Trying to fit all your luggage into a tiny hand luggage-sized suitcase can be a nightmare, especially when going away for a longer period of time.
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However, most passengers prefer the convenience of having their bags with them on the plane, meaning they’re ready to head straight through the airport after they land.
What’s more, checking in luggage costs passengers more money, so only flying with hand luggage makes things even cheaper.
There’s also the risk of your luggage going missing when checking in your luggage.
Yet travelling with only hand luggage has its problems – especially with airlines becoming more diligent with their size checking.
Read More on Hand Luggage
Passengers are often now required to make sure their bags fit in the luggage size checker before they’re allowed to board the plane with them.
Anyone whose bags are too big will then be charged to have them added to the hold – sometimes a small fortune as well.
The steps are being taken to minimise the amount of clutter on board planes.
According to The Atlantic, planes aren’t designed to carry as much as they are now with passengers carrying on “more and bigger stuff than the aircraft can accommodate”.
This has even led to some experts calling for the overhead bins and hand luggage to be scrapped – with a view to having carry-on-free flights in the future.
David Young, a designer who has worked on cabin features for Teague for 20 years, told the publication that something needs to change.
The company has been working on designing cabins without any overhead lockers at all, coming up with different ideas about where luggage could be stored.
He said: “I’d say we’re at a breaking point. We’ve hit as big as we can go.
“Maybe we don’t need carry-ons at all. Someone needs to step out and say, ‘We’re not doing this anymore. This isn’t the right experience for air travel.’”
Hand luggage rules for UK airlines
We’ve rounded up how much hand luggage you can take on UK airlines when booking their most basic fare.
Ryanair
One personal bag measuring no more than 40cm x 20cm x 25cm
EasyJet
One personal bag measuring no larger than 45cm x 36cm x 20cm
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One personal item that fits underneath the seat in front and one cabin bag no larger than 56cm x 45cm x 25cm weighing up to 10kg
TUI
One personal item that its underneath the seat in front and one cabin bag no larger than 55cm x 40cm x 20cm weighing up to 10kg
British Airways
One personal bag no larger than 40cm x 30cm x 15cm and one cabin bag no larger than 56cm x 45cm 25cm weighing up to 23kg
Virgin Atlantic
One personal item that fits underneath the seat in front and one cabin bag no larger than 56cm x 36cm x 23cm weighing up to 10kg
Instead of the current system, David proposes either dropping bags off earlier, or boarding the plane with them and personally lowering them down into the hold through the cabin floor.
In a bid to get around strict hand luggage rules, people have shared sneaky hacks on Tiktok that they use to get more luggage on board.
Some of those includes stuffing pillow cases or neck pillows with extra clothing, or hiding smaller bags with extra items in under big coats.
However, there are airlines that incentivise their staff to find people trying to get extra luggage onto planes.
A spokesperson from American airline Frontier told The Independent last year that the carrier paid bonuses to airline staff for every bag they charge extra for.
They said the fee is “simply an incentive for our airport customer service agents to help ensure compliance with our policies and that all customers are treated equally.”
Meanwhile, this Ryanair passenger took drastic measures when he was told his suitcase was too big.
And here are some of the best bags that won’t break the bank and fit the hand luggage requirements.
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