Getting your baggage off the belt.

[Hartington]

At a small airport recently a 767 load and a U shaped belt with a crowd at least 3 deep all the way round. I chose to hang back out of the crowd but then my bag appeared. I was at the top of the U so I had maybe 10 seconds to get to the edge of the belt. I said "excuse me" and nobody moved so I repeated it and moved forward and, yes, I pushed my way through. I did get to the bag but I pissed at least one person off in doing so because as I wheeled the bag back out he put his foot out to stop me.

I suppose I could have simply waited until the crowd thinned. Or I could have positioned myself further round the belt so I had more time to work my way through the crowd. I wasn't in a rush - no onward connections.

What's your strategy?

Given the length of the belt and the size of the load is there anything you've seen at other airports to help the situation?

[tomtytom]

Are you familiar with the workings of a rugby scrum? That and what ever you do in life bear no shame and you will go far.

[Di_Vosh]

I feel for you there mate.

I said "excuse me" and nobody moved so I repeated it and moved forward and, yes, I pushed my way through.

My limit is two "Excuse me" requests. The second one in a loud voice just in case the people didn't hear me the first time. After that, I'm more than happy to barge through the crowd.

I did get to the bag but I pissed at least one person off in doing so because as I wheeled the bag back out he put his foot out to stop me.

If he can't see what you're so obviously trying to do and accommodate you, then too bad for him. I've extremely little patience for people like this.

I've never had the balls, but I've heard that a very loud "I'm about to be sick" can gain one valuable personal space.

[PAXboy]

If I hear the 'sick call' I'll greet a fellow PPRuNer! :yuk:

With a checked bag:-


Take my time leaving the a/c. Often last off having a word with the folks who have been working. :ok:
Stroll the corridors and pause on the travelators.
If the carousel is still thronged, I always go to the extreme ends. At the emerging point you have to be fast but you save time. At the other end, you can see yours making it's way.
Whilst waiting, I check the phone for messages, have a drink of water from the bottle in my handcase and chill. (Note: if at an Italian airport, take out a folding chair and read a book/sleep) :hmm:
If I have to elbow may way through? I do with Excuse Me's in whichever language I imagine is suitable! :p

The end of the belt that is furthest from the exit will always be emptier as you can then make a fast getaway. I prefer the start of the belt, if it's empty.

[BlueTui]

why people insist on standing so close to the baggage belt when there are clear guide marks asking people to stay behind, which if they did we could all see all our of bags/items and retrieve them a lot more easily.

I have very little patience in these matter, one loud excuse me, if they don't move someone usually gets a wack with my always overweight bag as I swing it off the carousel... And last time I travelled it was 39kg.... So my bags don't come soft.... MOVE AWAY FROM THE BAGGAGE BELT!!!

[vctenderness]

I like to get close to the belt so I can see my bag clearly when it arrives. This is due to the fact I have had my bag taken by someone else on two occasions, both at ALC, because some passengers don't actually know what their own bag looks like!

[Captivep]

Paxboy - spot on!

If I've checked bags I don't even stand up until everybody else has got to the door.

Sitting there quietly I often get enquiring looks from people who undid their seat belts as soon as they think the aircraft has come to a final stop and throng the aisle in their desparate attempt to get off first.

Strangely, 9 times out of ten, when I get to the carousel, all of those people are standing there, still waiting.

[Hartington]

In my particular case being slow wouldn't have made any difference. All the passengers were all off and around the belt before the baggage started arriving!

[PAXboy]

Thanks Captivep. Yes, I enjoy reading my book a bit longer and looking out the window (99% of the time I'm in the window) and watch the world go by. :ok:

In the old days of biz travel with a carry on, or day trip with a brief case, I was off and out with the best of them but that was 10 and 20 years ago and I'm happy to let the young turks do that now. :p

[YorkshireTyke]

This has been a pet peeve of mine since Pontius was a Pilot - just why do people do it ? It's a World Wide disease.

