Carry on luggage with Vueling…how strict are they on dimensions?

[HE-J]

Hello great hive mind!
I’ve booked to fly from the UK (LGW) with Vueling to Oviedo, returning from SdC. Only planning on taking one piece of carry on baggage, but had to buy the option to take the carry on size 55x40x20 cm cabin bag.
I have an Osprey Exos 48L which has served me well on previous Caminos …but measures approx 59x30x25.
Despite the fact that the dimensions add up to pretty much exactly the same (115cm v 114cm), Vueling customer care couldn’t say for sure if I’d be able to take this bag on…or if I’d be charged for it being too big by 4cm on the length….
Question is this…has anyone else any experience of taking cabin bags with Vueling that are slightly different to their stated sizes…and if so, did you manage to get them on board without issue, or did they charge you/make you check them in to the hold?
Many thanks in advance!

 

[Vacajoe]

1000% dependent on the gate staff for your flight. I’ve seen non-chalance and I’ve seen military adherence and everything in-between. As they told you, even Vueling isn’t sure if it’ll be okay. However, don’t you get an underseat bag with that carry-on? If so, Unser pack your backpack as the smaller it looks, the less likely you’ll get asked to measure it. And even though it’s a bit too tall, putting it in a at a slight angle gets you that distance.

But a better and guaranteed solution is to take a smaller bag. 48L really is more than you need.

 

[J Willhaus]

Our experience with Vueling is that they have very little cabin room. My husband had to sit an an angle because there was not room for his knees. Thankfully the flight was not full so he could encroach on the middle seat a little. We paid to have our bags checked when we purchased those tickets since we were going home after a Camino and not going to the Camino.

 

[ivar]

My experience is that they are picky on the size if the flight is full… otherwise not so much.

 

[Tincatinker]

As @ivar, and others, have said it will entirely depend on how busy your flight is and whether the Gate staff had a good nights sleep. I'm not familiar with the Exos 48L. If there is some flex in the frame and you don't overpack it you'll likely be able to stuff it into the measuring cage. Take a soft bag that you can stuff under the seat in front with maybe your sleeping bag or other light but bulky items or just wear most of your clothes.

And 48L seems oversized to me but that probably isn't a reason to buy a new rucksack - you might as well just save some money and pay the excess

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

My experience is that they are picky on the size if the flight is full… otherwise not so much.

There's a good reason for that - basically, the size limit ensures your bag — and ideally everyone else's — will be able to be stored safely in the overhead bin for your flight. The most important dimension is length, often, it's the maximum that will fit from the back to the front of the overhead bins. Hence if the flight is half empty it doesn't really matter whereas if it's very full it becomes quite critical because of course you cannot then place your bag sideways.
So @HE-J , as @Vacajoe says, the smaller you can make your bag look the better. I always carry one of those super light daypacks for wandering around town, when I take everything out of the brain of my pack, it looks smaller than it is. ( Obviously it's good to remove heavy/ bulky items). And I typically sling my jacket over my arm rather than pack it, to make everything look smaller still.
Whilst your bag does seem remarkably large, I fully appreciate that you probably don't wish to buy a smaller pack for what is after all just a two-week Camino.

Good luck, and Buen Camino!

 

[HE-J]

Hi everyone! Thanks for your feedback..much appreciated
The exos is one of ospreys very light packs (don’t think they make it any more)…and yes, I agree 48L is much more than I need …rest assured I won’t be filling it to capacity… I have to carry it after all
Will don trial pack and see how it looks …

 

[KariannNor]

Put your biggest things in a plastic bag from/saying tax-free, they will never care about what the airline industry makes the most money on

 

[Vacajoe]

as @Vacajoe says, the smaller you can make your bag look the better.

Also helps that I am 6 foot, 250lbs so most packs look tiny when I am wearing them! . Meanwhile, my 5’ wife keeps getting her bag measured even though it’s actually smaller than mine.

 

[LTfit]

I've been flying from Amsterdam to Spain for years with Vueling and I never had a problem with my Osprey backpack but then again it's only 30L - that's all you need

 

[KariannNor]

I've been flying from Amsterdam to Spain for years with Vueling and I never had a problem with my Osprey backpack but then again it's only 30L - that's all you need

are you a psychic and know my needs too?

