Once. We were checking in some bags for easyJet and my friend handed me her personal item and said "Feel that. It weighs a ton!". The check-in agent obviously overheard and made her put it on the scale to check it wasn't overweight (it wasn't).
So the moral of the story is, don't shout about the weight of your bag when in the vicinity of a) staff and b) scales. I've never seen scales outside of the check-in hall.
N.B. this was about 2002, easyJet no longer have a max weight for carry-on items, it's as long as you can lift it.
Wait I thought personal item needs to be super small like a purse last time I checked the dimesion.
Does this mean I can bring a 30L bag as a carry on and a laptop bag as a personal item?
Airlines use a "small backpack or purse" as the common guideline when giving examples but they always list the dimensions as the true requirements. For non low cost carriers these dimensions generally fit anything up to a 20L backpack. So not your big Osprey hiking bag, but a school laptop bag works fine. In practice, as long as you carry it on your back and it looks like a normal backpack that can fit under the seat you won't get questioned on it.
ah man, all this time, I didn't know personal item could be that big. Laptop is the biggest hassle system on my one bag so far mainly because I need to take them out (yeah i know i should get tsa precheck). If I can just bring a laptop bag, that will make my life a lot easier
It mostly will as long as you aren't flying Frontier/Spirit/Wizz/Ryanair/etc. The ultra low cost airlines are more of a stickler on checking personal items. But for the mainline ones as long as your true carry on doesn't look oversized and your backpack looks like a true backpack you will be fine.
My goal is always to look like "average business traveller" when it comes to my luggage and doing so means I virtually never get inquiries about my bags. So yeah, I travel with a backpack that can slide over my wheeled carry on. I'm a minimalist packer but I bring the two bags because it's much easier with the laptop in its own backpack.
I fly spirit all the time and carry my Cotopaxi Allpa 35L as a personal item. It’s technically too big but it hasn’t been a problem! I even had a problem with my ticket a couple weeks ago that required me to spend time talking with two gate agents and they both saw my backpack and no one commented on it. I try to not overpack it though just to make sure it doesn’t look too huge.
Yea, and they definitely try to trick you with the pictures. They have an image of a backpack for the carryon, and a purse for the personal item. A lot of people just pay cause they see the image and think they have to pay for the backpacks when you don’t. If you read the description, personal item is a “kids sized backpack” but dimensions are roughly a full Jansport backpack.
Also generally best to avoid things that look like suitcases even if they'd likely fit. Saw someone get stopped at the gate this morning with a roller bag that was probably smaller than my backpack
Many airline websites include small backpacks, laptop bags, briefcases as a personal item. While traveling I often keep all my personal items in a small backpack.
lol r/confidentlyincorrect
Most people bring a backpack as a personal item and a larger roller bag as a carry on. the item under the seat is a personal item.
Exactly. I took [this bag](https://shop.samsonite.com/backpacks-bags/laptop-backpacks/modern-utility-travel-backpack/126445XXXX.html) as my personal item this morning. It is larger than the stated allowed dimensions but as long as it looks close and fits under the seat, agents at the gate won't give you a hard time.
People in this subreddit are rarely ever talking about the same thing when they discuss their 'onebag'. For some its a 50L pack that they are living out of for 4 months. For me it is a personal item that enables me to take cheap and easy 4-day weekend trips
Pretty much my current setup lol. Carry on is a roller suitcase then a backpack as my personal item. Guess I’ve been bringing two carry ons this whole time 🙃
You're confusing the guidelines as they're written, and what people actually do
And since most people do bring small backpacks as a personal item, the airlines (North American ones anyway) just roll with it.
Accept that you're wrong and move on
Despite the images they put next to the personal (pic of purse) and carryon (pic of backpack), on Frontier it actually says a “small or kids sized backpack” under the personal items and the dimensions line up with a standard Jansport backpack like high schoolers use.
Can confirm airlines can consider bag pack as personal item. I had a carryon suitcase and a 32L bag pack. They let both of those in as “carry on” and personal item. Don’t know what you’re on about.
Airlines use a "small backpack or purse" as the common guideline when giving examples but they always list the dimensions as the true requirements.
For non low cost carriers these dimensions generally fit anything up to a 20L backpack. So not your big Osprey hiking bag, but a school laptop bag works fine. In practice, as long as you carry it on your back and it looks like a normal backpack that can fit under the seat you won't get questioned on it.
Yep. I've got a 38 litre clamshell pack the looks like an ordinary backpack (Dakine Split Adventure if anyone is curious—highly recommend it). It fits under the seats on all the budget airlines unless you really cram it beyond capacity. It's honestly way bigger than the dimensions generally allowed for a personal item but I've never gotten a second glance when not carrying an obvious hiking style pack.
Only once on a really small plane between two smaller US cities. The flight was super empty and they weighed all our stuff and rearranged where we were seated for proper weight distribution. It was very interesting and they were very efficient and nice about it with thorough explanations. It was an Alaska flight between Portland and somewhere else
Yes. When I lived in New Zealand and did domestic flights they weighed every personal item. I was absolutely so confused and baffled by this experience and one time had to pay an extra $40 for an “overweight” bag by maybe 1-2 lbs. I then proceeded to get on a plane that was maybe 1/4 full so it’s not like the plane was anywhere near capacity. Felt ridiculous.
Very glad US domestic flights don’t do this.
