Jan 8th, 2008
Excess Baggage
Our grief was intense when my father left us. He told none of us either where he was going or when he would return. He took no luggage, only a little rice, and some coarse bread. Bahiyyih Khanum, in The Chosen Highway, regarding Bahá’u'lláh’s sudden departure from Baghdad.
You might have guessed from the lack of blog entries that I have been away. In the last month or so I’ve been to several places and thus several airports - in the UK, Israel, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden for a variety of Bahá’í events. Each airport has its own - apparently arbitrary but probably reasonable - rules for baggage.
Today, the UK relaxed its rules about carry-on luggage. For quite some time passengers have been restricted to one small piece of carry-on luggage each. (And liquids in carry-on luggage are limited to 100 ml containers - that hasn’t changed.) But now passengers may take aboard two pieces of carry-on.
But this is not true for every airport and every flight. Some airlines are still restricting carry-on to one item per passenger. And some airports are not yet able to allow passengers two items, even if the airline does not object. Passengers in transit through the UK may find this all very hard to figure out.
The situation is even more complicated than this, as I found out trying to sort out my mother’s travel.
My mother, who is nearly 80, arrived in mid-December for her annual visit to the UK and then South Africa. She travelled on Delta, an American carrier, with two large suitcases, a small suitcase and a handbag — quite understandable, as she is staying for two months in two hemispheres, one experiencing summer and one winter (and she was also travelling to Finland, where the winters are COLD, so boots were required).
Today she travelled to South Africa on British Airways, with one of the large suitcases, the small suitcase and her handbag. She left the other large suitcase with me, to collect on her way back. At Heathrow she wanted to check the small suitcase so she didn’t have to lug it around the airport. But she could only check in one piece of luggage for South Africa, so obviously that was going to be the large suitcase. Fortunately, Heathrow is allowing two pieces of carry-on from today so she could take the small suitcase and her handbag into the cabin with her.
But when she leaves the UK again to go back to the United States at the end of January, she will be leaving from Gatwick. She will have exactly what she arrived with - two large suitcases, a small suitcase and a handbag. She will be able to check in the two large suitcases, as on flights to the US passengers are allowed to check in two pieces of luggage. But Gatwick allows only one piece of carry-on luggage. So she will have to cram her handbag into the small suitcase to pass through security. Once through security, she can have as many bags as she wants to take onto the airplane.
So, travellers to and through the UK, be sure to check with the airline AND the airport before you travel, otherwise you might find yourself having to pay expensive excess baggage costs. Or, of course, you can take the advice of this blog and travel light.
Technorati Tags: Bahá’í, travel, Heathrow airport, Gatwick airport, Delta, British Airways, baggage allowance