 

[dreaming]

I flew Santiago to Paris with Veuling. I couldn't carry my Osprey 38 Eja backpack on as it was too long. Beware they charge you more at the airport if you haven't paid for checked luggage online before you arrive at the airport. I did notice travellers there was minimal hand luggage on board compared to other flights.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

My daughter in law has an Osprey Exos 48 and decided to leave the detachable top piece at home on her Camino and had no issues although she did not fly Vueling. The detachable top piece def offers more options.

 

[trac1]

I flied with vueling to oviedo from Venice (over Barcelona) and it was cheaper to have checked luggage than cabine one

 

[WGroleau]

I’ve been on Vueling, Iberia, Level, and many others. None has ever asked to measure my bag, even though I have occasionally had to work a little to squeeze it into the overhead bin.

 

[Perambulating Griffin]

I know that for those walking pilgrimages and aiming to take very little, and also having need of our walking poles, that the issue of what we can and cannot take as carry-on is perennial. Not going to solve it here... but I think it is worth remembering when we travel that *others* are also travelling...
Every time a person gets away with a bag that is over the stated limits on the ticket, it is taking up room that was slotted for another ticket holder.
The dreadful extra time we all sit around waiting while people try to pretend that their bags are going to magically shrink to fit in those overhead bins.... that we wait while adequately small bags that were slated for overhead have to be re-routed into checked baggage at the gate because there's no room left... the passengers who simply do not think in the aggregate....
If we buy tickets that say "these are the carry-on restrictions" we ought to adhere to those restrictions. Planes are not Tardis machines; they do not get bigger on the inside than on the outside.

From 2008, NYTimes: "ON her US Airways flight from New Orleans to Washington this month, Corinne Marasco, a science writer from Kingstowne, Va., was forced to check her small wheelie bag at the gate because there was no room left in the overhead bins. It didn’t matter that the gate agents kept reminding passengers that they were limited to one item of carry-on luggage, plus one personal item; the overhead bins were stuffed with shopping bags, knapsacks and pieces of luggage that clearly didn’t pass the size test." https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/travel/30praccarryon.html

Yesterday in The Atlantic: "Among the many things to hate about air travel, the processing of cabin luggage is ascendant. Planes are packed, and everyone seems to have more and bigger stuff than the aircraft can accommodate. The rabble holding cheap tickets who board last are most affected, but even jet-setters with elite status seem to worry about bag space; they hover in front of gates hoping to board as soon as possible—“gate lice,” they’re sometimes called. Travelers are rightly infuriated by the situation: a crisis of carry-ons that someone must be responsible for, and for which someone must pay."https://www.theatlantic.com/technol...ne-carry-on-luggage-crisis-conspiracy/677452/

TL;DR : If you want to have carry-on luggage and you buy a ticket without a checked bag, follow the rules. And no, you can't bring poles onto the plane.... Yes, maybe your friend So-and-So was able to sneak hers on... that means your friend is a jerk who was willing to have them confiscated if discovered, possibly hold up the flight, or delay someone else by making a ruckus in security, or at the very least unjustly calling "foul" on being told at check-in to pay to put them in the checked hold.

 

[C clearly]

I was with you until the last paragraph.

maybe your friend So-and-So was able to sneak hers on.. that means your friend is a jerk who was willing to have them confiscated if discovered, possibly hold up the flight, or delay someone else by making a ruckus in security, or at the very least unjustly calling "foul" on being told at check-in to pay to put them in the checked hold.

This is not true, and is very insulting to those of us who wish to follow the rules respectfully.

Please read this link to the CATSA statement about hiking poles. That applies to Canadian airports. I cannot verify with links but I understand that the requirements and policies in other countries may also be different from what you and other forum members assume/believe, based on outdated or limited information.

Over the years, both the rules and the local policies/interpretations have possibly changed, but we are not privy to all the subtleties. A number of forum members have carried their poles openly and even asked security personnel about the policy. They have not snuck anything on board, held up flights, nor created a ruckus or cried foul for anything.