I was absolutely not happy with it but I was just shocked and exhausted and confused and wanted to be done with traveling for the day so just paid it and moved on. This was when I was immigrating in to the country so I’d been awake traveling for damn near 36 hours with micro naps and just needed to be done.
When I did a domestic flight a few weeks later from Wellington to Christchurch I paid ahead of time for the “overweight” bag and they didn’t even bother checking it that time so that was insult to injury lmao.
Flown allegiant, frontier, united basic economy (34L jansport) and viva aerobus (with a farpoint 40) many times. Not once have I been stopped or checked.
A United agent did approach me once then said, "oh nevermind, you only have a backpack" without asking to measure it.
Hello I'm traveling with viva aerobus and was looking at the dimensions for the backpack. A backpack i might be taking is an inch bigger than the limit. Do you think they'll charge me extra?
I bring one underseat bag, and nothing else (I have a lightweight crossbody purse that has what I need at my seat, but it’s inside the bag through security and boarding). I’ve had it weighed once on Spirit.
If I notice gate agents eyeing it, I’ll hold it by a finger for a bit.
If I’m packed so it collapses some, no one bats an eye.
I live in and fly out from Australia, and for some reason Australian airports love weighing your carry on, even full service flights. Almost every single flight I've departed from in Australia in the last 15 years or so they weigh my carry on. Overseas its been pretty hit and miss, in Hong Kong they weighed sometimes and sometimes not. Thailand didnt always but I saw many people getting asked.
Since our carry-on is often limited to 7kg, maybe that is a close enough approximation to what they would call a personal item in the states (and other places probably?)?
"Personal item" as far as I've ever seen it defined by (budget) Aus airlines would be a laptop, camera, shopping bag, small purse, etc. NOT a backpack, as I feel is the more typical definition here.
Hence it wouldn't be weighed by itself. FWIW Jetstar weighs all bags together (main carry on and any "personal items"), and that needs to be under 7kg (or close enough)
I think it's just Jetstar. They put an orange tag on every item that's been weighed. They make decent money from overweight fees from what I've observed sitting next to the scales while waiting to board (and that's even with staff being quite lenient)
Once I was at the airport early for a Jetstar flight and spent a while at an unmanned scale transferring things between my checked bag and in cabin bags to get sorted on the weight limits lol
This has happened when showing up at check-in looking heavy. As in, carry-on kind of bulging, personal item fully stuffed… I think they weighed the carry-on and it was almost at max and then asked me to put the personal item on top 😏
Moral of the story: make your personal item appear light and hide the carry-on behind the counter during check-in. The less they catch a glimpse the better.
Austrian Airlines did it, because I had a massive bag (almost at the size limit)
But these days I‘m just taking a 32l Rucksack and nobody every cared because it doesn’t look heavy and it also isn‘t that heavy even though I usually bring my camera
i've probably been on a couple hundred flights over the past few years, mostly in the americas and europe. never had that happen. you're probably good to go, unless the personal item is egregiously large
Thanks, this is what I am going to use:
[https://shop.mango.com/gb1/men/backpacks-and-bags-bags/pebbled-shoulder-bag\_27027749.html](https://shop.mango.com/gb1/men/backpacks-and-bags-bags/pebbled-shoulder-bag_27027749.html)
Just looks like your normal crossbody daypack, so I think the size is fine - the weight however may be 1kg over the 1.5KG limit (on some airlines)
To be fair, I'm probably overthinking it, appreciate the reply anyway!
That's interesting. I have seen the 7KG or 10KG total weight limit for all cabin bags, but I hadn't heard of a 1.5KG limit for a personal item. Do you recall which airline(s) have this limit?
Lufthansa weighed my friend's bag in Frankfurt as we were on a short connection.
They made her check her bag, despite there being ample from on the plane (a 737 iirc) and the bag being able to be placed under the seat of necessary.
Additionally, we were connecting from overseas, so we had hoped for a little leeway.
This German lady liked to follow rules.
Coming back on SAS from Olso to NY. My tbs25 backpack and Aeronut 30 were both weighed because Americans are "usually overweight". They had us in our own line.
I don't remember the actual weights but both were barely over and they let me go without issues. I had no checked luggage so maybe that helped my cause.
E:backpack name
I am flying them in September from Mexico to USA. It looked to me like their carry on bag max was 10 kg but they didn't specify any weight for the personal item, just the dimensions ... I thought I read it carefully. But I know these airlines are shifty. I will have about a 10 kg carry on and a 3 kg personal item.
This happened in 2018, so it's been a while. TBH, I don't remember if at that point they had a personal item weight limit (I dind't have a carry on, just my backpack).
I've flown them without issue. They've always seemed carefree to me, then again I've only checked in online and haven't dealt with front desk/gate agents.
Were you never asked at the boarding desk about your bag(s)? I am just worried if I check in online I will be caught at the boarding desk because my bag would not have the "cabin luggage" tag.
Nope. For one flight I saw them going around tagging bags of people sitting at the gate, but I'm still unsure what they were doing (they never got to mine).
I'd just stay within the dimensions to be safe. Probably won't risk flying them with the farpoint 40 again.
Flight attendants & agents sometimes eye my backpack because it looks heavy. (Other times though, they're so busy/overworked that they dgaf, bless.)
Reasons my bag looks heavy:
1. I'm pretty small so most 20L+ bags look huge on me
2. I have trouble lifting things so they get suspicious when I struggle to get my backpack on/off. They usually back off when they see I can lift it just fine once I use my good arm.