I often say in a loud voice - Why do these idiots stand so close ? Doesn't make me any friends, but what the Hell. When I do see my bag I cause as much disruption and Boadecia type flailing carnage as I can.

When I'm a Station Manager I'll arm the staff with Tasers to use against those who dare step less than about 8 ft. from the edge of the belt, and any that dare take a trolley anywhere near it !

Sheep have more sense.

Funny too, how everyone always seems to have identical looking luggage, that changes with the years. Was once the blue Globetrotter, then the great Samsonite Oyster, and now these mini-pantechnicans, wheeled monsters in an identical black canvas look. A bit of gaily coloured graffiti sprayed on the sides helps, after all it's a tool not a fashion statement, who cares what it looks like.

I used to wonder who trained the loaders to put them on the belt upside down, until recently, when I questioned a loader about this as he threw my bag from the X-ray machine on to the moving belt - deliberately upside down,
'cos of the wheels, he said, they roll off very easily now, better upside down with the wheels in the air.

Makes sense, so from now on I'll pack it upside down !

[BlueTui]

If people stood a few ft away from the baggage belt, everyone could see their baggage clearly and there is no need to selfishly stand on too of the belt blocking other passengers view.

[mad_jock]

Fly to Scandanvia and you will all be in Heaven I know I was.

Everyone stands at least a meter back in loose formation and when you spot your bag you move forward and retrieve it. If there is a coffin dodger going forward you grab thier bag for them and dump it on their cart and you get a smile and what I presume is thankyou in the local lingo. You reply with "nae bother love" in English and you get a "Thankyou young man" in reply and a load of locals nodding there head in an approving manner.

Compare that to the hell that is the domestic arrivals in Gatwick with a pishie belt that dumps the bags off at the other end with a couple of 737's and a couple of Q400's pax all fightng to get to it even though there is sod all chance of thier bags arriving for another 40 mins.

[cavortingcheetah]

In the US these days, I'm afraid that by the time you get through immigration, which is no fault of the officials there, your bags will have long ago come up on the carousel and will have been taken off and dumped somewhere. I have no idea how long before the bags are carted off to a storage depot but if the queues at immigration get much longer, it'll happen. Last week at JFK at 16.30 landing, it took two hours to get through passport control. This is not that onerous but finding your bag in a depot somewhere would be.

[Newforest2]

Paxboy.

Surely your strategy would increase the odds of having your collar or luggage felt by der zoll if they haven't chosen any other miscreant?

[darkroomsource]

Someone above wrote that putting graffiti on the bag stops people from taking the wrong one, that's a great idea. I usually put some ribbon and/or coloured tape on my bags. Makes them easier to see, and less likely for someone else to pick them up by mistake.

As for the crowds, why fight them? Give it a few more minutes and then there's plenty of room and time to get your bags easily.

Trying to be first, or earliest, is like driving at 85 on the motorway, risking a ticket, instead of going 75. Over a half hour trip you save a whopping 3 and 1/2 minutes. If you really need to get there that fast, leave earlier.

[PAXboy]

Interesting point, Newforest2, but I can't say that it has. The most intensive questioning I ever had was coming back from a long weekend in Geneva (late 80s) with a girlfriend. We got stopped and when my passport revealed it was my birthday that weekend, he was convinced that we MUST have bought an EXPENSIVE watch that we were concealing. Naturally he did not believe me when I showed him the 20 year old watch that I had on - further proof that I MUST have bought a new one. I'm sure that many do conceal new watches.

Other than that, I can't think of more than one other peremptory 'stop'. So perhaps I just have the natural face of the genuine innocent ... :E

[thing]

One gripe that my son pointed out to me when he visited from Oz flying into Manchester was that the luggage trolleys need a one pound coin. How many foreign tourists are going to have a one pound coin on them the moment they step off the aircraft?