The uncertainties about the rules and the application thereof, are outlined in this post. Now that I have found the recent (2023-11-17) update on the CATSA website, I will update the post to add this good news.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

This is not true, and is very insulting to those of us who wish to follow the rules respectfully.

.

 

[Perambulating Griffin]

I was with you until the last paragraph.

This is not true, and is very insulting to those of us who wish to follow the rules respectfully.

Please read this link to the CATSA statement about hiking poles. That applies to Canadian airports. I cannot verify with links but I understand that the requirements and policies in other countries may also be different from what you and other forum members assume/believe, based on outdated or limited information.

Over the years, both the rules and the local policies/interpretations have possibly changed, but we are not privy to all the subtleties. A number of forum members have carried their poles openly and even asked security personnel about the policy. They have not snuck anything on board, held up flights, nor created a ruckus or cried foul for anything.

The uncertainties about the rules and the application thereof, are outlined in this post. Now that I have found the recent (2023-11-17) update on the CATSA website, I will update the post to add this good news.

Clearly… *clearly* I am not referring to those who follow the rules.
I am referring to the many *many* *many* dozens if not hundreds of posts in which people complain that they tried to get their poles through without checking them and had them confiscated (ever so *unfairly*), insist they must be allowed to take them through Santiago, suggest ways to sneak them into the cabin, fail to understand that what CATSA allows is not a guarantee that you can get the beloved and expensive (and whatever other justification is given) poles *back home* (even if they can get them overseas), is not reflective of what is stated policy elsewhere.
And this says nothing of the ruckus I have personally seen from people *arguing* (and holding up lines) the point with a beleaguered desk check-in person, or security personnel — especially in lay-over airports. I could just as easily explain witnessing the same “but I am special” hold-ups and arguments from people who had transited through Canada from the US without bringing vaccination certifications when those were *required by law* to board a plane in Canada even if Chicago had let them on there…
It’s the same basic problem: I am special; I deserve to skirt the rules; I deserve to be given a free pass if I didn’t read that the rules for one leg of my transit are not the same as another; I should be allowed extra inches of baggage, and so should the next person, and the next… but *who cares* about that last person whose properly sized bag now cannot fit in the overhead…)

 

[C clearly]

Clearly… *clearly* I am not referring to those who follow the rules.

And no, you can't bring poles onto the plane.

Your post linked to a couple of interesting articles and I agree that people should follow the rules and not act like entitled children. But you went further with an inaccurate statement and a rant about people "sneaking" poles into the cabin, clearly implying that it is contrary to the rules, and that furthermore, anyone who does so is a jerk.

Thanks for providing the incentive to check the CATSA rules and find the up-to-date policy.

 

[Perambulating Griffin]

Your post linked to a couple of interesting articles and I agree that people should follow the rules and not act like entitled children. But you went further with an inaccurate statement and a rant about people "sneaking" poles into the cabin, clearly implying that it is contrary to the rules, and that furthermore, anyone who does so is a jerk.

Thanks for providing the incentive to check the CATSA rules and find the up-to-date policy.

Still misreading. Do not know why you are taking this personally.

There are *plenty* of people who do try to sneak poles onto planes. And plenty who complain about the repercussions. I am clearly not speaking to or about people who follow rules (but it is a good idea to be aware that the rules for departure may not apply to plans for return — not if it involves using Ryanair to get out of Santiago, for example).

CATSA… Sure… makes it easier for me to take my poles to Banff… but does not determine the regulations for the rest of the flying world. TSA still does not permit pole sin carry-on (https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/hiking-poles), and *many* flights to the EU from Canada have lay-overs in the US. Ryanair —- which is how people fly from SdC to Madrid or home to the UK — for example, still requires that hiking poles not be in carry-on luggage (https://www.ryanair.com/ie/en/usefu...and-conditions/termsandconditionsar_696869348) see 8.5.2

All of which is irrelvant to the bad behaviour that I am addressing. And there is plenty of bad behaviour in entitled travellers who forget that there are hundreds of others trying to reach destination with them, and that in an era of passengers attempting to open fuselage doors over the Atlantic, yes… keeping pointy sticks out of the passenger hold remains the wise course.