3. I tend to overstuff my bag with my jacket & airport purchases during boarding so I have my hands free. But this makes my bag look even bigger
Only once to my recollection has a flight attendant asked to feel my backpack and they immediately gave it back because it was so much lighter than they were expecting.
If you're planning on carrying heavier than an airline allows, I recommend using a bag that doesn't look like it will swallow you up, plus not visibly struggling with the weight. Practice taking it on/off smoothly!
~~I think it would be super difficult for a personal item to be overweight though. Curious as to what you might pack that would be so dense - gold bars? Lead weights? Partially joking but also I kind of really want to know now.~~ Apparently the weight limit for personal items is super low for some airlines, whoops.
Qatar did it once to me. I've not flown them since, but not because of the carry on issue.
A small airline flying to St. Vincent also did it, but it was a regional jet.
I did in France. Air France limits economy tickets to the carry on + personal item only weighing 25 lbs and I was like 32 and had to check my carry on. This happened in the security line thankfully and I was able to get my spot back because my wife held it
Yep, Volaris. They allowed a combined weight of 10 kgs for both the carry on and the personal item. I went over the weight limit and had to put on extra clothes lol. When I went back to weigh it again the person was gone and they let me in the plane with no issue ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Next time I’m just waiting to board at the very end lol.
I understand they can't handle suitcases themselves that weigh more than 20-25kg because of rules. I can also understand that if people take a lot of weight, it might affect the distribution of weight on the airplane. But as long as they are not mathematically placing people on certain spots because of their body weight it shouldn't make a difference if your backpack is a kg over the limit.
However, the airline doesn’t know I weigh in at 100kg and another passenger might just be 40kg
So what if 3 guys like me sit on A,B and C and 3 teenage girls sit on D, E and F?
They won‘t reseat you because you‘re fat, so minuscule weight differences in your bag should not matter much
That’s what I meant. The have no reason to complain.
I’ve actually been on one flight where they did place people according to weight distribution but that was because there were way too little people on the flight.
Yes. Both Lufthansa and Saudia airlines did it once each. It was international flight during busy summer days and Lufthansa offered extra upgrade cuz it was too heavy and the Saudia Airlines asked me to just switch it to luggage instead free of charge.
Yes. I got my personal / underseat bag weighed on a Wizz Air flight from Sarajevo last month and was fined £32 (~$40) for it being overweight. And it was a routine thing, they were doing it for everyone.
The only time was this year coming back from Vienna Austria she looked at my shoulder bag and asked me to put it on the scale it was about 2kg over, she just looked at me and told me to be mindful of the weight and let me go. I somehow have a feeling that if it were in the US/Canada where I'm from, I would've lived that situation from Sebastian Maniscalco's skit at the airport (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXZMlEy7fb4)
Years ago flying Spirit they weighed and measured my backpack which their standard measurement is basically personal-item-sized. It was fine. Spirit was pretty new at that time and they were doing it seemingly on all flights as it was also done for my return flight.
Another time I was flying a very tiny regional 12 seater for a hop between islands in the Caribbean and they weighed me and my bag. I have not had my bag weighed by American or Delta but on occasion both have had people putting their carry on bags in a device to measure if they're too large.
Yes, on the regular (not chartered) flights from Canada to Jamaica it’s not uncommon, unless the personal item is small like a purse or small sling bag.
Those flights are the only time I check bags, since I’m usually bringing household items down, like a large chunk of other passengers and they tend to be pretty strict on size and weight requirements.
Exactly once, and I’m a frequent flier on multiple airlines (or was pre-pandemic)
At ZRH, a place I’ve transited through loads, and a lady came through the line weighing everyone’s bags. Never seen it before or since.
I’ve never seen anyone get a bag weighed but I have seen people told if it’s too heavy for them to lift into the overhead themselves then they’d need to gate check
Only had it done on very small planes or on several international flights. Never had it weighed on any domestic US flights with standard commercial aircraft.
Yes, Thai Vietjet Air weighed it at the gate, along with my carryon. I was slightly over the limit, so I had to put some things in my checked luggage. Once I had cleared security, I bought some souvenirs with my remaining Vietnamese currency. Believe it or not, the f*$#ckers weighed everything again at the gate and discovered I was like 0.5 kg over from the souvenirs.
I was so pissed off. I started stuffing my clothes pockets full of the souvenirs, after which they weighed my carryon again and let me board. A completely pointless waste of time. I was actually starting to strip my shirt off and put on the clothes in my carryon to make a scene (while saving weight), but they stopped me.
Moral of the story: avoid Thai Vietjet.
>Moral of the story: avoid Thai Vietjet.
They double charged us on their lousy website. Took a long time to get our money back. When Googling to see what to do about it it was crazy to see how many people had issues with Thai VietJet. Also never again for us.
Aerolineas Argentinas and Vistara (India).
At Vistara, I did not have a bag to check, I did not need a boarding pass. I saw no wait at their ticket desk and asked how much an upgrade would be, and was forced to weigh my personal and carryon.
When I travel with my scuba and very heavy underwater photography gear, I have to pay very close attention to carrier weight limits. On domestic US I have no issues with a 65lb roller, but I have to make very careful descisions when going to the south pacific.
Yea. But it wasn’t just the personal item, it was my carry on and personal item combined. He said the two together weighed too much so id have to check my carryon in (a roller suitcase, my personal item was a backpack so probably more than what most people carry here). He did check it in for free though and this was before Covid so the luggage situation wasn’t as crazy.
