European Airport carry-on restrictions

[CLOU]

I am flying through Frankfurt to Athens to pick up the Black Sea cruise, and home from Istanbul through Frankfurt. I heard that Heathrow only allows one carry-on, not one carry-on and a personal item such as a purse or computer bag. Does anyone know if Frankfurt, Athens or Istanbul has similar restrictions or can I have my normal carry-on and my purse? Any insight from recently returning passengers or anyone else in the know would be appreciated.

[Goofyisme]

As of June there was no such restriction in Frankfurt

[JoAnne B]

Frankfurt is easy, allowing the typical carry-on and one personal item. Earlier this month they passed my rollerboard and large bag through security without batting an eye.

 

London is tricky. They even consider a newspaper or book a carry-on when you go through security, but you can buy whatever after security and carry it on without problem. But even more important, statistically, they lose a ridiculous number of bags, average is several per flight.

 

JoAnne B

Houston

[ChatKat in Ca.]

In Frankfurt, (We flew Lufthansa) if you were on a stopover, the terminal there is a separate terminal and you would not have to go through security to change planes. There is a lot to do in the terminal as far as walking around and shopping but restroom facilities were busy so you had to wait in lines to use them. You are also frequently bussed to the plane.

 

In Athens, security required two hand checks of carry on luggage as well as having to remove all of the contents of the bags to go through xray. We flew Delta. If you shop in the international terminals, do not buy any liquid over 3 oz. In Atlanta going through customs requires you to go through security all over again and if you have any liquid you do not put in your suitcase while in immigration, it will be disposed of. One lady bought 6 bottles of cologne and it was confiscated.

[CLOU]

Thanks for the info. We only deplane in Athens, so we won't need to go through security. We have a 2 1/2 hour layover in Frankfurt, assuming we are on time, which is a big assumption these days. Last I checked, our flight landed and the connecting flight took off from the same terminal, but it keeps changing. Earlier they were in different terminals. I don't know if you have to clear security again if you have to change terminals. If we are on time, we will just kill the layover in one of the lounges, anxioulsy waiting to get to Athens and get on board.

[Pincus]

Frankfurt is easy, allowing the typical carry-on and one personal item. Earlier this month they passed my rollerboard and large bag through security without batting an eye.

 

London is tricky. They even consider a newspaper or book a carry-on when you go through security, but you can buy whatever after security and carry it on without problem. But even more important, statistically, they lose a ridiculous number of bags, average is several per flight.

 

JoAnne B

Houston

 

Joanne, do you have any information on the other London airports...Gatwick, Luton, etc?

 

Thanks.

 

Pincus

[englishlee]

Pincus

 

The one carry-on bag rule is a UK government restriction, not an airline or airport one. Therefore the one bag rule applies at ALL UK airports.

 

There have been indications that this will be relaxed soon, the airlines and airports all want it lifted, but at the moment there is no date from the government for it to be changed.

 

Lee

[Pincus]

Thank you, Lee.

 

Makes sense!!!

 

Pincus

[JoAnne B]

I usually fly through Gatwick. I've never flown through Luton. Yes, the 1-bag rule is a government declaration. The 100 ml rule now extends through the EU. This is such a silly rule that our government quickly adopted. The difference between 100 ml and 4 ounces is so tiny, but causes such problems. For a while I could only get contact lense solution in 4 oz containers, which was confiscated once in London, leaving me miserable during the 6 hour layover. I usually take my contacts out while relaxing in the lounge. Security told me to buy fresh in the duty free, but they had only very, very expensive full-size containers (saline was the equivalent of $8), which would have been confiscated at the next stop. Adopting the slightly larger 4 oz would have saved a lot of aggrevation.

 

By the way, if you are connecting, some countries will have security inspects for ARRIVING international passsengers or internal checkpoints in the terminal. So liquor bought duty free on the plane and any other banned articles will be confiscated. I was really ticked when this happened to me.

 

Also, new US rules require you to remove all CPAP machines from their bags, as you would a computer. Then every single machine has to be tested for bomb residue. I now place my machine in a large ziplock plastic bag and the face mask in a separate bag, all within the carry bag, to minimize the potential for contamination.

 

JoAnne B

Houston

[Travelcat2]

Thank you for the information. We're going through Heathrow this week -- went to the airport website and confirmed the "one bag" rule (that may be lifted in November -- according to August, 2007 newspaper reports). Carry-on bags are quite limited in size -- had to make sure I had a small handbag that will fit inside the carry-on when it goes through security. Really appreciate learning this now -- before having a problem at the airport.

[Pincus]

Joanne, thanks for the reply.

 

Your details are helpful.

 

Pincus

[RachelG]

They are really picky at LHR--we saw several people who had very small packages or bags sent back to check them if they had more than 1. I was able to stuff my handbag inside my carry-on bag, but it is a major annoyance. Don't think you can sneak anything extra past them--they are way picky!

