Travel- Carrying on about carry on baggage

I wrote earlier of my return from Africa, horrible re-booking fee despite being compelled to change my flight out of a genuine emergency and then, the last straw, having my baby Mac laptop stolen from my carry on baggage. I received the following fill in the blanks form e mail from British Air this morning.
I am extremely sorry to learn about your missing computer. Thank you for your email of about it. I am afraid that passengers are not entitled to compensation from the airline in this kind of situation. We cannot be responsible for personal possessions that remain in your own care while you're on board the plane. If you had travel insurance, though, you may be covered through that. Thank you for following this up with us and I hope you will fly with us again soon. Sincerely Roberta Lance

OK. I do have insurance and my company will replace my laptop. My beef is with the cavalier statement in the e mail. "We cannot be responsible for personal possessions that remain in your own care while you're on board the plane." In my care my foot!

I was on a flight between Heathrow and Phoenix that in economy, was packed to the gills. I've already expressed my belief that they had people standing in the aisles. One of the last to board, my day pack (small-not over stuffed just a regular Eddie Bauer day pack) was taken from me by an attendant and stowed several - eight to be precise- rows back. Other passengers had used all the space in the immediate vicinity of my seat in row 41. Squished in a middle seat I could barely move let alone monitor my personal possessions! At one point during the flight I attempted to locate my pack to retrieve my glasses. No such luck. After opening 5 bins I gave up.

Personal beef here. I travel a great deal and I am thoroughly tired of the arbitrary application of carry on luggage regulations. I guess as long as people think they'll get away with it, the rules have little sway. I am also thoroughly tired of fellow passengers who interpret the rules to suit their own needs. On this last flight, the man across the aisle from me carried on board a duffle bag big enough to hold a kitchen sink (and it seemed to be that heavy- it also turned out that it held a crank shaft!) a roll-on and a bulging back-pack. The back-pack he obligingly suggested that the woman next to me might put under the seat in front of her so he could have "more leg room". I was one of the last to be seated because three women ahead of me each had four articles of carry on baggage including brown paper wrapped paintings, huge canvas hold-all, roll-ons and 'purses' that could hold a week's worth of groceries. Ladies, it clearly states "Two Items" and that includes your handbags! Why oh why must you inflict your selfishness upon others. Standing by the carousels waiting to retrieve checked baggage I amused (in reality annoyed) myself by counting pieces of carry on. The majority of passengers had three.

I am a packing light crusader (except when it comes to road trips - then I seem to take all my shoes); it's to my own advantage to pack light. I've learned over the years that there is little more miserable than being over-packed and over-baggaged. I traveled with a group last year were three of us were poster children (albeit aging ones) for the pack light brigade and we were rewarded by getting on the bus and train first and securing the best seats while the weighted down group huffed and hauled their entire wardrobes onto the transporation.

It's not just British Air that applies policy in an arbitrary manner. On Kenyan Air my smaller than regular roll-on was denied cabin access whilst around me other passengers were dragging on full size suitcases. Blows the mind. And then there are the different weight allowances of different airlines that if you are transferring can really bite you with an on the spot excess baggage fee. Really check out weight allowances if you are transferring to a code share flight. My BA noted ticket, Phoenix to Ethiopia, transferred to a BMI flight at Heathrow and my baggage allowance was cut in half.

Need to walk off my irritation with all of this. Would love to hear your views because I'm beginning to wonder if I'm turning into a first rate grouch!

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