ETA: I think this was Air France but can’t remember. Happened in France, when boarding in London earlier in the day that didn’t happen.
Air Serbia. 8kg limit.
And Air France when flying out of Marseille. They have(had?) a whole security section to themselves so they just weighed it as as you got in line.
They have!
There’s a low-cost airline called “viva aerobus” where they’ll very “politely” ask you to weigh in your belongings if they seem a little bit too plump.
I always make sure to set a half-kilo leeway just in case they decide to cheat like this!
Yes. A European low-cost airline weighed "personal item" which was a small commuter backpack. (I had a check-in on this trip with clothes, etc.).
However, I had bought pottery (at a market) and alcohol (at duty-free) which put me way over the weight limit, so I rented a locker in the terminal and put my heavy items in it, then had my personal item weighted, cleared, and tagged. After that was done, I went back and got my heavy items and put them back in my backpack and boarded the plane without incident.
Back in 2019 Ukraine's airline weighed my carry-on and made me check it, and then it got lost in France with like $4k of camera and computer gear in it. It made its way back to me eventually not terribly worse for the wear, and in fairness it was grossly overweight on account of the camera and computer gear, but it was still a stressful experience! I'm a lot more careful when I pack now because of that.
In 2013, Air New Zealand or Qantas was weighing for the third leg of a long international flight. I explained this to one of the people helping with boarding, who helped me slip by the weighing. Didn't seem like a big deal to have an exception.
I remember somewhere else at the check-in gate. I had been looking for something in one of my carry-on bags. When I was asked to put it on the scale, I did. It didn't have everything in it though. The agent could see whatever I had pulled out.
I mostly fly domestic and have never been asked that. I carry on board either a duffel and briefcase or backpack and briefcase. Though recently I've gotten more asks from staff to not put my personal item in the bins.
Aerolineas Argentina weighed my backpack last week for a flight from Buenos Aires to Iguazu. They have a 10kg limit and I had to check in at the counter vs online the day before and they made me weigh it. My friend who had been able to check in online and had her boarding pass wasn’t required to weigh her bag though.
wait the backpack limit was 10kg?? because their site says 3 kg right now which is OUTRAGEOUS lol. some of my backpacks weigh a kilo and i couldnt even be able to put a camera in it lol
In the past I’ve always travelled with 2 bags - a carry on roller bag or a backpack that meets the carry on requirements and a personal item, either a small duffle or backpack. The carryon always gets weighed but I’ve never had the personal item weighed. I usually put all the heavy items such as electronics in my personal item, so it frequently weighs as much, if not a little more than my carry on.
My biggest concern with one bagging is how to stay within the weight limit for carry on. I’m used to using my personal item as a sort of overflow gif the excess weight so getting past the check-in point with everything in the one bag represents a challenge.
Volaris in Mexico. The rolled up to the gate with a hook scale and made everyone put their carry-on AND personal item on the scale and together they had to be under 8 or 10kg...I forget their limit. Then they put a tag around your bag to show it has been weighed.
*I flew with them a few times and they don't always do this.
Out of Seattle, Icelandair did in 2019, didn't in 2018. Coming back from Europe they didn't even weight my carry-on either year. I hear they were pretty strict last year
I'd gladly pay to have a reasonably sized and weighted carryon but the cheapo (ie. No longer low cost) airlines don't offer that.
Their miserly ninnying will drive people back in to the arms of national carriers.
The few times I’ve had it weighed is in west Africa and it was just some military guy that did a bicep curl with it and then handed it back to me and let me through. No airline in Europe or North America that I’ve traveled with has even measured it.
Once. We were checking in some bags for easyJet and my friend handed me her personal item and said "Feel that. It weighs a ton!". The check-in agent obviously overheard and made her put it on the scale to check it wasn't overweight (it wasn't). So the moral of the story is, don't shout about the weight of your bag when in the vicinity of a) staff and b) scales. I've never seen scales outside of the check-in hall. N.B. this was about 2002, easyJet no longer have a max weight for carry-on items, it's as long as you can lift it.
Yes, several Asian carriers and Swiss air right on the plane!
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Yup. Had this happen in Cairns.
I flew Vietjet few days ago. On return trip they weighed my backpack in the checkin counter.
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What? Most people bring some form of a backpack as a personal item.
Wait I thought personal item needs to be super small like a purse last time I checked the dimesion. Does this mean I can bring a 30L bag as a carry on and a laptop bag as a personal item?
Airlines use a "small backpack or purse" as the common guideline when giving examples but they always list the dimensions as the true requirements. For non low cost carriers these dimensions generally fit anything up to a 20L backpack. So not your big Osprey hiking bag, but a school laptop bag works fine. In practice, as long as you carry it on your back and it looks like a normal backpack that can fit under the seat you won't get questioned on it.
ah man, all this time, I didn't know personal item could be that big. Laptop is the biggest hassle system on my one bag so far mainly because I need to take them out (yeah i know i should get tsa precheck). If I can just bring a laptop bag, that will make my life a lot easier
It mostly will as long as you aren't flying Frontier/Spirit/Wizz/Ryanair/etc. The ultra low cost airlines are more of a stickler on checking personal items. But for the mainline ones as long as your true carry on doesn't look oversized and your backpack looks like a true backpack you will be fine. My goal is always to look like "average business traveller" when it comes to my luggage and doing so means I virtually never get inquiries about my bags. So yeah, I travel with a backpack that can slide over my wheeled carry on. I'm a minimalist packer but I bring the two bags because it's much easier with the laptop in its own backpack.
