Packing a carry on for an international flight

[critterchick]

We flew LAX-MUC on Lufthansa, and our carryon limit was 15 or 18 pounds, not recalling which at the moment. In our lightweight bags we had two days' worth of clothing and toiletries. I also wore a Scottevest, which has a million pockets that you can load up with other items, even an iPad in the back pocket.:eek: That held documents, small electronic devices and miscellaneous stuff that I wasn't going to need during the flight but didn't want to risk being chucked about by baggage handlers. The only problem was finding the stuff in each pocket.

 

And naturally, they weren't weighing carryons on that flight.:rolleyes:

 

Flying AA/BA to Italy next year and am aiming for Ducklite's carryon only strategy. We've done it before, but they've gotten more strict about the size of the bags, so we need to cut back some. By the way, do you have a packing list for your husband?

[FlyerTalker]

On DL, I believe anything less than 23 hours is a layover, even if it is overnight. I had that a few times on my flights back to the US that took me via CDG… It was not designated a stop - DL gave me that itinerary.

The definition is:

 

For domestic flights, regardless of carrier, it is considered a "connection" if the continuation flight is either a) within 4 hours or b) is the next flight out to your next destination regardless of time. Whichever is longer. Beyond those, it is considered a "stopover" and is subject to a fare break/differential, surcharge or other extra costs depending on the fare rules. (See...those rules do matter).

 

For international flights, it is considered a "connection" if the continuation flight is either a) within 24 hours or b) is the next flight out to your next destination regardless of time. Otherwise it is a stopover and subject to the applicable fare rules.

 

Thus....you need to know when various options are and how they fit with your rules. The international rules can allow for some great options. Say you have a TATL flight to Europe that leaves at 6pm from JFK. It would be possible for you to arrive at JFK at 6:05pm (scheduled time) and have 23:55 to enjoy the town. Same with any other city along your route. So, it really wanted to, you could fly via NYC and spend the night, do the same thing in London, then in Madrid and eventually end up in your destination. (Just example cities...your own itinerary would be dependent on flight schedules).

 

Even with domestic flights....if you arrive in a city and the next plane doesn't leave until the next day, you get an overnight. In NYC or Vegas, this could be fun. In Fargo.....

 

But the airline computer won't WANT to give you that much connection time. You need to force it yourself by selecting flights by schedule, not using the auto-pricer.

 

One of the best of these was an old codeshare between Delta and Malaysian to Johannesburg. You would fly DL to Buenos Aires and have a three day "connection" in Argentina, then take the 3 times a week MH flight to JNB. Got you a nice side vacation at no extra cost. Yes, it was a LONG set of flights, but cool way to exploit the rules.

[slidergirl]

The definition is:

 

For domestic flights, regardless of carrier, it is considered a "connection" if the continuation flight is either a) within 4 hours or b) is the next flight out to your next destination regardless of time. Whichever is longer. Beyond those, it is considered a "stopover" and is subject to a fare break/differential, surcharge or other extra costs depending on the fare rules. (See...those rules do matter).

 

For international flights, it is considered a "connection" if the continuation flight is either a) within 24 hours or b) is the next flight out to your next destination regardless of time. Otherwise it is a stopover and subject to the applicable fare rules.

 

Thus....you need to know when various options are and how they fit with your rules. The international rules can allow for some great options. Say you have a TATL flight to Europe that leaves at 6pm from JFK. It would be possible for you to arrive at JFK at 6:05pm (scheduled time) and have 23:55 to enjoy the town. Same with any other city along your route. So, it really wanted to, you could fly via NYC and spend the night, do the same thing in London, then in Madrid and eventually end up in your destination. (Just example cities...your own itinerary would be dependent on flight schedules).

 

Even with domestic flights....if you arrive in a city and the next plane doesn't leave until the next day, you get an overnight. In NYC or Vegas, this could be fun. In Fargo.....

 

But the airline computer won't WANT to give you that much connection time. You need to force it yourself by selecting flights by schedule, not using the auto-pricer.

 

One of the best of these was an old codeshare between Delta and Malaysian to Johannesburg. You would fly DL to Buenos Aires and have a three day "connection" in Argentina, then take the 3 times a week MH flight to JNB. Got you a nice side vacation at no extra cost. Yes, it was a LONG set of flights, but cool way to exploit the rules.

 

Since the OP was talking about the layover in FRA, I did mean to refer to the international time. Thanks, though, for pointing out the domestic vs international diff.

I love my connection back from Europe to home via CDG - it always gives me 23 hours of time…quick train into the city, wander, eat, back to the Sheraton, sleep, out the door to T2E to my flight!

Edited January 22, 2014 by slidergirl