Carry On Items

Here are some things that I learned about carry on items while flying to and from Cotonou, Benin:

Instruments defy all laws of acceptable carry on items
I bought a djembe drum during my travels, it has been an interesting piece in my home as well as a fun past time. But because I was going home on vacation and knew that I was going to want it when I finally returned for good I decided I'd bring it home. I read the carry on requirements for Air France before I left to make sure that my drum could actually be carried on. I measured it and it was far too large. But I then read about instrument policy, that basically said that as long as your instrument isn't a cello there is space on the plane for it. I think to myself, well I can try. After getting proposed to numerous times, and then having to fight to get my drum through security and flirt with one of the higher-up decision maker guys, I got my drum through the Cotonou airport. Of course when I boarded the flight for Paris I was pretty flustered and no speaking very clearly. So I ask the flight attendants 'will this fit in the overhead compartment?' and the flight attendants say 'well if it doesn't you'll have to check it because there's no other place where it could go.' Which is the exact opposite than what was stated on their website. But believe it or not, my drum does fit in the overhead compartment, just barely. I breathed a sigh of relief when it came back out again and fit in every other overhead compartment. Even though this did work, I will say this, that is the last time I travel with an instrument as large as a full size djembe drum.

2 Kilos over does actually make a difference
When I was packing to come back to Benin from the States I decided it would be a good idea to try to carry on all my luggage, see how it worked. I was changing airlines in JFK and I wanted to avoid baggage claim all together in that airport. I checked online for the carry on item requirements and found that my piece of luggage that I chose did actually fit within the size necessary on both Air France and JetBlue. I packed my bag and found that everything fit! I then checked the weight limits. I didn't find weight limits for JetBlue but I did find that Air France did have a limit in kilos, which I converted to pounds. I then packaged my bag and weighed it. It was unfortunately one pound over the limit. I was reassured that they probably wouldn't weight my bag and that the whole reason why I wanted to carry on was because I was going to avoid baggage claim in JFK. Even if I had to check my baggage on Air France I would have made my trip less stressful. I fly out of Burlington, VT and arrive in JFK 45 minutes later. I go up to the Air France window in JFK and the lady says to me 'that bag looks big' I respond 'I measured it and it is smaller than what the website said.' she then looks at it and says 'you should put it on the scale' so I do. She looks at me and says 'it's over, by 2 kilos, Air France is very strict with it's carry on weight'. So I had to check my bag for 2 measly kilos.

4 bags is too many
I was waiting at my gate to go to Paris, and I notice that many people in the gate next to me have an extreme amount of carry on items. I get a sandwich and try to figure out how there is that much room in the overhead compartment and underneath the seats. I then see a man come over with a name tag, something that usually means that they are an authority figure. He goes over to a guy in a t-shirt and jeans and I can't hear what he's saying but the man in the t-shirt is clearly not happy. He stands up and starts screaming at the man. From what I caught of his yelling rampage he was asked to check his bags and when he originally checked in the person behind the desk didn't ask him. Now the problem is that there are many people like this and the flight is going to begin boarding in a few minutes, in order for everyone to recheck their bags and go through security again (he was yelling about that) the flight would be delayed and he would then potentially miss his connecting flight. I was sitting back watching the whole scene and I see this woman with SECURITY written in white across her blue windbreaker jacket, she's wearing high heels that could impale someone, and she speaks with authority in a thick Long Island accent. 'You cannot have 4 carry on bags, this is far beyond the requirements. If you thought for even 5 minutes that this was going to be OK you're pretty dense. You are going to check you bags. If you don't like it yo u can leave.' Moral of the story, don't push your luck too far.