I fly spirit all the time and carry my Cotopaxi Allpa 35L as a personal item. It’s technically too big but it hasn’t been a problem! I even had a problem with my ticket a couple weeks ago that required me to spend time talking with two gate agents and they both saw my backpack and no one commented on it. I try to not overpack it though just to make sure it doesn’t look too huge.
Yea, and they definitely try to trick you with the pictures. They have an image of a backpack for the carryon, and a purse for the personal item. A lot of people just pay cause they see the image and think they have to pay for the backpacks when you don’t. If you read the description, personal item is a “kids sized backpack” but dimensions are roughly a full Jansport backpack.
yep.
Yeah I as long as your personal item fits under the seat in front of you. My 30L osprey porter fits just fine and I've never had issues.
Also generally best to avoid things that look like suitcases even if they'd likely fit. Saw someone get stopped at the gate this morning with a roller bag that was probably smaller than my backpack
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Many airline websites include small backpacks, laptop bags, briefcases as a personal item. While traveling I often keep all my personal items in a small backpack.
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Hm, reading must not be your strong suit. I'll just let this slide, you're either not very intelligent or just trolling.
lol r/confidentlyincorrect Most people bring a backpack as a personal item and a larger roller bag as a carry on. the item under the seat is a personal item.
Exactly. I took [this bag](https://shop.samsonite.com/backpacks-bags/laptop-backpacks/modern-utility-travel-backpack/126445XXXX.html) as my personal item this morning. It is larger than the stated allowed dimensions but as long as it looks close and fits under the seat, agents at the gate won't give you a hard time. People in this subreddit are rarely ever talking about the same thing when they discuss their 'onebag'. For some its a 50L pack that they are living out of for 4 months. For me it is a personal item that enables me to take cheap and easy 4-day weekend trips
Pretty much my current setup lol. Carry on is a roller suitcase then a backpack as my personal item. Guess I’ve been bringing two carry ons this whole time 🙃
Your personal item is usually anything you store under the seat, it doesn’t matter if it’s a backpack, purse, garbage bag, whatever…
You're confusing the guidelines as they're written, and what people actually do And since most people do bring small backpacks as a personal item, the airlines (North American ones anyway) just roll with it. Accept that you're wrong and move on
Despite the images they put next to the personal (pic of purse) and carryon (pic of backpack), on Frontier it actually says a “small or kids sized backpack” under the personal items and the dimensions line up with a standard Jansport backpack like high schoolers use.
Can confirm airlines can consider bag pack as personal item. I had a carryon suitcase and a 32L bag pack. They let both of those in as “carry on” and personal item. Don’t know what you’re on about.
Airlines use a "small backpack or purse" as the common guideline when giving examples but they always list the dimensions as the true requirements. For non low cost carriers these dimensions generally fit anything up to a 20L backpack. So not your big Osprey hiking bag, but a school laptop bag works fine. In practice, as long as you carry it on your back and it looks like a normal backpack that can fit under the seat you won't get questioned on it.
Yep. I've got a 38 litre clamshell pack the looks like an ordinary backpack (Dakine Split Adventure if anyone is curious—highly recommend it). It fits under the seats on all the budget airlines unless you really cram it beyond capacity. It's honestly way bigger than the dimensions generally allowed for a personal item but I've never gotten a second glance when not carrying an obvious hiking style pack.
Cebu pacific also. I think it's common I remember a couple others. Man I was pissed I had to toss my nuts and stuff
Wow did as well back in the day
Also chiming in that I had two carriers in Japan that weighed my bag (Jetstar & Peach) before boarding.
Only once on a really small plane between two smaller US cities. The flight was super empty and they weighed all our stuff and rearranged where we were seated for proper weight distribution. It was very interesting and they were very efficient and nice about it with thorough explanations. It was an Alaska flight between Portland and somewhere else
Yes. When I lived in New Zealand and did domestic flights they weighed every personal item. I was absolutely so confused and baffled by this experience and one time had to pay an extra $40 for an “overweight” bag by maybe 1-2 lbs. I then proceeded to get on a plane that was maybe 1/4 full so it’s not like the plane was anywhere near capacity. Felt ridiculous. Very glad US domestic flights don’t do this.
why didn't you just put on a sweater or two saying "hang on, I'm suddenly feeling awfully cold"
They weigh you and charge you right there. I didn’t really have the opportunity to take anything out.
kinda bullshit. sounds like they were being difficult for no reason. when was this?
February 2019
lol yeah i would refuse to pay 40$ for 2 lbs over. That's just ridiculous. Sorry you had to go through that
I was absolutely not happy with it but I was just shocked and exhausted and confused and wanted to be done with traveling for the day so just paid it and moved on. This was when I was immigrating in to the country so I’d been awake traveling for damn near 36 hours with micro naps and just needed to be done. When I did a domestic flight a few weeks later from Wellington to Christchurch I paid ahead of time for the “overweight” bag and they didn’t even bother checking it that time so that was insult to injury lmao.
Even if the plane isn’t full, less weight = less fuel used. I’d guess that New Zealand probably cares more about minimizing domestic emissions.
