Overhead lockers Ryanair & Aer Lingus.

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IsleOfMan

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I flew with Aer Lingus to Faro last week and paid €12 to sit in a seat at the front of the plane. When flying from Dublin those people who were sitting at the back of the plane were called first to board. Those sitting in the middle were then called. Those sitting at the front were called last. When it was our turn to board (last) we found that all the overhead lockers were full and we had nowhere to put our carry on bags.

On the return journey it was different. It was a free for all, similar to Ryanair. There was no system for boarding even though every person flying with Aer Lingus is allocated a seat. We boarded the plane fairly quickly but noticed that when we got to our seats the overhead lockers were again almost full. The reason being was that those people sitting at the middle to rear of the plane were using the lockers at the front of the plane to store their luggage.

Why is this allowed and is it within the power of the cabin staff to stop this from happening. Are they even bothered?

I know many people will say that they never pay for a seat etc etc but that is not the point I am trying to make. I am simply asking should people be required to use the lockers over their seats to store their luggage and is there a system to make this happen?
 
ParkLane said:
Those sitting at the front were called last. When it was our turn to board (last) we found that all the overhead lockers were full and we had nowhere to put our carry on bags.
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My wife had the same problem on a Dublin - London Aer Lingus flight last weekend. She was in row 3 so one of the last to board and had to give her bag to the staff to mind. It's happened me countless times before, very annoying.
 
I'm not aware of any rules or guidelines but you would think it is common courtesy.

I guess by the time people are on the plane with too much hand luggage (so they end up using extra overhead storage space) it's too late to sort it out. I don't see what the cabin crew can do at that point- the bags have to go somewhere.
 
Interesting one alright. I often get on a plane and when there's no room around for a bag, the hostess offers to find somewhere for it. I suspect that they may be at fault for this by first of all using the front and then telling people getting on that the back is full. I see a chance to charge for a service here.
 
Ryanair limit it to one bag but Aer Lingus limit to one bag+duty free+ handbag+coat etc so the overhead compartments fill very quickly. Worse if your carry on bag has to go in the hold becuse the advantage of getting off the aircraft first and being through passport control is lost because you hhave to wait on your bag as if it was ordinary luggage.
 

They do (very) occasionally enforce the one bag per passenger rule. I was in a queue of disgruntled passengers in Amsterdam who had to check in the various suitcases and anvil collections they were trying to pass off as hand luggage.
 
I was in a queue of disgruntled passengers in Amsterdam who had to check in the various suitcases and anvil collections they were trying to pass off as hand luggage.
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Did they realise this cos all their names were Smith ? Ba dum tish
 
I'm sure that it would be easy enough for both Aer Lingus and Ryanair to print on your boarding pass something to say that all items must be stored in the luggage compartment over your seat and nowhere else on the plane.
To see someone board the plane, place their suitcase in the locker at the front of the plane then head down to the back of the plane is very annoying.
If Aer Lingus are asking people to board from say row 30 onwards they could easily have a steward standing at row 30 observing if anybody is putting their case in the front rows. Can't be that difficult.
 
To see someone board the plane, place their suitcase in the locker at the front of the plane then head down to the back of the plane is very annoying.
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To be fair, I don't think this goes on in general. What if the destination has a front and back door open ? I would not be doing this meself for that reason.
 
It's a problem on City Jet as well, there planes are smaller and the overhead lockers on the seats in the middle of the plane are useless as they are about 5 inches high
 
Personally I never bother with the overhead lockers. I put my luggage on the floor. If I were going long haul I probably would try to find some locker space but for a 2 hr European flight I can live with it being on the floor.
 
Mpsox said:
It's a problem on City Jet as well, there planes are smaller and the overhead lockers on the seats in the middle of the plane are useless as they are about 5 inches high
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Cityjet are different on a number of levels. They don't charge for checking in bags so I don't understand the obsession with carrying on in the first place. They also tag all larger bags at the gate, they are put on trollies at the bottom of the steps on boarding, and returned in a similar way. AL & Ryanair send gate checked bags through with checked in luggage.
 
This was a post on Tripadvisor today.

During 2010 - 2011 winter I have travelled both with Aer Lingus and Ryan Air. I could notice two major differences.



First of all, Ryan Air is trying not to cancel its flights excepting REAL problems. The flight from Dublin to Edinburgh was cancelled on 1 December, but the flight from Dublin to Glasgow has been NOT cancelled. So I could fly to Glasgow and take a local train during the same day. On the opposite, all Aer Lingus flights from Dublin to Scotland were cancelled (despite good weather in Glasgow). as a consequence, I consider that Ryan Air is a more reliable company.



Second, despite the fact that Aer Lingus tickets are with reserved- seat tickets, you can encounter serious troubles when embarking as last passanger(s). This happened to me on 4 December (Flight Dublin-Bucharest), when (as last passanger embarked) I could not find available space for my hand luggage in the luggage bin over my head. becausei) the overhead bin corresponding to ROW 1 and (partially) to ROW 2 was reserved by board personnel, and (ii) the overhead bin corresponding to ROW 2 (partially) and ROW 3 was already occupied when I embarked. The boarding stewardess was not available, so I have asked by myself to whom belongs a great luggage in the overhead bin NOT RESERVED by board personnel. No answer, so I had to take out that great luggage to place my small suitcase. Surprise..It was the suitcase of the elder stewardess, who came and ORDERED me to put the luggage back, then to move with my suitcase along the aisle until ROW 4 where some available space could be found in the overhead bin. When I tried to comment that on my Boarding Pass was written 2F and it was supposed to be normal to place my had luggage in the bin overhead (so as to be accessible by hand on a four-hours flight) she asked me: Sir, are you OK? She was bad at assistance during emarking procedure, but she was good at giving orders as a real Commander . Moreover, according to stewardess' rules on AerLingus, each one trying to find an available place for his hand luggage in the bin overhead is crazy (or a fool, taking into account that a lot of suitcases where much bigger that the LUGGAGE LIMITS).



On the contrary, on Ryan Air flights I could notice that boarding personnel is willing to help you during embarking procedure (even when you have no reserved seats). Stewards are placed along the aisle, guiding you where to put your luggage, looking for free space, transferring your luggage in Luggage Bin when a free space is found and so on. I ahve travelled with Ryan Air once again in February (from Rome to Fes) and I could notice the same positive aspects.



For these reasons, I consider that travelling with Ryan Air is a better option (when available) than travelling with the so-called National Company of Ireland - named Aer Lingus, for flights to/from Dublin.



Cristian Toma, Associate Professor, Politehnica University, Bucharest
 
A buddy of mine told me what he does in this circumstance:

If his family get to their seats and the overhead locker is full he simply takes all the luggage out, leaves them on the ground and puts his in. Pretty soon the owners appear and have to find somewhere else for theirs.

I laughed at first when I heard this but now do this myself as it's actually the solution to the situation!
 
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