They want us to pay for bags now and they made the overhead smaller?
A woman read the online measurements for Southwest carry-on bags. Then, she brought a suitcase that was well within the company’s parameters, only to be told that she could not take it onboard as a carry on.
“I’m just confused why they have measurements on the website when their plane can’t even accommodate those,” said lifeoflyssb (@lifeoflyssb), in a video that has over 142,000 views. The TikTok content creator flew from Chicago to Los Angeles without any issues. But on the way back home from Los Angeles, she was stopped because her 24 x 14 x 9 bag was “too large” for the plane.
She provided screenshots that proved that at the time she was flying, her bag met the size requirements to be a carry-on. So, why was she stopped for something that should theoretically fit?
When the creator and her husband arrived at the airport, she seemed to have some mild nervousness regarding her bag fitting onboard. But she had checked beforehand and ensured that it met Southwest’s self-described carry-on luggage policies.
She checked with the gate agent, who confirmed that the bag “should” fit on the plane. They even measured the bag beforehand and confirmed that it was the correct size. But the gate agent let her know that they may need to check the bag on the flight.
When the couple got on the plane, they tried to put the bag in an overhead compartment. The only problem? It wouldn’t fit. Despite emphasizing to the Southwest crew that she had measured the bag beforehand, lifeoflyssb had to check it. It wouldn’t fit in the “ the biggest compartments” they had, regardless of Southwest’s own specifications or policies.
“ Now these new planes, all of a sudden the bags don’t fit,” lifeoflyssb said. “So if you don’t want my 24 inch bag up there, then don’t say that the specifications are 24 inches. Like this bag is 24 inches. I measured it. The gate agent measured it.”
Lifeoflyssb expressed even more frustration, because she doesn’t want to switch her bag every “six months” to account for new overhead bin sizes. “ It fit exactly the way it wanted it to [on an older plane], and then I get it on this brand new plane and all of a sudden it’s this huge issue,” she added.
According to many commenters, the issue wasn’t that lifeoflyssb misread the policy. It was that Southwest had not updated its policies to reflect its new aircrafts.
Southwest recently introduced a new line of MAX 8 aircrafts. In previous press releases, Southwest stated that new aircrafts would have larger bin space, not smaller. But customers have noticed that these overhead bins may have different sizing measurements that are not reflected on Southwest’s website. As of Feb. 5, their policy has not changed. Yet, many planes seemingly do have smaller overhead space.
“Yeah southwest shouldn’t be saying 24 inches, [as] the new planes only fit 22,” one commenter said. “United and American have updated this. I had a flight attendant tell me I shouldn’t be carrying on my 24 anymore and so I bit the bullet and bought a new one, but it does suck!”
“They are changing to 22x14x9,” another viewer added.
But Southwest has not stated that overhead bins are smaller. The company also has not made any announcements regarding overhead bag policy changes.
One commenter said, “Funny how they get rid of the free bags then make the overheads smaller on the new planes….”
Which leads to the question: Is Southwest deliberately making its overhead sizes smaller to gain money from checked bag fees?
It is unlikely that Southwest is purchasing brand-new airplanes to deliberately make overhead space smaller. But, commenters have reason to fear the company’s recent changes.
Southwest introduced a few new policies that have proven controversial. The company no longer allows for free checked bags for all passengers, nor does it have open seating.
“So wait. They want us to pay for bags now and they made the overhead smaller? That’s a bunch of ridiculousness,” one viewer added.
Another said, “Southwest is having a rough go of it lately,” a comment that seems to be more and more true each day.
The Mary Sue reached out to Southwest Airlines via press email and lifeoflyssb via TikTok direct message for comment.