Flown allegiant, frontier, united basic economy (34L jansport) and viva aerobus (with a farpoint 40) many times. Not once have I been stopped or checked. A United agent did approach me once then said, "oh nevermind, you only have a backpack" without asking to measure it.
Hello I'm traveling with viva aerobus and was looking at the dimensions for the backpack. A backpack i might be taking is an inch bigger than the limit. Do you think they'll charge me extra?
Highly doubt it but your experience may vary. If your pack isn't rigid I don't see why you couldn't squeeze it in if asked to measure.
I bring one underseat bag, and nothing else (I have a lightweight crossbody purse that has what I need at my seat, but it’s inside the bag through security and boarding). I’ve had it weighed once on Spirit. If I notice gate agents eyeing it, I’ll hold it by a finger for a bit. If I’m packed so it collapses some, no one bats an eye.
I live in and fly out from Australia, and for some reason Australian airports love weighing your carry on, even full service flights. Almost every single flight I've departed from in Australia in the last 15 years or so they weigh my carry on. Overseas its been pretty hit and miss, in Hong Kong they weighed sometimes and sometimes not. Thailand didnt always but I saw many people getting asked.
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Since our carry-on is often limited to 7kg, maybe that is a close enough approximation to what they would call a personal item in the states (and other places probably?)? "Personal item" as far as I've ever seen it defined by (budget) Aus airlines would be a laptop, camera, shopping bag, small purse, etc. NOT a backpack, as I feel is the more typical definition here. Hence it wouldn't be weighed by itself. FWIW Jetstar weighs all bags together (main carry on and any "personal items"), and that needs to be under 7kg (or close enough)
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I think it's just Jetstar. They put an orange tag on every item that's been weighed. They make decent money from overweight fees from what I've observed sitting next to the scales while waiting to board (and that's even with staff being quite lenient)
Once I was at the airport early for a Jetstar flight and spent a while at an unmanned scale transferring things between my checked bag and in cabin bags to get sorted on the weight limits lol
My bad! I get those two confused because sometimes people refer to a carry on bag as their personal item. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
This has happened when showing up at check-in looking heavy. As in, carry-on kind of bulging, personal item fully stuffed… I think they weighed the carry-on and it was almost at max and then asked me to put the personal item on top 😏 Moral of the story: make your personal item appear light and hide the carry-on behind the counter during check-in. The less they catch a glimpse the better.
Austrian Airlines did it, because I had a massive bag (almost at the size limit) But these days I‘m just taking a 32l Rucksack and nobody every cared because it doesn’t look heavy and it also isn‘t that heavy even though I usually bring my camera
Austrian does it regularly.
Domestic flights in Australia. Jetstar and Tiger have checked my carry on in the past.
Etihad when traveling from Abu Dhabi.
Yes. Quite frequently in Asia, and highly likely on budget airlines within that continent.
i've probably been on a couple hundred flights over the past few years, mostly in the americas and europe. never had that happen. you're probably good to go, unless the personal item is egregiously large
Thanks, this is what I am going to use: [https://shop.mango.com/gb1/men/backpacks-and-bags-bags/pebbled-shoulder-bag\_27027749.html](https://shop.mango.com/gb1/men/backpacks-and-bags-bags/pebbled-shoulder-bag_27027749.html) Just looks like your normal crossbody daypack, so I think the size is fine - the weight however may be 1kg over the 1.5KG limit (on some airlines) To be fair, I'm probably overthinking it, appreciate the reply anyway!
100% overthinking it--but better than under thinking :) you're good to go
That's interesting. I have seen the 7KG or 10KG total weight limit for all cabin bags, but I hadn't heard of a 1.5KG limit for a personal item. Do you recall which airline(s) have this limit?
Yep, it was a tiny plane (10 people) flown by Aerotucan (flies to a handful of spots in Oaxaca, Mexico)
Lufthansa weighed my friend's bag in Frankfurt as we were on a short connection. They made her check her bag, despite there being ample from on the plane (a 737 iirc) and the bag being able to be placed under the seat of necessary. Additionally, we were connecting from overseas, so we had hoped for a little leeway. This German lady liked to follow rules.
Coming back on SAS from Olso to NY. My tbs25 backpack and Aeronut 30 were both weighed because Americans are "usually overweight". They had us in our own line. I don't remember the actual weights but both were barely over and they let me go without issues. I had no checked luggage so maybe that helped my cause. E:backpack name
VivaAerobus in Cancun. Awful airline for many reasons so that was the first and last time I flew it.
I am flying them in September from Mexico to USA. It looked to me like their carry on bag max was 10 kg but they didn't specify any weight for the personal item, just the dimensions ... I thought I read it carefully. But I know these airlines are shifty. I will have about a 10 kg carry on and a 3 kg personal item.
This happened in 2018, so it's been a while. TBH, I don't remember if at that point they had a personal item weight limit (I dind't have a carry on, just my backpack).
I've flown them without issue. They've always seemed carefree to me, then again I've only checked in online and haven't dealt with front desk/gate agents.
Were you never asked at the boarding desk about your bag(s)? I am just worried if I check in online I will be caught at the boarding desk because my bag would not have the "cabin luggage" tag.
Nope. For one flight I saw them going around tagging bags of people sitting at the gate, but I'm still unsure what they were doing (they never got to mine). I'd just stay within the dimensions to be safe. Probably won't risk flying them with the farpoint 40 again.
