Can I keep my bag if I’m asked to store it in the hold?

Simon Calder answers your questions on baggage, bedbugs and botched rail projects

If the lockers are full and you don’t need your bag, an airline can instruct that it go in the hold (Getty/iStock)

Q I like to travel with cabin baggage only. But increasingly I am finding that some passengers are being told they must surrender their larger hand luggage because there is no room in overhead lockers. What rights, if any, do I have to insist that it stays with me?

BR

A Bluntly, none. The aircraft captain’s instructions are final. He or she will, of course, typically delegate such decisions to cabin crew and ground staff. By extension, what they say goes. If they insist your cabin bag must be stowed in the hold. However, there is normally some room for discussion and compromise, so long as your bag is compliant with weight and dimension rules.