Carry On Bags and Duty Free
I travel a lot. On airplanes, trains and cars and I, like most frequent travelers, have a few things I do to attempt to improve my commute. One of these is to avoid checking any luggage for carriage in the hold when flying. Like many of my fellow travelers, I try to cram as much as I can into a carry on so I don’t have to wait at the baggage return carousel at my destination or, in the worst case scenario, wear the same clothes for 3 days while my airline attempts to re-unite me with my luggage if it makes an unscheduled en route stop . So, it was with elation that I read the British Airport Authority (BAA) has recently revised it one carry on only bag restriction at 7 of its 8 airports (Gatwick is still excluded). I transited BAA’s Heathrow Airport three to four times a month in 2007 and it never failed to perturb me how frustrating this policy was for travelers. Not only is Heathrow one of the worst airports to transit on a good day, but this onerous restriction used to compel me to have to check my roller bag as I could only take one carry on (my laptop bag) through security. My airline would let me take two bags, and when I checked in at Boston Logan, the TSA lets me carry two on, but connecting at Heathrow I would only be permitted one by BAA. So, either I check it in in Boston or abandon it at Heathrow in the flight connection centre. Now, as I would appreciate a change of clothes when abroad I had no choice but to check it.
1 comment January 6th, 2008
