British Airways Changes Hand Baggage Allowance

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Changes to Boarding and Luggage…

BA Luggage

BA Luggage

I received an email from British Airways the other day informing me that the company has decided to reduce the size of in cabin hand luggage. In addition, they will be changing the order in which passengers board the plane. As I have an upcoming flight on BA in September, I have mixed feelings about this change.

I usually fly with a 20 inch roller board suitcase and a small backpack which holds my headphones and other electronics. The new allowance is 56x45x25cm for one of the pieces of luggage, so this will quite easily meet their requirements exceeding my current chosen bag size by 2 inches! (22x18x10 inches) However, even with nothing in it, my backpack is larger than the second bag size of 40x30x15cm (16x12x6 inches) and it really is a small, lightweight backpack! I do have a smaller bagallini day pack that is usually folded into its pouch and packed that I may have to try to use.

The letter read in part:

Boarding the aircraft

We are changing the way you board your flight. Customers will now be invited to board based on the cabin they are travelling in and in order of Executive Club status. All of our other customers will be asked to board by seat row number. If you are travelling with an infant or are a customer who requires extra assistance, you will continue to be invited to board before everyone else.

Although it does not say, I am assuming that First Class passengers may be invited to board first, followed by Business and Economy. It also appears that Elites will be included among those allowed to board early.

Changes to hand baggage

In recent months we have seen an increase in customers travelling with hand baggage that exceeds their allowance. We always try to accommodate our customers where we can but to make sure the aircraft is ready to depart on time we are making the following changes:

• You can continue to carry 2 pieces of hand baggage. One bag should be a handbag/laptop sized bag which should now be no larger than 40x30x15cm.

• The size of your additional cabin bag remains unchanged and should be no larger than 56x45x25cm and can weigh up to 23kgs.

• Customers travelling in all cabins, except First and Club World will receive a yellow tag for handbag/laptop sized bags which are within the new dimensions. We guarantee that you can take this bag on board with you. Please have the tag visible for boarding and place the bag under the seat in front of you.

• We encourage you to carry any valuables or items such as medication in your handbag/laptop sized bag to ensure you have everything you need in the cabin.

• Customers who travel with hand baggage which is outside of their allowance will be asked to check this into the hold.

• On very busy flights we may have to ask some of our customers to check bags without yellow tags into the hold if the overhead lockers are full.

Will these new baggage requirements affect your upcoming travel?

2 Comments on "British Airways Changes Hand Baggage Allowance"

  1. I’m confused. They were having an issue with customers exceeding the allowable bag size, so they made it smaller? Sounds like typical airline logic. Maybe if they had enforced the original rule? #CrazyTalk

    • It definitely seems that way. If I have one wheeled bag that fits the requirements, then a backpack which fits under the seat should be no issue. We shall definitely be checking it out on this next trip.

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