From the Qantas Web site:
Carry-on baggage should be kept as light as possible as there are considerable distances to walk upon arrival or departure at some airports. However you should carry fragile and valuable items, such as electronic equipment (including laptops, mobile phones), cameras, cash, keys and jewellery etc. in your carry-on baggage.
You should also take any essential medication and prescriptions on board with you.
Personal articles such as an overcoat, handbag, umbrella, walking stick, small camera, duty free items and some reading matter for the flight may be carried in the cabin.
All of this plus my iPod, noise-cancelling headphones, book, crossword puzzle book and pencil, kleenex, chapstick, and eyedrops must fit in one 1 x 115cm (45in) bag, weighing no more than 7kg (15lb). My bag, which is small, not 45 inches, weighs 6.5 pounds EMPTY. And this does NOT include my CPAP. On American carriers, CPAP machines are considered medical devices and are 'free'--they do not count as a carry on. (They're covered, interestingly enough, under the 'Americans with Disabilities Act'. Not so on Qantas.
But I COULD carry on all the duty-free booze and jewelry I want! What is wrong with this picture????
So I will board the plane at LAX wearing my hoodie, coat, my camera around my neck, my iPod in my pocket, my kleenex, chapstick, book, and eyedrops in my other pocket, noise-cancelling headphones around my neck. It all still goes on the plane, only I look even more like a Teletubbie than I usually do. Then I have to take the time to take it all off and stow it once on board! Wouldn't it be faster/easier to just let me carry it on IN MY CASE???? (My case will be full of CPAP, two pair of underwear, medications, and my makeup. (I've had makeup destroyed in checked bags.) I have got to learn to pack lighter!
True story: Friends were flying home from New Zealand in June. They had done their best to weigh their luggage with a home scale, but it was very inaccurate, and they figured they were over. When the gate agent stopped them and weighed their bags as they were boarding, they were WAAAAAAAAAAAAY over. So she told them to take the heaviest stuff out and just hold it while they boarded. They did. Their bags were still overweight, but the gal allowed them to board, holding the all the stuff in their arms! What an absurd policy!!!
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2 comments:
No kidding! I just hope you don't fall down while wearing all the things they wouldn't let you pack...they'd just have to roll you down the gang plank. I understand that they have to limit the weight of bags but whether you carry it in your arms or put it in your bags, if they weighed the plane it'd be EXACTLY THE SAME.
We had a similiar experience flying home from Hainon. I'll have to tell you sometime. Rediculous.
I'd like a picture of you looking like a tellytubbie. Such a vivid mental picture!
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