Hand luggage only question

[Hawaii04]

Hi all. Family of 4 here going Easter 2020 and we’ve decided to go hand luggage only. Got a villa with laundry facilities so no problem. We’re flying with virgin so are allowed the standard cabin approved case and a “small” backpack. Does anyone know if you can take a regular size backpack or does it have to be one of the tiny ones. Many thanks.

[Lisa29]

From the Virgin Atlantic website:

Hand baggage is included as part of all of our tickets, and depending on the cabin you might be able to take more than just the one bag. Whichever cabin you’re in, the size of your bag needs to be a maximum of 23 x 36 x 56cm (that's around 9 x 14 x 22 inches).

Important: You must be able to place your hand baggage in the overhead bins unaided.

Economy and Premium
All passengers flying in our Economy or Premiumcabins can take one piece of hand baggage per person weighing up to 10kg (or 22lb).

Children's hand baggage
Babies and toddlers aged 0-23 months are entitled to one bag each weighing up to 6kg (or 13lb).

Any children aged 2+ years are entitled to the same amount of hand baggage as an adult in the cabin allowances shown above.

Additional items you can take with you
To help with baggage conundrums, we’ve compiled the following list to clarify the bits and bobs you can take onboard in addition to the allowances above:

Your handbag, small backpack/rucksack, pocketbook or purse, as you would normally use it (in other words, not just being used to contain items that would otherwise be regarded as baggage)
Your overcoat or wrap
Your umbrella or walking stick (these cannot be pointed or sharp)
A small camera and/or pair of binoculars
A reasonable amount of reading matter for the flight
An infant’s food (for consumption on the flight)
A small amount of duty free goods
Headphones for onboard use (they’ll need the standard 3.5mm jack).
Laptops

You can bring laptops onboard, as long as you can fit them into your hand baggage.

Based on this, no you won't be able to take a regular sized backpack as well as a larger piece of hand luggage.

[Hawaii04]

Ok thanks for the info. Would still like to know what is deemed as a “small” backpack. Has anyone experience of this. Thanks again.

[mouli1]

Judging by the size of some on our recent va flight and especially the American passengers then they dont know the meaning of small but be prepared to have to put it under the seat as overhead lockers filled up quickly

[claireyfairy8]

I don't fly virgin, but majority of airlines have similar policies on hand luggage. My expeirence on BA, Delta, Air France & KLM - long haul.

I always take a cabin size rollerboard case and a large size handbag. Never had any issues. Handbag always goes under the seat in front of me. My bag is certainly big enough and then some to fit a snack box (around 12") in.

It's getting very common for airlines to offer to check your rollerboard case at the gate FOC - personally I don't like doing this.

[chmurf]

Originally Posted by Hawaii04

Ok thanks for the info. Would still like to know what is deemed as a “small” backpack. Has anyone experience of this. Thanks again.

See more...

*rule* is simple

cabin bag must fit in the overhead bins (hence the dimensions given in a previous post)

"small backpack" must fit under the seat in front of you

basically, if you need to take 2 spaces in the overhead bin (one for your cabin bag, one for your *personnal item*) then your *personnal item is too big/large

under seat space can be roughly estimated to 17 * 13 * 8 (inches) some planes and airlines being a wee bit more generous (up to 18 inches by 14)

[PPM]

Originally Posted by Hawaii04

Ok thanks for the info. Would still like to know what is deemed as a “small” backpack. Has anyone experience of this. Thanks again.

See more...

If unsure, why not ask VA?

[Hawaii04]

Great thanks for the replies. Seems that if it fits under seat it’s fine. My regular backpack fits under plane seats so that’s great.

[scottsman]

Small tip to work round the liquids ban if your don’t go Walmart shipping immediately you can pre-order toiletries from boots an slick them up after security

[snowdrop100]

We got cheap hand luggage only fares to NY with Virgin over May half term. We decided to book one piece of luggage into the hold which you can only do during check in and not in advance. This costs £45 each way. If you have decided to go for no hold luggage because you got great fares like us then this is worth considering (i justified it as £22.50 extra per person as there were 4 of us sharing the luggage).

If you are doing it for speed at airport then disregard