Recorded 16 June 2019 Written by: Geoff Dahl & Vinod Viswalingam Listen to this experience wherever you download your podcasts - including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play and Overcast. Listen to it on Apple Podcasts. Stream by clicking here. Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing "save as." In this experience we build off a key component of the previous experience and re-visit the theme of baggage. We look at where your checked bag ends up in a plane and why it is there, along with how bags are loaded with narrow-body and wide-body aircraft. We look at what's happening when you see your bags being loaded. Why is there different weights used by airlines – 32 kilos, 23 kilos and more. Vinny looks back at how many times people tried checking in overweight bags at YYC with British Airways (BA). Speaking of overweight bags, Vinny and Geoff share experiences with easyJet (U2) and Ryanair (FR) at TXL, STN and LGW. If you're on a journey with multiple airlines, make sure you check the weight limits for all the airlines. If you're over your weight limit by a lot, it never hurts to ask a supervisor. What is the famous "gate check" and "sky check"? What is the science of the bag tag? Flyertalk/Independent (UK) news item about a passenger who accidentally opened the plane emergency exit instead of the toilet door. Shout out to listener Danny Nabalek for sharing his experience of sitting in Seat 1A, listening to Seat 1A. If you have an airline baggage story, question or experience that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/ SELECTED LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE EXPERIENCE Seat 1A Experience 016 – Vinny and Geoff analyze Debbie's flight experience (show notes and audio) Seat 1A Experience 004 - The journey of your checked luggage to your destination (show notes and audio) Pan Am (PA – ceased operations 1991) (Wikipedia) Flying boats (Wikipedia) Maximum takeoff weight (Wikipedia) WestJet (WS) Aalsmeer Flower Auction (Wikipedia) Sunwing Airlines (WG) Cancún International Airport (CUN) Vancouver International Airport (YVR) Denver International Airport (DEN) Seat 1A Experience 011 - Vinny's search for the bag on a diverted flight to Denver (show notes and audio) Baggage containers (Wikipedia - officially called Unit Load Devices.) IATA Unit Load Devices Airbus 320 (Airbus Aircraft Characteristics Airport and Maintenance Planning (PDF) section 2-6-0) Airbus 321 (Airbus Aircraft Characteristics Airport and Maintenance Planning (PDF) section 2-6-0) Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) Vienna International Airport (VIE) Boeing 767-200 (airliners.net) "I Love Lucy" famous chocolate scene (youtube.com) United Breaks Guitars (youtube.com | 06 June 2009) Google Flights Skyscanner Calgary International Airport (YYC) London Heathrow Airport (LHR) British Airways (BA) EasyJet (U2, DS, EC) Berlin Tegel "Otto Lilienthal" Airport (TXL) Servisair/GlobeGround/Penauille (defunct 2013) (Wikipedia) Ryanair (FR) London Stansted Airport (STN) Weeze (Niederrhein) Airport (NRN) London Gatwick Airport (LGW) KLM (KL) Kangaroo route (Wikipedia) Yellowknife Airport (YZF) Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) IATA Common Use Self Service (CUSS) Technical Specification Revision 1.3 (PDF) IATA Common Use Passenger Processing Systems (CUPPS) Guidance Document (PDF) Air Canada (AC) Porter Airlines (PD) De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 (formerly Bombardier) Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) Horizon Air (QX) (subsidiary of Alaska Air Group) WestJet Encore (WR) Embraer ERJ-170/175/190/195 (airliners.net) Eurowings (EW) Bag Tag Art: "The Beauty of the Airline Baggage Tag" (Slate | 04 October 2012) Manchester Airport (MAN) Pakistan International Airlines (PK) Islamabad International Airport (ISB) NEWS ITEMS Independent (UK) | Woman accidentally opens plane emergency exit instead of toilet (10 June 2019) https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/pakistan-international-airlines-flight-delay-open-toilet-emergency-exit-evacuation-slide-manchester-a8951606.html "A flight from Manchester was delayed by almost eight hours after a passenger mistakenly opened an emergency exit instead of the toilet door." Sir? That's Not the Bathroom Door (flyertalk.com 12 June 2019) Manchester Airport (MAN) Pakistan International Airlines (PK) Islamabad International Airport (ISB) Rush to emergency exit lands Chinese first-time flier in detention (scmp.com 02 May 2019) Shandong Airlines (SC) Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport (TNA) Nigeria's Dana Air blames passenger after door falls off (bbc.com 08 February 2018) Dana Air (9J) Abuja Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (ABV) PODCAST CORRECTIONS, CLARIFICATIONS, CONFIRMATIONS Tunnel from Aalsmeer Flower Market was never built (Dutch Wikipedia) Niederrhien Airport is more commonly known as Weeze Airport Baggage rules are set by airlines and IATA plays no role in this activity. SHOW NOTES What's in this experience [00:00:45] Lots of requests for us to look at baggage again [00:01:00] Since the dawn of travel people have carried their stuff [00:02:08] Fast forward to today and baggage on flights [00:02:51] A brief look at air cargo, complete with chicks and flowers [00:04:41] What are holds on the plane and how do they work? [00:06:21] Geoff shares experience with baggage holds from a baggage handler perspective [00:07:15] Vinny shares experience with working out flight load plans [00:08:10] Vinny "ripped that pit apart" in DEN [00:10:37] Widebody aircraft and their "cans" [00:12:18] The hunt for Vinny's canned bag in AMS [00:14:56] What's it like under the plane as a baggage handler [00:17:27] Where do these bag weight limits come from? 32 kg, 23 kg, 7 kg [00:21:14] What Vinny saw at the BA check-in counter at YYC [00:23:15] Vinny shares stories of excess baggage and easyJet - first at TXL [00:28:54] Geoff somehow didn't have to pay excess baggage with Ryanair at STN [00:33:42] Vinny and easyJet at LGW [00:34:29] Difference between flying to Australia & New Zealand via North America or via Asia (kangaroo route) [00:37:12] Brazilian bag limits [00:38:12] If you're on a journey with two different airlines, make sure you check the bag limits for both airlines [00:39:16] Common Use Self Service and Common Use Passenger Processing Systems [00:41:05] If you're stuck with lots of bags it never hurts to ask a person - and there may be special situations [00:42:26] The famous "gate check" [00:46:19] Are you boarding first? Sometimes a seat at the back of economy helps with carry-on baggage [00:48:10] Does your airline offer skycheck service? [00:48:59] The science of the baggage tag [00:51:03] News Items [00:55:12] Woman accidentally opens plane emergency exit instead of toilet [00:55:19] Wrap-up [00:59:27] Shout-out to listener Danny Nabalek [01:00:27]

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