[poss]

Reading this thread really woke me up. The carry-on we'd been planning to use (to go to LHR, to go to Dover) is so small that it didn't occur to me that it might be too BIG. In fact, two of the dimensions come in well under the allowed measurement. It was that last 10" that was the show-stopper: Even this very small bag's smallest dimension was about 12". Since I've been reading so much about lost luggage (esp on BA, alas), I figured we'd at least try to take enough things so that we wouldn't be in the absolute Adam and Eve category if baggage goes astray. Can't figure out what to do now!

 

Anyway, I'm glad I tuned into this post. Thanks to everyone.

[JDRMYS]

This thread really woke me up. We last flew into the U.K. last November on our way to Madeira to take the Voyager's transatlantic. We are flying into and out of Stansted (on Eos airlines) this coming November on our way to and from a cruise on Hapag-Lloyd's Europa. I have just read and printed out the 15 pages of regulations for carry on bags at Stansted. Wow! I think that we will ship as much of our luggage as we possibly can.

[Ste. Michelle]

We're on the Voyager Oct 6 Istanbul to Athens. We fly BA into Heathrow and switch planes (and terminals) to continue on to Istanbul. This thread has me a little wary. We have 1 hour and 50 minutes to change planes. Will this be enough time? From the BA website, it looks like we can have a carry-on plus a personal item (purse), but only the carry-on (no purse) for the Heathrow to Istanbul leg. Is this true? Do we have to go back through security between the 2 flights?

 

Thanks for the help.:confused:

[Wendy The Wanderer]

You could ask Globaliser over on the Britain forum--he knows that airport inside out. The way I remember Heathrow, you certainly go through security if you change terminals, but can't remember for sure any further details.

[Pookie2]

We came through Heathrow in July on AA with a change to a BA flight. You have to go through a security check point when you change terminals. You are allowed to have only ONE carry on. If you are carrying a purse and a carry on, make sure the purse will fit in your carry on before going through security. You should be fine with the 1 hour and 50 minutes between flights. Our flight arrived on time but sat on the runway for 50 min. waiting for a gate to open up. We stood in line at security for about 20 min. and still made it to our connecting flight with plenty of time to spare.

[englishlee]

Ste.Michelle

 

It depends between which terminals in Heathrow you are connecting between. If for example you are arriving at Terminal 4 and connecting to Terminal 3 first thing in the morning then 1hr 50 minutes will be tight irrespective of what the airlines might say. It is no uncommon to arrive at LHR and wait up to an hour for a gate (especially on BA), the transfers from Terminal 4 can be very time consuming - and yes you will need to go through security again. Do not buy any duty free or any other liquids at the airport before arriving in London as it will just be confiscated when you go through security again.

 

Yes you will be allowed one carry on plus a purse from the US but once you get to London it reverts back to one piece including your purse.

[Ste. Michelle]

Thank you all for your responses.

 

Englishlee, we arrive at Terminal 4 and transfer to Terminal 1 for the Istanbul portion. We arrive at LHR at 5:15 am and depart again at 7:05 am. Would our chances of having an open gate be greater at that early time in the morning?

 

Terminal 4 looks detached from the other terminals on the map that I've seen. How does it connect to the other terminals? Train, bus?

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

[englishlee]

Ste.Michelle

If your flight to LHR is on time then you should be OK. It is quite a busy time that time in the morning as some North American flights and many from Asia arrive at similar times, but not those from Europe so a gate shouldn't be too much of an issue (although there are no guarantees) immigration may be busy though.

 

I have attached a link to the British Airports Authority (which runs LHR) website for transfers between the terminals you mention so that you can see the process involved. If all goes to plan then it shouldn't be that much of a problem. At least flying BA if you do misconnect there is another flight to IST later that morning which they can put you on.

 

Have a great time!

Lee

PS I've had to attach the link in a Word Doc as it wouldn't paste within this message for some reason. If you can't access the doc you can find the info by doing the following:

 

Go to http://www.heathrowairport.com

Then click on Airport Information (more or less the middle of the screen towards the top.

Then click on Heathrow Connections (left hand side of the screen)

Then follow the Connections Guide Step 1 (and subsequent steps) in the middle of the screen. It will eventually take you to the page which the link on the attached doc will also.

Heathrow connections.doc

[Ste. Michelle]

Englishlee,

 

Thank you so much for your help. I hope we make it on time and WITH ALL OF OUR LUGGAGE!

[englishlee]

You're welcome Ste. Michelle

 

I travel from LHR next week to join the RSSC Mariner in Seward. I hope my bags get there as well !!

 

Lee

[Ste. Michelle]

Have a great trip Englishlee!! We've sailed the Mariner twice. Both times have been wonderful!