H Bags and Airports?

There was a case in HK sometime back in 2007:

The wife of a super tycoon (the richest guy in HK) refused to put her handbag (probably H) on the floor when the air flight attendant asked her to do so. The pilot then came out and asked her to put it under the seat. When the wife and tycoon landed HK, the police were waiting to arrest them and brought them to police station. It was the pilot who called the police before landing.

The air attendants and pilot did not know they are tycoons, but when they went to police station, they were released very quickly as identity is revealed.

There is actually a rule that if the passenger has a concrete reason why he/she can't put the bag under the seat, the passenger can be exempted from doing so.

I am very reluctant to put my bag under the seat although I normally travel with inexpensive bags (e.g. Furla, my H Evelyne, LV).
 
The last time I flew from Milan to NYC a child vomited all over herself and her seat and the passenger sitting behind her ended up getting her handbag soaked. This happened at the beginning of the flight and it was a LONG flight for everyone, but I especially felt horrid for that poor woman with her designer bag ruined. The child seemed to feel instantly better and proceeded to bounce around the remainder of the flight, but since the flight was packed no one around her could move away.

I always try to have something plastic or a Longchamp Pliage to put my handbag in since one never knows when any liquid will spill around things tucked under other's seats. I wouldn't have thought that someone sitting in the chair in front of you could spill something onto your bag that is tucked under it, but I saw it happen - so everyone please be careful.
 
I have a similar story - a little lower on the yuck scale. I was going from SF to a meeting in Chicago and a woman across the aisle could not get her little monster to sit in the car seat that children of a certain size are required by the airline to use. So Junior was pitching a fit because he was basically tied into the seat and his mom gave him a sippy cup full of milk (of unknown origin) to try to distract him. Junior was having none of it and proceeded to lob the sippy cup across the aisle and into my lap where the lid disengaged. Being a person with quick reflexes and a keen sense of protectiveness about my business attire (and not buckled in yet), I stood up immediately - turning what would have been a good soaking into a long smear. And leaving a puddle of milk at my feet and on the purse of the woman behind me. I just picked up the empty cup and the lid and gave it back to the mortified mother. There didin't seem much to say and anyway it was kind of funny. The hotel cleaned my pants overnight. (As I remember it was a black Celine suit.) No harm, no foul. Not my worst travel story by any means, but if that had been a Birkin behind me or my Birkin, I think I may have had trouble behaving as politely.

So I am going with the consensus that water resistant is the only way to go. The felt sleeper will just give you a false sense of security. If there had been commercial air travel during Dante's time it would have surely been one of the inner circles of hell. No place for a Birkin....
 
The availability of the bins depends on the country and state of their airport that you're using. The same applies to the damage probability of the xray machines. Some may have wider openings than others, etc.

For example, I've once flown out of an international airport that was literally a scattering of tikki huts. My DH found it so hilarious that he actually took pics of the facility for prosperity. They did not have bins and those were the smallest x-ray machines imagineable.
 
There was a case in HK sometime back in 2007:

The wife of a super tycoon (the richest guy in HK) refused to put her handbag (probably H) on the floor when the air flight attendant asked her to do so. The pilot then came out and asked her to put it under the seat. When the wife and tycoon landed HK, the police were waiting to arrest them and brought them to police station. It was the pilot who called the police before landing.

The air attendants and pilot did not know they are tycoons, but when they went to police station, they were released very quickly as identity is revealed.

There is actually a rule that if the passenger has a concrete reason why he/she can't put the bag under the seat, the passenger can be exempted from doing so.

I am very reluctant to put my bag under the seat although I normally travel with inexpensive bags (e.g. Furla, my H Evelyne, LV).


I remember reading about this!! And I was telling my friend I bet it was an Hermes. What I hate is when the cabin crew insists that I stow my bag in the overhead compartment, then proceeds to stuff it in even though it means crushing the bag. So now I always carry the sleeper bag onboard. I'll put my Birkin in the sleeper, then I will insist they keep it in the cloak closet, where there's more room.
 
I read this tread this morning and spent the rest of the day worrying about the day I will have to put down my birkin on dirty trays at the airport. Not to mention no handsome prince charming to come to my rescue....

This is not a new idea (some other member mentioned it first). But I think every one of us should own a Longchamp LePliage bag to use as dust bag. And rain coat as well. We can easily navigate through the airport hiding our babies in one of these and wear it on our shoulders, and only take it out when the time is right.

Personally, I'd pick the orange LePliage.

