Airlines are strict about carry-on sizes. But what happens if the sizer at the airport is actually smaller than what the airline says is allowed?
As airlines began charging for checked baggage, more people have tried to pack everything into their carry-on and personal bags. But with more “stuff” in the overhead bins, there’s less room for everyone’s carry-on bags.
Different airlines have handled this dilemma in different ways. Some allow you to check your carry-on bag, for free, at the gate. Others will make you check it, for a surcharge.
Regardless of their respective policies in terms of paying for gate checked bags, nearly all airlines have become super stringent about the size of those carry-on bags. Most of them have sizers at the gate that match whatever they say are their maximum measurements — and if your bag doesn’t fit, your carry-on bag will probably have to be checked.
But what if the sizer doesn’t match the measurements on the website and is, in fact, smaller?
That’s exactly what Andre Grondin, a resident of Alberta, Canada discovered when he was checking the size of his luggage before boarding a Flair Airlines plane last week.
The Bag Fit The Rules. The Sizer Didn’t
Founded in 2005, Flair Airlines touts itself as being Canada’s leading independent carrier. Based in Edmonton, the airline flies to 36 different airports in 5 countries (Canada, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico and the United States).
Flair’s website says that the limits for carry-on baggage are 23cm x 40cm x 55cm, or 9in x 15.5″ x 21.5″, with a weight limit of 10kg (22 pounds). They do charge (in Canadian dollars, of course) for a carry-on bag:
- Online Check-in and Airport (less than 24 hours before departure): $49-$97 + taxes* per flight, per passenger
- Gate: Up to $109 + taxes per flight, per passenger
They also note that “If a Carry-on Bag is deemed too large or too heavy to fly as a Carry-on, it will be checked at an additional fee of $55 – $85 + taxes per flight, per customer.”
Grondin had flown on Flair Airlines several times before and had to pay a $78 oversize fee about a half dozen times. So he commissioned a piece of carry-on luggage that was slightly smaller than the airline’s maximum requirements, to ensure the hard-sided bag would fit in the sizer.
But when he tried to fit his custom-made luggage into the sizer at Edmonton International Airport last April, it was too big and didn’t fit. His bag was roughly 1/8″ smaller than Flair’s maximum size, yet it still didn’t fit.
Grondin told CTV News that he contacted Flair to let them know but was “sent down some rabbit hole with no real response or no real solutions,” which left him “extremely frustrated.”
CTV News contacted Flair about the measurement discrepancy; the airline said they had reviewed Grondin’s case and decided his experience “fell short of our standard.”
With that, a Flair spokesperson said they have “initiated a network-wide audit of all baggage sizers to verify that their internal dimensions align with our published allowances and to address any wear or damage.”
“We are taking steps to ensure greater consistency across our network,” they continued.
Meanwhile, Grondin said he was contacted by the airline last week. They said in their email they will offer him a refund but Grondin still isn’t happy. He thinks it’s “better than nothing,” but also “too little, too late.”
“There’s still been a lot of people who have paid for their mistakes at this point,” said Grondin. “They’ve had this system in place for how long and how many thousands of people have paid this fee?”
Grondin also shared that the airline suggested in its email that the sizers were “damaged,” which was why their sizing was off.
“I don’t believe that to be the case. There’s nothing damaged about that sizing rack,” he told CTV. “Any of their racks I’ve ever seen are the same.”
Flair’s Response Raises Even More Questions
From CTV:
The Canadian Transportation Agency, an independent federal regulator and quasi-judicial tribunal on several modes of transportation including air travel, told CTV News Edmonton in an email if a passenger believes an airline has breached terms and conditions such as those regarding charges for oversized baggage, they could file a complaint to the agency for consideration of “whether or not the airline failed to apply its tariff and any expenses incurred by the passenger as a result.”
A government agency siding with travelers? How refreshing!
But meanwhile, if the sizer really is smaller than advertised, it raises a bigger question: how many travelers have paid fees they shouldn’t have?
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