[radeng]

The only times I flew into and out of Manchester, I was so under impressed that I've never been back. That was 1993, though.......Wasn't Manchester the one where the one time head of security had been sacked from a police force and convicted for fiddling expenses?

I do find it interesting that if you check in early at Heathrow flying out or flying in, using BA Club Class, they put 'Priority' labels on the bags. That means that they are usually amongst the last out.....Possibly understandable coming back where they use the usual incompetent handling agents such as Menzies, but not going out....

[EEngr]

cavortingcheetah (http://www.pprune.org/members/45053-cavortingcheetah):

In the US these days, I'm afraid that by the time you get through immigration, which is no fault of the officials there, your bags will have long ago come up on the carousel and will have been taken off and dumped somewhere.Hmm. At SEA, the customs people like to watch the crowds around the baggage carousel. They walk around with the sniffer dogs and keep an eye out for anyone who might think twice about picking their bag up and leaving without it. As a result, there seems to be an extra effort to have the bags available when the PAX are there to pick them up.

[twb3]

My (least) favorite part of the checked bag scrum is when a large family is meeting one (1) arriving pax with one (1) checked bag - and everybody from little sis to grandpa (and the dog) line up shoulder-to-shoulder six inches from the baggage belt to make sure they grab it the first time around. There must be some sort of folk belief that bags that aren't plucked off the belt in the first revolution are fed to some sort of shredder and destroyed.

My strategy is to look for the part of the belt around the back, furthest from the exit, because there is usually no one there.

TWB

[YorkshireTyke]

If people stood a few ft away from the baggage belt, everyone could see their baggage clearly and there is no need to selfishly stand on too of the belt blocking other passengers view.

Wow ! What a revelation - - but that's too easy. Everyone knows better and sets out to prove it.

[Rwy in Sight]

Some times rushing to pick up your bag will allow you to catch an earlier bus/train to the city so a minute there might save you half an hour later.

Rwy in Sight

[Captivep]

Not if the bags don't get to the belt before you do...

[JustOccurred2Me]

Many years ago "Not the Nine O'Clock News" presented their alternative.

The passengers were loaded onto the carousel and simply stepped off when they saw their bags waiting for them in the arrival hall.

[SloppyJoe]

Stroll the corridors and pause on the travelators.

This to many is equally annoying. You may not be in a rush but some might be. Stopping on the travelators is inconsiderate as slows others down. If you want to have a rest why not walk to the end of the travelator and once off it stand aside and have a rest for a minute. You will do the same amount of walking and rest for an identical amount of time but not clog up the travelator.

[Newforest2]

Is there any law that says you have to walk on the travelator, can't you stand on the right side and let the overtakers speed past on the left?

[Lightning Mate]

Fly first - seemples.

[ExXB]

I do find it interesting that if you check in early at Heathrow flying out or flying in, using BA Club Class, they put 'Priority' labels on the bags. That means that they are usually amongst the last out.....Possibly understandable coming back where they use the usual incompetent handling agents such as Menzies, but not going out....

When I was BA gold and transiting LHR regularly I would ask the check-in person not to tag any checked bag as priority. If asked why I would comment that to do so almost guaranteed a missing bag, damage, or being last off. They always complied though. Note - I haven't flown BA for over four years, this may no longer be the case (pun intended)

[Basil]

All wot youse sed BUT my pet dislike is little kids permitted by parents to wander close to the carousel. If said parents cannot foresee the dangers then I weep for their children.

[Flyaways]

What about when you get the parents who let their kids sit on the belt, then when the alarm goes to say the belt will start to move, the kids are still sitting there. Then it starts moving and they suddenly have to jump off onto the toes of people waiting for their bag.

I remember last year a boy was sitting on the belt, the alarm went and he still sat on it, it started moving so he jumped off. But he jumped off the wrong side (He was now standing on the middle bit with the belt around the outside). He had to wait till most of the luggage had gone so his parents could reach over to lift him back. :ok:

[ExXB]

Flyaways, If you get your toes mashed, aren't you standing too close? :ok:

[Peter47]

I used to watch the planes for ten minutes before going to the claim as I would still arrive before my bag. That worked until an occasion at Seattle where United unloaded by bag really fast but managed to loose the baggage tag and an agent was going through my bag trying to find its owner.

