type of aircraft I am flying on? And last but not least, the responsibility lies with the carrier, full stop. Proper enforcement at check-in would solve many of the problems people are complaining about.

My hope is that WestJet is and will be providing additional staff to "police" carry on baggage before it gets through security. Whether that means staging someone at security or by providing additional agents down by the gates - this has to become the new reality. You can't offload this until boarding has started.

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AC is doing similar now with CBSA. It is so far on a trial basis and is limited to LAX-YYZ flights, but pax connecting onwards within Canada no longer need to claim their bags at YYZ in most cases.

WS will be doing a similar trial on flights between SNA and YVR towards the end of October.

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Though Air Canada was late out of the gate with the Gouge, waiting one whole week till following suit with the new charge, they quickly took the bad guy lead with the new "hmmmph, this is bullxxxx, I'll never fly AC again, next time it's WestJet." They just couldn't help themselves. They will now properly warn and train all those new WestJet customers, who will make sure they are in compliance for their next trip on the Competition. Way to go WJ, I'd say this is what you had planned all along, very clever. :)

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After reading this all over again am I ever glad my current professional interest is in helicopters. If doing something that is going to antagonize everybody is such a logistical nightmare. Just don't do it.

Meanwhile I'm trying to repair my dad's little hard shell carry-on suitcase that was destroyed after being gate checked by Alaska Airlines. A nice nine inch crack on the side from someone very heavy being stacked on it.

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One of the more efficient trips I went on was a Disney resort trip. My Baggage Tags arrived in the mail several weeks before the trip. The bags were Tagged for Disney in advance then tagged by the airline when checked in. I did not see my bags again until I got to my room at the resort where they were sitting nicely in the room when I checked in. Made for a great experience at the airport.

One of my friends wives tried this after traveling directly from a business trip to Baltimore in January to a family holiday in Arizona and shipped her bag of winter clothing home by FedEx, but she ultimately told FedEx they could throw her luggage away because she wasn't paying $300 in brokerage to get her dirty laundry back.

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If doing something that is going to antagonize everybody is such a logistical nightmare. Just don't do it.

I don't think the enforcement of cabin baggage limits antagonizes everyone. It antagonizes travellers who choose to ignore the baggage policies of the airline(s) they're travelling on. It is sometimes messy and that's unfortunate, but the economics of the industry have made it necessary.

Let's hope that we some day think up a better way to operate. Until then, travellers will have to live with the current system just as airlines have to live with the fact that travellers aren't willing to pay for a different one.

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The Russians had it figured out way before the rest.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyushin_Il-86

The "Luggage at hand" system[edit]

The Soviet solution to the airport capacity issue involved passengers loading and unloading their own luggage into and from the aircraft. This was eventually called "the luggage at hand system" (Russian: "система «багаж с собой»"; transliterated: "sistyema bagazh s soboy").[12] Soviet aviation journalist Kim Bakshmi described it (at its ultimate) thus: "One arrives five minutes prior to departure, buys oneself a ticket on board the aircraft, hangs one's coat next to the seat and places one's bag or suitcase nearby.".[13]

Taking suitcases into the cabin, as in trains, was studied, but necessitated a 3 m fuselage extension with a 350-seat capacity.[14] To avoid this, passengers were to deposit their luggage in underfloor compartments as they entered the airliner.

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But if there are different COB limits between carriers / airplane types, which size do you choose as the limit? If you default to the largest one, some people will have their bag rejected when they get to the gate anyways. If you default to the smallest, bags that would otherwise be acceptable would be rejected by someone who has no business enforcing the policy in the first place.

As for the home / kiosk check-ins (good point!), the way to solve that one is to force them to check a box to certify that their carry-on is within the prescribed limit, with the understanding that any bag which is subsequently found to be too large will result in a $50 fee to gate check it.

Carryon bag limits for each of the three main domestic airlines:

Air Canada: http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelinfo/airport/baggage/carry-on.html

WestJet: http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/travel/basics/baggage/carry-on.shtml

Porter: https://www.flyporter.com/Travel/Baggage-Allowance-Carry-On?culture=en-CA

Do you see the difference? I don't see the difference.

Bottom line there is only about 5mm to 2cm difference between the airlines. The sizer could go onto the CATSA xray machines, this would enforce compliance as pax would be SOL, cannot get around security requirements.

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The Soviet solution to the airport capacity issue involved passengers loading and unloading their own luggage into and from the aircraft. This was eventually called "the luggage at hand system" (Russian: "система «багаж с собой»"; transliterated: "sistyema bagazh s soboy").[12] Soviet aviation journalist Kim Bakshmi described it (at its ultimate) thus: "One arrives five minutes prior to departure, buys oneself a ticket on board the aircraft, hangs one's coat next to the seat and places one's bag or suitcase nearby.".[13]

Taking suitcases into the cabin, as in trains, was studied, but necessitated a 3 m fuselage extension with a 350-seat capacity.[14] To avoid this, passengers were to deposit their luggage in underfloor compartments as they entered the airliner.

I was on one aging Aeroflot aircraft from Moscow to St Petersburg and you walked into the aircraft on a lower floor and there were luggage racks for your carry on bags right in front of you. You then walked up either forward or aft staircases and went up and took your seat.

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I worked as a waiter at a restaurant where the owner decided he was going to charge 10 cents for the little packet of jam when someone ordered toast so instead of $1.60 for toast with "free" jam it was $1.50 for toast and 10 cents extra if you wanted jam - what a nightmare. This kind of BS angers people far beyond the cost.

Words of wisdom!

I'm pretty moderate but at that point I stand up and walk out the door. Same as the 20% added gratuity at restaurants and the 10% fee for "shop supplies" car dealerships have been adding to repair bills. I won't do it and I won't pay it and I tell them upfront. I guess it's a matter of clout though. My entire extended family has bought cars at the same dealership for a very long time and they know we will come back. "Shop supplies" is a deal killer and they know it.

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Had a mechanic take my fuel line off of the filter at the carburetor on one of my boat's engines. He put a small rag, ( about 6 inches by 4 inches folded in two) under the joint just before he pulled the metal line out (said he didn't want raw fuel to dribble on the engine).

The bill indicated $20.00 -Shop -Supplies

As well he charged me an extra hour at the boat where as my on-board GPS had me docked on an island at the time he said he was in the marina fixing the engine.

Complained to his boss at the marina......= $120.00 .......plus tax.......... refund.

I watch anyone I'm paying where the job is charged by the hour.....(iPhone takes great photos of arrival time and departure times) :glare:

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the reasons above are why I do all my maintenance myself. My motorcycle engine needs a bit of work, the quote from the shop "just buy a new engine" thats runs about $1000 USED. Do the work myself = 4 hours of my time and $200 in parts.

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I am all for calling out the clowns that make these absurd decisions, not unlike the Captain being forbidden to carry 110 ml's of toothpaste. Some "clipboard monkey" that doesn't have an ounce of common sense. Anyone carrying an Instrument on my flight gets my personal attention, I see to it that it finds a nice safe place to be stored.

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