Posted by Rick Denney on June 13, 2003 at 16:51:52:
In Reply to: 182's posted by Tim on June 13, 2003 at 16:04:57:
The maximum size for a carry-on is 9" by 14" by 22". Not even a euphonium will fit in that space. You might have been able to schmooze it on the plane in a gig bag at one time, but not any more. The airlines have become extremely picky about baggage in the last year or two, and the TSA won't let you through security with anything that is grossly oversized.
Rant warning...
Most airlines are adopting a 50-pound weight limit on checked bags, too, even if you have only one bag. For now, at least, the penalty for a heavier bag is only an excess baggage fee. I saw someone pay that fee only yesterday, and it was handled as if it was completely routine, not as if an irritable ticket clerk was penalizing an irritating traveler.
I'm also finding that the TSA folks, who were scrupulously polite at first, are getting more imperious in their tone. Yesterday, in Wichita: "Sir, please remove your shoes" said the TSA muscle. I responded "they are all plastic and don't set off the machine." (I had walked through security wearing my shoes in Dulles on Monday, and in Atlanta, Chicago, and Chattanooga over the last two weeks). Did he say, "well, we have been asked to do extra checks today, and we need to X-ray your shoes"? No--he said, "Are you saying you are unwilling to remove your shoes? You-cannot-pass-without-removing-your-shoes!" Even common courtesy seems on the way out. And then I was searched again at the gate, which has been eliminated at every other airport I've seen, but not Wichita. You guys in Wichita, have you been harboring terrorists without telling the rest of us?
I'm glad I don't travel with a tuba. Yesterday, while waiting for my roll-around bag to be unloaded from the puddle-jumper I'd ridden in from Wichita to Chicago, I and 14 other passengers watched the gorilla doing the unloading take bags and drop them on the deck from four feet up. He didn't even slightly lean over or even straighten his arms before dropping them. Ten years ago, the crowd would have been indignant and would have complained unanimously. Now, nobody says a word, because if you complain, it just makes it worse.
Rick "who spent 11 hours traveling after six hours working yesterday" Denney