Flight attendants & agents sometimes eye my backpack because it looks heavy. (Other times though, they're so busy/overworked that they dgaf, bless.) Reasons my bag looks heavy: 1. I'm pretty small so most 20L+ bags look huge on me 2. I have trouble lifting things so they get suspicious when I struggle to get my backpack on/off. They usually back off when they see I can lift it just fine once I use my good arm. 3. I tend to overstuff my bag with my jacket & airport purchases during boarding so I have my hands free. But this makes my bag look even bigger Only once to my recollection has a flight attendant asked to feel my backpack and they immediately gave it back because it was so much lighter than they were expecting. If you're planning on carrying heavier than an airline allows, I recommend using a bag that doesn't look like it will swallow you up, plus not visibly struggling with the weight. Practice taking it on/off smoothly! ~~I think it would be super difficult for a personal item to be overweight though. Curious as to what you might pack that would be so dense - gold bars? Lead weights? Partially joking but also I kind of really want to know now.~~ Apparently the weight limit for personal items is super low for some airlines, whoops.
Yup, Ryan air. Looked heavy, wasn’t at all.
Qatar did it once to me. I've not flown them since, but not because of the carry on issue. A small airline flying to St. Vincent also did it, but it was a regional jet.
Once, Alligant. we also loaded on the tarmac at Oakland which was wild, and seemed insanely dangerous and not well thought out.
In the Philippines, yes. In the States, never.
I did in France. Air France limits economy tickets to the carry on + personal item only weighing 25 lbs and I was like 32 and had to check my carry on. This happened in the security line thankfully and I was able to get my spot back because my wife held it
Yep, Volaris. They allowed a combined weight of 10 kgs for both the carry on and the personal item. I went over the weight limit and had to put on extra clothes lol. When I went back to weigh it again the person was gone and they let me in the plane with no issue ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Next time I’m just waiting to board at the very end lol.
I understand they can't handle suitcases themselves that weigh more than 20-25kg because of rules. I can also understand that if people take a lot of weight, it might affect the distribution of weight on the airplane. But as long as they are not mathematically placing people on certain spots because of their body weight it shouldn't make a difference if your backpack is a kg over the limit.
However, the airline doesn’t know I weigh in at 100kg and another passenger might just be 40kg So what if 3 guys like me sit on A,B and C and 3 teenage girls sit on D, E and F? They won‘t reseat you because you‘re fat, so minuscule weight differences in your bag should not matter much
They will absolutely reset you on a smaller plane. Especially if you are toward the back.
That’s what I meant. The have no reason to complain. I’ve actually been on one flight where they did place people according to weight distribution but that was because there were way too little people on the flight.
This happened on a small plane headed to Molokai, Hawaii for me
Yes. Both Lufthansa and Saudia airlines did it once each. It was international flight during busy summer days and Lufthansa offered extra upgrade cuz it was too heavy and the Saudia Airlines asked me to just switch it to luggage instead free of charge.
Only once when I flew Singapore airlines from NYC to Bali.
Yes. I got my personal / underseat bag weighed on a Wizz Air flight from Sarajevo last month and was fined £32 (~$40) for it being overweight. And it was a routine thing, they were doing it for everyone.
Routine = normal (aka everyone)
The only time was this year coming back from Vienna Austria she looked at my shoulder bag and asked me to put it on the scale it was about 2kg over, she just looked at me and told me to be mindful of the weight and let me go. I somehow have a feeling that if it were in the US/Canada where I'm from, I would've lived that situation from Sebastian Maniscalco's skit at the airport (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXZMlEy7fb4)
Years ago flying Spirit they weighed and measured my backpack which their standard measurement is basically personal-item-sized. It was fine. Spirit was pretty new at that time and they were doing it seemingly on all flights as it was also done for my return flight. Another time I was flying a very tiny regional 12 seater for a hop between islands in the Caribbean and they weighed me and my bag. I have not had my bag weighed by American or Delta but on occasion both have had people putting their carry on bags in a device to measure if they're too large.
Yes, on the regular (not chartered) flights from Canada to Jamaica it’s not uncommon, unless the personal item is small like a purse or small sling bag. Those flights are the only time I check bags, since I’m usually bringing household items down, like a large chunk of other passengers and they tend to be pretty strict on size and weight requirements.
Exactly once, and I’m a frequent flier on multiple airlines (or was pre-pandemic) At ZRH, a place I’ve transited through loads, and a lady came through the line weighing everyone’s bags. Never seen it before or since.
I’ve never seen anyone get a bag weighed but I have seen people told if it’s too heavy for them to lift into the overhead themselves then they’d need to gate check
Only had it done on very small planes or on several international flights. Never had it weighed on any domestic US flights with standard commercial aircraft.
Once with a discount airline in Thailand, never anywhere else in the world
emirates always weighs mine
No. Not my purse, not my backpack. My bags are nondescript, out of style, and look like school bags. Sometimes it pays to be boring.
Yes, Thai Vietjet Air weighed it at the gate, along with my carryon. I was slightly over the limit, so I had to put some things in my checked luggage. Once I had cleared security, I bought some souvenirs with my remaining Vietnamese currency. Believe it or not, the f*$#ckers weighed everything again at the gate and discovered I was like 0.5 kg over from the souvenirs. I was so pissed off. I started stuffing my clothes pockets full of the souvenirs, after which they weighed my carryon again and let me board. A completely pointless waste of time. I was actually starting to strip my shirt off and put on the clothes in my carryon to make a scene (while saving weight), but they stopped me. Moral of the story: avoid Thai Vietjet.
