Crew Quote of the Week: Airline seniority, flight attendants & luggage

“What’s the difference between a new hire and a senior mama?  A new-hire flight attendant will say, Sir, can I please get you to stow your bag please.  A ten-year flight attendant will say, BAG, BIN, NOW!  A twenty-year flight attendant will think, Bag? What bag?” - Flight attendant Christopher Bailey

Photo courtesy of Katchoo

Photo of the day: As part of the new TSA pilot program, Bob gets a sticker for his bag each time he passes security screening without a bag check.

1st runner up:  Paul (@Flyingphotog) “As Carmen Miranda yelled at the poor Agent behind counter in the baggage office, another traveler made off with her roller bag.”

2nd runner up:  Cowin Myundies – “This is my baggage. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My baggage is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My baggage, without me, is useless. Without my baggage, I am useless.”

Photo courtesy of Heather Poole (me!)

Caption courtesy of Mike!

Oh yes I am wearing my third carry-on item and there’s nothing the airline can do or say about it!

Crew luggage, rolling vs folding & lifting heavy bags

I just read the New York Times article about your packing advice for travelers. What is the brand and model of the carry-on luggage that you used in the slideshow? – Michelle

The bag featured in the article is a Travelpro 22″ flight crew series 3. My company also provides airline personnel with an 18″ rollaboard. For whatever reason neither one of the bags are featured on Travelpro’s website, but they do offer something similar – a 20″ and 22″ expandable rollaboard under the Crew 7 Series. If you’re looking to buy a new suticase, my advice is to play it safe and go with the smaller one. While I like my 22″ suiter and use it whenever I’m taking long trips, commuting to work for a week straight, or on vacation with another family member using only one bag, I prefer the smaller 18″ suitcase for the majority of my travel.

Savvy travelers know how to pack light. I do this by planning outfits around two pairs of shoes. While the suiter works well when I need it, it’s too big and bulky for shorter trips. Fully packed it doesn’t always fit inside overhead bins on smaller, older aircraft – at least that’s what I’ve been told. Though it does fit just fine on a 767. As for the 737, I’d been warned repeatedly by coworkers it wouldn’t fit, but I was able to get it inside both a regular and reconfigured overhead bin. That said, I didn’t have anything packed inside the suiter section of the bag. Who knows, maybe I got lucky. Maybe my colleagues pack too much. All I know is I got it inside the bin without a struggle and didn’t have to check it.

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