It’s common in movies to see flight attendants help passengers put their luggage in the overhead baggage area. However, that’s something you won’t see in real life, and for good reason. Former flight attendant, Kat Kamalani shares travel tips with viewers on TikTok, including the reason for this seemingly unhelpful act.
No Help with Overhead Baggage
Kamalani explains that it’s a safety concern. She adds that flight attendants are advised against helping passengers put their luggage in the overhead baggage area. “Crazy fact…everyone thinks it’s flight attendant’s job to lift your luggage into the bins, but it’s not,” Kat said. “Actually, our airline, and a ton of other airlines, tell you do not do this because you get so many injuries with it. And you’re not even covered.”
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Insurance Doesn’t Cover It
Although flight attendants have to ensure the doors of the overhead baggage area are properly closed, they’re not supposed to lift the luggage into the overhead baggage because insurance won’t cover those medical bills. Interestingly, this warning extends to passengers as well.
Passenger Warnings
Passengers are cautioned to be careful when loading their own luggage into the overhead baggage area for the same reason. Treating a potential injury won’t be covered by insurance leaving the sufferer either in agony and untreated, or with a costly set of medical bills.
Kat Offers Other Overhead Baggage Advice
Another way to get help placing your luggage in the overhead baggage area is to ask members of your party, or other passengers, to work with you to make lifting the luggage safer. However, Kat offers another option. She suggests that before travel day, passengers should try to lift their luggage over their heads. If it’s not easy or possible, she recommends downsizing your luggage or moving some things to another bag to be checked.
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TikToker’s Background
Kat Kamalani has 1 million followers on TikTok. She uses her platform to share some incredible aspects of her life including the wonderful marriage and children she shares with her Hawaiian husband, and many of their adventures. However, her videos cover a wide range including more information about the overhead baggage area. Kat shares that most airlines have placards that show how to properly store luggage in the overhead baggage area, noting they’ll explain whether the bag should be stored vertically or horizontally.
Not Only Overhead Baggage
Kat isn’t the only flight attendant or former flight attendant to share some life-changing travel tips. These tips range from ways to get the most for your money to ensuring proper nutrition and hydration during travel. For example, one flight attendant revealed that reserving a seat at the back of the plane is better for service because most things, like extra pillows and blankets, are stored at the back. Furthermore, this is where they prep the food and beverage carts.
Order Vegetarian
Another flight attendant shared that specialty meals are served first. So, if you reserve a meal on a long-haul flight, choosing the vegetarian option, means that your food will come out sooner than everyone else’s.
Night Time Travel
It’s also been suggested that passengers who prefer a less crowded flight should travel at night as fewer people, particularly fewer families, travel at night.