FYI - you will have to lie your birkin on its side to fit in the largest tote version.
 
didn't she hold the whole plane up for hours and end up being forced to get off the plane? that's just completely insane, if you're that paranoid about your bag you shouldn't be flying commercial. more likely than that you need your head examining if you think your bag is more important than flight safety. if i had been on that plane i certainly wouldn't have been happy to be delayed because i happened to be on the same plane as a complete lunatic.



but who puts wheely bags in the bins :confused1: they usually wouldn't even fit! i don't ever recall seeing a dirty bin, although on a rainy day flying out of london i can see how it would be possible since you have to take your shoes off there.

the furthest i'd go in the name of "bag safety" is putting it into a le pliage, i sometimes do that anyway for the security check with the one bag rule in the uk (which fortunately is only in force for another three or four days :wlae: :yahoo: :nuts: ), other than that i think people get far too paranoid.

You're right, the big ones don't go into the bins, but I've seen people put smaller wheely bags and other bags that have been on the floor in the bins. But, hey, I'm a total airtravel hater, whole process included, so that probably explains some of my cautiousness.
 
When I get a birkin or kelly, I probably wouldn't bring it travelling with me! I would leave it at home because if it got damaged then I would be so mad! I almost had a heart attack when I saw them manhandle my brand new versace bag!
 
There is actually a rule that if the passenger has a concrete reason why he/she can't put the bag under the seat, the passenger can be exempted from doing so.


surely that reason would have to be medical? i somehow don't see "my bag was really expensive" being a legitimate reason. the only reason i can think of is if you need access to medication you for some reason have to keep in your bag during take-off and landing. even that could probably be stashed in the seat pocket unless you're flying business/first long haul in a configuration where the seat pocket is so far away that you'd have to get up to reach it.


If there had been commercial air travel during Dante's time it would have surely been one of the inner circles of hell.


:roflmfao: :roflmfao: :roflmfao:


but i have to say, even with all the tedium that comes with it, those few hours of no phone access and no internet can be quite relaxing if nothing goes wrong (and you don't have some horribly annoying/smelly/snoring person next to you, etc. etc. etc.) :whistle:
 
I just completed a whirlwind USA West Coast tour over 12 days, from Sydney and back. There were EIGHT flights in all. My Raisin Togo Birkin went through the scanners, was placed under the seat on the US domestic flights and in the overhead compartment on the long-haul flights. Now back in Sydney, I can report that my Raisin Togo Birkin performed very well. Not a mark anywhere (although she may be a tad more floopy now, due to all the use).

Wow! Now that is amazing and great to hear! The Togo really seems to take a beating. :tup: Thanks Jasperella!
 
I'm such a baby and so afraid of something happening to my Birkin that she flys in her own suitcase. I put her in her dust bag and pack her in my carryon suitcase. Usually she is the only thing in the suitcase!! Crazy I know!! I carry everything else in my LV Tote bag which i just throw right under the seat. I had someone once vomit in my bag on a plane so now I'm extremely cautious.
 
I'm such a baby and so afraid of something happening to my Birkin that she flys in her own suitcase. I put her in her dust bag and pack her in my carryon suitcase. Usually she is the only thing in the suitcase!! Crazy I know!! I carry everything else in my LV Tote bag which i just throw right under the seat. I had someone once vomit in my bag on a plane so now I'm extremely cautious.

I hope it's a hard sided case. Since we're telling stories, here's one of mine. I was returning from Malaysian Borneo with DH and we were using two hard sided cases. When we arrived back in Kuala Lumpur and picked up our bags, we couldn't get over the overwhelming STENCH, and was afraid that during our photographic tour we'd picked up something that died in the bag. No, not that bad but a box of seafood had been placed over our cases and leaked stinking, festering fish slime all over it. I was mortified to hand over those bags to the porter at our very classy hotel. That said, when I go on wildlife tours, no designer bags go with me. What the heck am I going to do with an Hermes or Jimmy Choo in the Borneo jungles or the African savannah? :lol:
 
I once started feeling ill on a flight, and by the time we landed and were in the cab on the way to the hotel, I really had to :throwup:. Unfortunately, the only container nearby was my new Cerf tote (yes, as much as I hated the thought of using my purse for a barf-bag, I was not going to leave the driver with a smelly, icky reminder of me by puking on the floor of his cab). Fortunately, I was able to maintain my sang froid and held off until we got to the hotel, where the front desk took one look at me and gave us immediate, early check-in!

Now I always carry my le pliage onboard and pack my bag in my carry-on luggage.
(Moral: it's not only other ppl you have to be wary of.)
 
All of these stories make me never want to travel with an H bag again, ever...! I definitely will be making sure I have a large plastic bag with me though, if I do....
 
ladies, forgive my being preachy, but you should not travel with any bag you're not willing to stow during takeoff and landing-- every single item that is not secured is a potentially lethal object in the event of an aborted takeoff or an emergency landing. and while infrequent, those things DO happen -- and they send things flying around the cabin with tremendous g forces making them several times their natural weight.

as far as security, i just got back from a trip to europe where i carried my togo kelly. five out of six times the screeners removed it from the bin and plopped it down on the belt. so i bought a longchamps in duty free on the way home.