People do try to sneak poles in, hoping they won’t be caught by security, or have them confiscated at the gates (and complain, resist, cause delays, etc).

If a person wants to phone their airline and local transit authority, ask their policies, obtain a letter from a physician indicating the need for the poles for whatever reason (it’s a strategy I have seen used for people making connecting flights with different regulatory bodies involved) then they may make it through multiple regulatory zones without trouble.

But if a person were to rely solely on CATSA, board in Winnipeg, and try to take that carry-on through at an American hub, they would find themselves stopped in their tracks. The TSA security check point (same rules in EU) *MIGHT* allow a collapsible pole (if it meets other size restrictions for whatever flight you are aiming to board)… but the carbon tips on those poles is the sticking point (fairly literally). Sharp-pointy stabby-stab items are not allowed, and so most of us are vulnerable to finding that an attempt at carrying poles onto the plane just won’t work.

Humans — being humans — tend to get pissy about the confiscation of an expensive item. Humans — being humans — also tend to try to do things for the lowest price possible and when caught in the scenario I paint, also tend to make things unpleasant for those around them (Arguing with gate personnel, causing delays, etc).

My observations are not an attack and are not directed at those who have managed to find a carrier for both directions and all transit points that will accept their poles on board.

 

[Kathar1na]

The TSA [USA] security check point (same rules in EU)

No, you are wrong.

US TSA rules are not the same rules as the rules of every airport in the EU as far as poles, and pocket knives (!) for that matter, are concerned. And I, for one, do not like to be associated, either explicitly or implicitly, with what people in other countries or other airports than the ones I have used, do or are presumed to do.

Anyway, the poster wants to fly Vueling from London Gatwick to Oviedo, returning from SdC, and wants to hear about the experience of other travellers on these two flights between the UK and Spain, and it is about the dimension of a backpack, something that is not as rigid as a roller suitcase for example. Why did poles get into this discussion in the first place???

 

[Perambulating Griffin]

No, you are wrong.

US TSA rules are not the same rules as the rules of every airport in the EU as far as poles, and pocket knives (!) for that matter, are concerned. And I, for one, to not like to be associated, either explicitly or implicitly, with what people in other countries or other airports than the ones I have used, do or are suspected to do.

Anyway, the poster wants to fly Vueling from London Gatwick to Oviedo, returning from SdC, and wants to hear about the experience of other travellers on these two flights between the UK and Spain, and it is about the dimension of a backpack. Why did poles get into this discussion in the first place???

I literally *just* checked the rules on multiple sites, and explained the “sharp/pointy” qualifier that can see poles easily confiscated at security, but OK. Fine. I am not going to experiment with the notion that it’s a free-for-all out there. I will continue to check my poles until the “no sharp or pointed edges” clause goes out of the regulation.

I mentioned it because it falls into a category of : “me, mine, my comfort, and I want” that makes flying more unpleasant and difficult than it needs to be. It also tracks to many of the things that can make a camino on a more popular route more trying and difficult as well (as when walkers arrive into a town like Ribadiso — it’s *just* and example — and they didn’t pre-book and the entry of the empty albergue is full of shipped packs and luggage and they are going to have to walk on to Arzua, making a long day longer. (Sure, there are solutions and work-around, but for a first-timer, it would be unpleasant and trying in a very typical way that they are probably not prepared for).

Again: if there are local rules (like CATSA) and you can manage to find consistent local rules all the way through with different carriers, different connection points (Many going out of Canada cannot get a direct flight to Spain for half the year), and you can make it work, then great.

My comments come down to: don’t try to game the system, squeezing other people’s bags out because you prefer to take yours that does not fit, and while you are at it, don’t try to bend or skirt the other baggage rules either.

The person who wants to bend rules or have special treatment in one tiny area is the sort who is likely to do it in another… it’s why the idiom about being given an inch and taking a mile exists.

If people feel included implication and are yet completely innocent of the issue, that is something beyond my control.

 

[Simperegrina]

Blimey

 

[Simperegrina]

I mean, squeezing in your pack or including your poles is really just a gateway drug to heinous crimes, right?