In America your bag tends to get removed from the belt very quickly.

[RevMan2]

Just think how dim the average person is. Then realise that 50% of the population are dimmer....

[DaveReidUK]

Just think how dim the average person is. Then realise that 50% of the population are dimmer.... Only if the median was 50% too :O

[laz219]

This is one of the things that drives me crazy, although I rarely fly with checked baggage anymore. When I do I stand at the very start/finish of the belt.

I just find it really funny to watch the people that rush up to the gate staff the second they announce boarding, are in the aisles the second the plane hits the ground and then stand an inch away from the baggage carousel.
I don't get why people want to rush to another opportunity to stand in a line.

I usually get the last aisle window seat when I fly and do just stay put until the plane is basically empty.
Recently though I ended up in the aisle seat of the last row, with a couple next to me that were basically out of their seats the second we stopped. The captain had made an announcement that there might be a slight delay waiting for the aerobridge. Yet this couple were already standing next to me giving me dirty looks as I packed up my magazine.
Let them out into the aisle, sat back down. They were standing waiting for about 5 minutes and then rushed off the plane.

It was quite satisfying when I walked up to the baggage claim, bag was there waiting for me. Gave the couple a quick smile as I walked out the door and they waited for their bags.

[Hotel Tango]

I'm the same as you laz219. I do make one exception with boarding and that is if the flight looks to be chocker. I will then board early so that I can be sure to have space above me for my carry-on bag.

[Espada III]

Probably the reason most people try to board early. Certainly on low cost airlines (with possibly a higher proportion of carry on to hold luggage) the rush forward is vital to getting a seat with your carry on above you and not at teh other end of the plane or in the hold.

[laz219]

Well, the problem is also that people seem to try to carry a massive amount of carry on to avoid having to pay for checked.
Nearly every time I fly I'm amazed at just how many bags people try to count as carry on. Plus if the crew pull them up on it, they make such a big deal when you think they'd have to realise they've got way too much (seen it a few times where someone has a roller bag, backpack and other bag)

[edi_local]

I do find it interesting that if you check in early at Heathrow flying out or flying in, using BA Club Class, they put 'Priority' labels on the bags. That means that they are usually amongst the last out.....Possibly understandable coming back where they use the usual incompetent handling agents such as Menzies, but not going out....

In my experience a priority tag is meaningless no matter which uniform the agent is wearing. They can slap the priority label on any bag they like, but at the end of the day if that bag needs to be loaded elsewhere for weight and balance or any other reason then it won't do much good. There is usually a priority bin or hold, but if that gets full, or needs to me moved for operational reasons then that little orange tag becomes worthless.

When I worked for CO I remember quite a few occurrences where the Priority tagged bags came off dead last because the bin, which was usually full of the heaviest bags or golf bags (as anyone who earns such a tag is usually entitled to carry such baggage free of charge) had to be relocated for weight purposes.

[PAXboy]

Priority used to mean something to the bag handlers now it just means something to the Pax!

It is said that the excess of cabin baggage habit started by the increase in hub-and-spoke ops in the USA. As more bags failed to make the transit, pax started to carry them in the cabin. That was 25 years ago and before the charging for bags started. So there are several reasons but the unreasonableness of pax is a significant factor in staff letting more into the cabin.

[laz219]

I can imagine, I'm only 23 so I guess I've just seen it ever since I've been flying.
It's only been in the last 3 years or so that I've begun flying 1-2 times per month that I've really started to notice it.
The one time I had to fly tiger, the Cabin staff had to just tell everybody to leave their baggage in the aisles and let them sort it out. This was after nearly 20 minutes where it seemed not a person had actually sat down as they all pushed back and forth trying to find space.