How can I carry on...?

Drez

So I haven't flown anywhere in awhile. I'm going to Miami soon. I will probably have one big piece of luggage, one laptop bag, and one small camera bag with my DSLR.

I could probably squeeze the camera bag in the big luggage, but I'm a bit leery about doing so. Can I carry both small bags on? How can I find out?

Sentry

Well, the easiest way to find out would be to Google your airlines carry-on policy. Most airlines allow you one carry-on bag and a personal bag, like a purse or laptop bag, so the laptop bag and DSLR bag should be fine.

Casual

Every airline I've ever seen only allows one carry on period. I've seen some enforce this to the point of not letting women have both a handbag and a carry on. In your position I would try to get the camera in the laptop bag if at all possible, it's not a great idea to have something that expensive and fragile in your hold luggage.

Drez

Camera bag definitely won't fit in the laptop bag. The camera bag is about the size of a fat lunchbox.

Drez

Sentry: Good point. I actually didn't book the flight myself. I'm not sure what airline it is. Gonna have to check with my friend.

Sentry

Also, as counterpoint to Casual, I've never seen an airline not let people carry on a bag and a personal item. But to be fair, I haven't flown in over a year so it may have changed recently. But every airline posts their baggage policies, so start there.

Drez

Fair enough. I haven't flown in years, which is why I'm wondering.

Casual

Thinking about it what I'd do is put the Camera bag in your hold luggage but make sure it's well padded by all your clothes on every side. On my most recent flight (a month ago) they did tell passengers to make sure they only had a single piece of carry on, however this was on a UK domestic flight not an American one so I only bring it up as a possibility, I can't say how likely it is to affect you. Really best thing to do is check the website like sentry said.

Orestus

I fly alot and I have never seen anyone get told they can't bring on an extra small bag like you are describing. That rule is mainly for the people who show up and try to bring their big rollerboard luggage and then have some other monstrous bag (duffel bag for instance) with them as well; something the size of a lunchbox is not going to cause any trouble.

If you are really worried about it, buy a magazine and some chips or something in the airport so that you get a bag with your purchase (plastic shopping bag) and then put your camera bag in the shopping bag. When you board sling your laptop bag over your shoulder so it is resting on your back and is not obvious. That way even if you have a hyper-militant gate attendant they'll just assume the bag is your lunch/snack and doesn't count.

Also smile and say Good morning/afternoon to the gate attendant when you give your ticket, if you are nice they will probably not give you a hard time either.

mr_mich

I always did this with a simple backpack. Small enough to carry on, big enough to hold a laptop standing up as well as a camera bag and some chargers/cables/etc. inside.

Gabriel_Pitt

I have yet to fly on an airline in the US that doesn't let you have two carry-ons. I travel a lot, and always have one carry-on sized suitcase I put in the overhead bin, along with a backpack or work bag. Although if you're in the back of the line all the bin space might be taken by the time you get on board, and so your big bag will getgate-checked and tossed in the hold anyways.

Powerpuppies

american domestic flights always allow 2 carryons of negligible size in my experience.

davidsdurions

I just got back from flights on American Airlines, Denver to Miami, Miami to San Juan, and return the same way. On the way there I had my checked bag, a regular small roller luggage for carry on, and my camera bag as my personal item that stowed under the seat in front of me with plenty of room to spare (can't say the same for my average sized body in the coach seat on a 4+ hour flight though).

On the way back we had bought too much duty free rum so the camera bag got stuffed into the checked bag and was all fine when I got back, but my camera bag is quite well padded so I can't say the same for yours if it's different, or if the airline gets too excited with the throwing about of your bag. It was a calculated risk. I mean, rum was important at the time.

Also, I've flown Frontier and Southwest quite a bit in the past and never had trouble with the same luggage configuration, but the American Airlines trip is the most recent, having gotten back just this last Thursday.

Esh

Any airline I've ever been on (including international) allows 1 normal sized carry-on and 1 laptop/purse/camera bag. I wouldn't worry about it.

EggyToast

Yes, one carry-on bag that's destined for the overhead compartment, and one "personal item" that fits completely under the seat in front of you. For many people, this personal item is a purse or small bag that contains food, snacks, books, entertainment, etc.

I have flown a lot in the last year and the only time the airlines get fussy about this rule is if the flight is 100% full. Then they may ask you to gate check your carry-on luggage (the larger bag), but in your case since you'd have one small luggage and one small personal item, they would probably go first for the bozos who try to drag on 3 luggages.

shwaip

Don't check a camera. I've read plenty of horror stories about theft / breakage. Even if you pad it with clothes, the TSA may re-organize your bag if they inspect it.

see317

Instead of pushing it, why not pick up a medium sized backpack that'll hold your laptop bag (or maybe just the contents of said bag) with space left over for your camera? If necessary, you can pack the laptop bag in your main luggage (with power supply/cords and other less fragile components) and keep your laptop and camera with you on the plane.
You should be able to pick a bag up pretty cheaply at any department or sporting goods store. It's not like it needs to be high quality for this use.