 

[Kathar1na]

Question is this…has anyone else any experience of taking cabin bags with Vueling that are slightly different to their stated sizes…and if so, did you manage to get them on board without issue, or did they charge you/make you check them in to the hold?

I can't answer your question as I don't know or don't recall how strict Vueling are in Gatwick and in Santiago as to the size of hand luggage. You are obviously concerned about having to pay a fine/surcharge. I've flown Vueling on inner-European flights but don't remember if and how they control hand luggage size. Ryanair and EasyJet are a different matter but you are not flying with them.

I was asked to hand over my backpack occasionally on inter-European Iberia flights and on Lufthansa flights but it wasn't because my backpack was particularly large, and this happened in the waiting area near the gate long before boarding started. Nobody was held up or bothered by it. Once in Madrid when I actually looked in astonishment at what other passengers were carrying and thought "Why me with my modest backpack and not them with their enormous roller cases that are obviously too large" and on a few Lufthansa flights when they used one of these airplanes with tiny overhead lockers where there is not enough space for all regular sized hand luggage anyway when the plane is full.

I was never charged extra. And I received my backpack at the foot of the steps when leaving the plane. I did not have to pick it up at the carousel.

Have a good flight and Buen Camino!

 

[Kathar1na]

@HE-J, I just saw this on Kayak.com:

How strict is Vueling with carry-on size?​

​

Vueling Airlines is relatively strict with its carry-on size policy. Note that how strictly the policy will be applied to you will depend on your destination, origin airport, and the size of the airplane you’re set to travel with.​

​

Admittedly, this does not tell us much more than what we already know but it is not off topic.

 

[Simperegrina]

I’m flying with this airline tomorrow.

I shall closely monitor and report back!

 

[Perambulating Griffin]

I mean, squeezing in your pack or including your poles is really just a gateway drug to heinous crimes, right?

Nope, but it has an unpleasant and troublesome knock on effect that may well end up costing some *other person* extra to stow their perfectly allowable carryon because there's no longer any room for it. I do not know how that became "OK"... I gather this is a community of "me, my, mine... my camino" bla blah blah...
rather than a community of "How can I be attentive to the *shared* space of travel, of camino, etc".

 

[Simperegrina]

Nope, but it has an unpleasant and troublesome knock on effect that may well end up costing some *other person* extra to stow their perfectly allowable carryon because there's no longer any room for it. I do not know how that became "OK"... I gather this is a community of "me, my, mine... my camino" bla blah blah...
rather than a community of "How can I be attentive to the *shared* space of travel, of camino, etc".

Yes, everyone is famously selfish around these parts, you’re quite right.

Maybe it’s time to draw a line under this?

 

[J Willhaus]

I just flew Iberia from Madrid to Santiago in January and the airline made about half my student group check their backpacks (including me). There was a woman standing in the middle of the boarding passage halfway down who checked every single person and made a pronouncement and sent everyone who she felt was over the limit (roller boards and backpacks alike). No stuffing into a box to test, etc. In any case, we did not pay extra and it was only a short hop and we picked up our bags on the nearly empty carousel in Santiago.

To be fair, there really wasn't room in the overhead bins (smaller than normal) and there was not room under the seats either without resting my feet on the backpack.

 

[peregrina2000]

And no, you can't bring poles onto the plane.... Yes, maybe your friend So-and-So was able to sneak hers on... that means your friend is a jerk who was willing to have them confiscated if discovered, possibly hold up the flight, or delay someone else by making a ruckus in security, or at the very least unjustly calling "foul" on being told at check-in to pay to put them in the checked hold.

We haven’t had a fight over poles on the plane for a while!

I think the only point of disagreement here is about the paragraph I pasted in above. In her response to @Perambulating Griffin , @C clearly said this:

I was with you until the last paragraph.

So, just to be clear, the disagreement is over @Perambulating Griffin’s statement that people who carry on poles are jerks or are trying to sneak something past someone. It’s just that paragraph, nothing else. I have never had my poles confiscated at TSA, and in fact I have asked them about bringing on my poles on several occasions. I was told that they do not consider folded up poles a threat and that the prohibition applies to fully extended poles, just as it applies to things like lacross sticks or ski poles. But I always have a Plan B - get to the airport early enough, so I can go check the poles if the TSA official says they can’t go through. And that’s what I always recommend that people do. No flight will be held up by a “ruckus” in security.