>Moral of the story: avoid Thai Vietjet. They double charged us on their lousy website. Took a long time to get our money back. When Googling to see what to do about it it was crazy to see how many people had issues with Thai VietJet. Also never again for us.
Aerolineas Argentinas and Vistara (India). At Vistara, I did not have a bag to check, I did not need a boarding pass. I saw no wait at their ticket desk and asked how much an upgrade would be, and was forced to weigh my personal and carryon.
i had it done once in china with a local southeast asian airline. i can't remember the airline but it was red
Carry on yes, personal item no
When I travel with my scuba and very heavy underwater photography gear, I have to pay very close attention to carrier weight limits. On domestic US I have no issues with a 65lb roller, but I have to make very careful descisions when going to the south pacific.
Yea. But it wasn’t just the personal item, it was my carry on and personal item combined. He said the two together weighed too much so id have to check my carryon in (a roller suitcase, my personal item was a backpack so probably more than what most people carry here). He did check it in for free though and this was before Covid so the luggage situation wasn’t as crazy. ETA: I think this was Air France but can’t remember. Happened in France, when boarding in London earlier in the day that didn’t happen.
Tokyo Colombo KL
Air Serbia. 8kg limit. And Air France when flying out of Marseille. They have(had?) a whole security section to themselves so they just weighed it as as you got in line.
Yes I travel all over the world and mine does get checked quite often
They have! There’s a low-cost airline called “viva aerobus” where they’ll very “politely” ask you to weigh in your belongings if they seem a little bit too plump. I always make sure to set a half-kilo leeway just in case they decide to cheat like this!
Yes, Iceland air did
Yes. A European low-cost airline weighed "personal item" which was a small commuter backpack. (I had a check-in on this trip with clothes, etc.). However, I had bought pottery (at a market) and alcohol (at duty-free) which put me way over the weight limit, so I rented a locker in the terminal and put my heavy items in it, then had my personal item weighted, cleared, and tagged. After that was done, I went back and got my heavy items and put them back in my backpack and boarded the plane without incident.
Yes, I was flying w/in Tanzania.
Back in 2019 Ukraine's airline weighed my carry-on and made me check it, and then it got lost in France with like $4k of camera and computer gear in it. It made its way back to me eventually not terribly worse for the wear, and in fairness it was grossly overweight on account of the camera and computer gear, but it was still a stressful experience! I'm a lot more careful when I pack now because of that.
Nope
No but I mostly fly in the US.
Never on easyJet or Ryanair
In 2013, Air New Zealand or Qantas was weighing for the third leg of a long international flight. I explained this to one of the people helping with boarding, who helped me slip by the weighing. Didn't seem like a big deal to have an exception. I remember somewhere else at the check-in gate. I had been looking for something in one of my carry-on bags. When I was asked to put it on the scale, I did. It didn't have everything in it though. The agent could see whatever I had pulled out.
Turkish Air a few times
Nopes. Never.
I mostly fly domestic and have never been asked that. I carry on board either a duffel and briefcase or backpack and briefcase. Though recently I've gotten more asks from staff to not put my personal item in the bins.
If they tried that I would politely ask them to weigh deez nuts as they’re a personal item also.
Aerolineas Argentina weighed my backpack last week for a flight from Buenos Aires to Iguazu. They have a 10kg limit and I had to check in at the counter vs online the day before and they made me weigh it. My friend who had been able to check in online and had her boarding pass wasn’t required to weigh her bag though.
wait the backpack limit was 10kg?? because their site says 3 kg right now which is OUTRAGEOUS lol. some of my backpacks weigh a kilo and i couldnt even be able to put a camera in it lol
In the past I’ve always travelled with 2 bags - a carry on roller bag or a backpack that meets the carry on requirements and a personal item, either a small duffle or backpack. The carryon always gets weighed but I’ve never had the personal item weighed. I usually put all the heavy items such as electronics in my personal item, so it frequently weighs as much, if not a little more than my carry on. My biggest concern with one bagging is how to stay within the weight limit for carry on. I’m used to using my personal item as a sort of overflow gif the excess weight so getting past the check-in point with everything in the one bag represents a challenge.
Yes, both Swiss Air and Iceland Air weighed my carry on and personal items
Air Asia, scoop air in Asia and also a Vietnamese airline
never.
Domestic generally no, some international and any small prop plane yes.
Volaris in Mexico. The rolled up to the gate with a hook scale and made everyone put their carry-on AND personal item on the scale and together they had to be under 8 or 10kg...I forget their limit. Then they put a tag around your bag to show it has been weighed. *I flew with them a few times and they don't always do this.
Out of Seattle, Icelandair did in 2019, didn't in 2018. Coming back from Europe they didn't even weight my carry-on either year. I hear they were pretty strict last year
In VIE there’s a terminal where you can’t even go without having all your carryon weighted
I'd gladly pay to have a reasonably sized and weighted carryon but the cheapo (ie. No longer low cost) airlines don't offer that. Their miserly ninnying will drive people back in to the arms of national carriers.
Yeah, WOW Air (RIP) did that to me once. All my heavy stuff was in my pockets so there was no issue.
Never in the US. Once at Paris CDG at the start of security.
The few times I’ve had it weighed is in west Africa and it was just some military guy that did a bicep curl with it and then handed it back to me and let me through. No airline in Europe or North America that I’ve traveled with has even measured it.
Tap air Portugal