Chances are, it won't be a problem to carry both bags on, especially if the camera bag is fairly small. But if you can consolidate the stuff into one carry-on bag of reasonable size, you won't have to worry about taking chances.

Djeet

Really depends on the carrier. When I've flown AA, Continental (pre-United merger), and SWA I've alway been permitted a free carry-on, and a personal item (notebook bag or purse of dimensions smaller than a carry-on). For your carry-on make sure it's of proper dimensions, you can get hard-ass attendents who'll insist you check anything that doesn't fit in the little sizer thing at the gate. SWA also permits 1st free checked bag, whereas a lot of carriers will charge for 1st checked bag unless you're flying internationally, have miles status or are travelling business/1st.

On the other end of the spectrum if you plan to take any luggage with you avoid Spirit Airlines. They charge for all checked bags and carry-ons as well, and their seats are fucking tiny.

Find out which carrier you're flying with and check their website. The info is usually pretty easy to find.

amateurhour

I'll add one small point to this. Be careful if you're thinking of investing in one of those carry on bags to combine everything instead of the laptop bag + camera bag. A lot of places advertise their carry on bags as "airline size certified" until you get in line and they decide to measure it in their little wire frame model of what "under the seat space" should be, decide your bag is to large, and require you to check it.

I've gone to Seattle for PAX the last two years and Vegas for a week before that and every time there were at least three people on my flight subjected to that. That ended up flying without their laptop, dvd player, etc because they had to check their bag at the last second.

edit: for example, make sure to see if you've got a connecting flight, and if that flight is on one of those short hoppers or something like that. We'd be on a bigger plane going from the east coast to like Denver, and then on a much smaller plane from Denver to Seattle, and I'd see a guy who was on both flights, who had to check his bag on the smaller one because the size under the seat wasn't the same as it was on the larger plane.

JohnnyCache

Drez wrote: »

Camera bag definitely won't fit in the laptop bag. The camera bag is about the size of a fat lunchbox.

I have a lowpro dslr backpack that has a stiffened camera body storage in the bottom, and a stiffened laptop compartment. It fits through most carry-on sizers. Mine is a fastpack 250 and it's technically a bit big (.8 inches oversize on the narrowest dimensions) for some of the more restrictive airlines, but I've always been able to get it through by packing a bit light so it had a bit of flex. if you get video fastpack 150, it should slide right through everywhere. Have fun watching the tsa touch your lenses

Do NOT check a dslr, especially not with lenses. The combination of breakablity, expense, and re-saleability is just too high.

If you don't want to spend like that (#workexpenseaccountfuckyeah), I'd suggest cutting your "laptop bag" down to a low-profile slipcase - if the laptop as an entity fits under the seat in front of you or in the magazine pouch, you usually won't catch any shit over it.

kaliyama

Nobody will care if you have a camera bag and a laptop bag. If you're really paranoid just carry your camera bag under your coat and then put both coat and camera back under your seat and your laptop bag above you, or visa versa.

TDawg

I have never been in a situation in which you couldn't carry both, and I fly rather frequently. You will be fine.

kuhlmeye

I've been flying at least once a month for the past 1.5 years. Many different carriers. I always take 1 carry on luggage (smaller suitcase) that goes in the overhead, and a backpack for under the seat. I've never been accosted by anyone about this. The only problem you would run into is if the plane is full up and there's no space left, or if it's a smaller plane with no room in overheads for the big bag.

You will run into no problems with a laptop and camera.

mts

also, don't put your camerea in a checked bag, it will either end up broken or stolen

also it might have changed but you used to be able to just clip things together and technically make them one item.

like i was flying to a conference and they gave me shit about having a separate poster tube, but on the return i stuck them together and it was fine

DaMoonRulz

kaliyama wrote: »

Nobody will care if you have a camera bag and a laptop bag. If you're really paranoid just carry your camera bag under your coat and then put both coat and camera back under your seat and your laptop bag above you, or visa versa.

Because they've reduced the number of flights, carry-ons are a huge deal now. Don't expect to be able to carry on a small piece luggage, a camera bag, and a laptop bag.

Be careful when you buy a carry-on bag. Most of the time manufacturers will make them exactly the standard size-limits and then add wheels and handles that make them too large to fit into the sizer. It's not fun listening to a passenger say "But they told me it was carry-on size!"

Gafoto

Last time I flew I could have a carry-on and a "personal item". The personal bag has to stow underneath the seat in front of you, therefore has to be fairly small. People need to have access to their medications and so forth. You should be kosher with either bag as the personal bag.