I think the comments are unnecessarily categorical, harsh, and tangled up with all sorts of other criticisms about entitled travelers writ large — seeking special treatment, not cancelling reservations in albergues, not bringing your vaccine certificate, bending the rules, etc — none of which, in my mind, applies to people who carry on their poles. So I think we should leave the pole discussion with the advice that there is no clear guarantee that you will be able to carry on poles through to your final destination, and that anyone who intends to carry on poles should have a back-up plan in case security decides not to let them through. But that people who carry on their poles are not entitled, sneaky, rule-benders, they are people with a reasonable belief that poles may in fact be carried on.

 

[TravellingMan22]

I just flew Iberia from Madrid to Santiago in January and the airline made about half my student group check their backpacks (including me). There was a woman standing in the middle of the boarding passage halfway down who checked every single person and made a pronouncement and sent everyone who she felt was over the limit (roller boards and backpacks alike). No stuffing into a box to test, etc. In any case, we did not pay extra and it was only a short hop and we picked up our bags on the nearly empty carousel in Santiago.

To be fair, there really wasn't room in the overhead bins (smaller than normal) and there was not room under the seats either without resting my feet on the backpack.

Basically many of the older airlines introduced ‘hand baggage only’ fares a few a years back. It was a competitive move effectively to offer modular pricing in the same way as the newer airlines They have been hugely successful from a revenue standpoint but the issue is of course overhead bin space. So folks who are compliant and within regulations may get the ‘offer’ to check their bags in free of charge. Rightly so as they are compliant. Some seem to like it, some don’t. Of course the main topic here is folks who are not necessarily compliant with the rules and may have to pay a fee, but chancing their arm! That will be very much an ‘on the day’ thing, depending on a whole range of factors.

 

[HE-J]

Blimey! Wasn’t expecting this to go off on that tangent!

For clarity - I am NOT trying to screw the system, nor inconvenience other passengers.
I do NOT intend to try to sneak (or otherwise get on board) any kind of trekking poles.
This is not my first Camino. I am in fact trying to play by the rules!!!!

My question relates to carry on bags only.

I am only taking ONE bag (this is a bag I have PAID EXTRA for. A second, larger hand carry on. I will NOT be taking the ‘free/included’ hand luggage item - an extra piece that I COULD take measuring another 40x20x30 cm)
I will therefore NOT actually be using all my luggage allowance anyway.
I didn’t want to check my pack in just in case it got lost in transit…

Many airlines allow you to add the dimensions of the check in luggage (Height plus width plus depth) to get to an overall alllowed size.

The sum of the Vueling allowed bag is 115 cm (55cm x 40cm x 20cm). My bag comes in at 114 cm (59 x 30 x25 cm) so is actually SMALLER than their limit…but it’s the different configuration I’m trying to find out about. They are not clear about whether this is done or not - seems to be at the discretion of the gate staff on the day …

If I have to get a different bag so be it - but having already done 3 CAMINO’s with this super lightweight bag I’d rather stick to my tried and tested option. I was simply trying to find out what the likelihood is of not getting my undersized but differently configured hand luggage on board would be.

Thank you to everyone who has been positive and supportive in your comments. Perambulating Griffin, I hope you feel better for having let off steam.

Buen Camino everyone

 

[C clearly]

The sum of the Vueling allowed bag is 115 cm (55cm x 40cm x 20cm). My bag comes in at 114 cm (59 x 30 x25 cm)

So, does it have a rigid back that can't be bent/squeezed down to a 55 cm length if you don't pack too much inside? Or placed in the measuring frame on a bit of a diagonal? Usually, fitting into the frame is the main requirement.

 

[HE-J]

It’s got a pretty rigid frame that can be ‘manipulated’ a bit ..:and may work on the diagonal …but if someone was determined to say it was too long I’m not sure it would pass…thanks for your thoughts though

 

[peregrina2000]

I think this thread has gone full circle and can now be closed. Hoping that everyone feels like their perspectives were heard and respected.