I tend to plan obsessively before our trips. Sharon, my wife, will confirm this in 3… 2… 1.
(Sharon here. OMG, does he plan obsessively before our trips….!)
But when it comes to baggage rules, I don’t think this is wasted effort. I’d rather spend a few minutes checking the rules at home than stand at an airport counter trying to figure out why a bag that was fine for one airline suddenly isn’t fine for another.
That’s especially true when a trip involves multiple airlines.
One Trip, Several Sets Of Rules
For our recent trip to Europe, we weren’t all flying the exact same itinerary. Our flights were operated by United, Austrian, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Our friends were also flying KLM.
That meant I couldn’t just check one airline’s baggage policy and call it done. Each airline had its own rules for carry-on size, carry-on weight, personal items and checked bags.
The goal wasn’t to find the most generous rule. It was to find the rule that would work for every flight.
The Lowest Common Denominator
After comparing everything, the practical trip-wide answer was pretty simple:
- Checked bag: 50 pounds / 23 kg
- Carry-on: 18 pounds / 8 kg
- Carry-on size: 22 x 16 x 9 inches / 55 x 40 x 23 cm
- Personal item: 16 x 12 x 6 inches / 40 x 30 x 15 cm
That worked across the flights we were taking, even though some airlines were more generous than others. United didn’t have a carry-on weight limit for our domestic flight. British Airways was less restrictive. KLM used a combined carry-on and personal item weight limit. Virgin Atlantic allowed 10kg. But Austrian was 8kg for carry-ons, and Austrian’s flight between Frankfurt and Vienna was the one I was most concerned about.
So our flight with Austrian became the rule we followed.
Did They Actually Check?
In hindsight, no one checked our bags for size or weight on this trip.
No one weighed our carry-ons, measured them, or even gave them a second look. We could have packed more loosely and probably would have been fine.
But “probably” is not the standard I want to rely on, because we’ve also had the opposite happen.
Back when we were flying around Australia, our carry-on bags were weighed at the airport. Not glanced at. Not casually eyeballed. Actually weighed. And because some of them were over the limit, we had to pay extra.
That experience stuck with me. It’s easy to assume baggage rules are theoretical until you run into an airline or airport where they are enforced exactly as written.
So even though no one checked on this Europe trip, I don’t think the planning was pointless. It meant I didn’t have to worry about it while we were traveling. We had packed to the strictest reasonable standard, so there was no need to wonder whether a gate agent would suddenly decide to enforce the rules.
And that’s really the benefit.
A Simple Reminder
Before a trip involving multiple airlines, I’d suggest checking:
- The operating airline for each flight
- Carry-on size limits
- Carry-on weight limits
- Personal item rules
- Checked bag weight limits
Then, pack to the lowest common denominator, not the most generous policy.
Final Thought
Airline baggage rules shouldn’t be this complicated, but they often are once multiple airlines are involved.
For our trip to Europe, Austrian’s 8kg carry-on limit became the standard, even though other airlines allowed more. No one ended up checking our bags, but I was still glad I had done the homework.
Sometimes planning ahead doesn’t prevent a problem.
It just lets you stop worrying about one.
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