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Thomas Cook hand luggage allowances (1 Viewer)

Steve Arlow

Steve Arlow

Well-known member
United Kingdom
I'm considering a return trip back to the Gambia next year, after 13years since my last, and was wondering if anyone has had any issues with the very small hand luggage allowance of just 5kg for Thomas Cook (and Monarch).

I intend on taking my 500mm prime lense but this is 5.5kg on its own when not in a bag. Obviously this excludes extenders and the camera body attached which would bring it to around 8kg.

I guess I can jam pockets full of chargers, small lenses, bins around neck etc but there are other essentials I don't really want to put in checked luggage, such as spare camera body, spare batteries, laptop etc and certainly don't want to put my 500mm lens into checked.

So has anyone had problems taking a large prime lens and sundries on these flights as hand luggage; do they weight the bags at the airport etc.

If its a case of no option other than 500mm in the check luggage then The Gambia is a no go.

many thanks in advance
 
I went to gambia in Feb and flew with thomas Cook.
Hand luggage wasn't weighed on the way out,but at Banjul they were weighing everyones hand luggage before the return flight.

Pete.
 
You may know already and it may or may not be relevant to your batteries, but airport check in desks ask you if you are carrying lithium batteries. Well, they certainly did when I flew with Thomsons in January.
 
Allen S. Moore said:
You may know already and it may or may not be relevant to your batteries, but airport check in desks ask you if you are carrying lithium batteries. Well, they certainly did when I flew with Thomsons in January.
Click to expand...
I've never been asked that question before and I've flown a fair bit.
 
Invest in a multi pocket waistcoat, shove everything in the pockets for the check in and once past the desk put it all back in your bag. Never had any bother with this at check in in the UK or abroad. You get aching shoulders for a short while but your bag is underweight at the desk.
 
I've got one of those but will probably have to get another as non of the pockets are big enough for the camera body.

Its only these 5kg hand luggage limited flights by Thomas Cook / Monarch which are a problem (same issue for Goa and Lesvos trips etc).

I'm sure I'll over come the problem

many thanks
 
I use the Country Innovations waistcoat, I can get a pair of Aurora bins in the large lower pockets and the map pockets that go under the arm might hold a camera body, altho it may be a bit uncomfy.
 
So they don't make any problems if you are dressed in bins and camera equipment, but make problems if you carry them in your handbag? wow.
 
Thing is if you are wearing the gear it is not hand luggage, so you weigh the same as the fat git in the seat opposite who has the same hand luggage allowance but who has to sweat like a pig during the flight cos he is still hauling his fat ass about whilst you have gently placed all you gear in the bag by your feet.
 
Just buy a Peli-case and enjoy the journey without assorted kilos of pointy things strapped to your body.
 
I have just returned from the Gambia with Thomas Cook via Manchester (yesterday). Both my hold and hand baggage was weighed on the way out at Manchester but only hold luggage in Banjul although a Thomas cook rep was walking about stating that they were going to weigh it at the gate. I was also told that excess baggage at Banjul is £18 per kilo over at the Banjul check-in but the Thomas Cook rep at the hotel said if you paid in advance it would be £12 per kilo over. Fortunately I was underweight as I did not take a scope and tripod as I had hired a local guide before going who had a scope I was able to use.
 
I flew Thomas Cook in January 2014. Hand luggage weighed at just over 5kg at Gatwick, but no problem. They were reweighing at the gate, where I saw a Gambian woman heavily penalised for excess - she left most the stuff. Wore a photo-gilet with pockets stuffed (teleconverters, charger, batteries, portable hard drive bins over shoulder), only transfered them on boarding.
I arrived late, after the package travellers and there was no check on my hand luggage weight done done on my return from Banjul.
 
Steve Arlow said:
I've never been asked that question before and I've flown a fair bit.
Click to expand...

me and the mrs came back a week ago via manchester/thomas cook, i put mine and the mrs camera's all in one rucksack and made sure the combined weight was less than 10kgs for our hand luggage, i was'nt asked about battery's just put the lot through the scanner, i did hear it mentioned somewhere that your only allowed one camera per person i left our spare at home because of this. its well worth going though had a great couple of weeks.
 
Lithium batteries are potentially a problem (due to the possibility of a short circuit causing a fire). This link is to the US reg's:-

http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html

As I understand it you will probably only run into problems if you are carrying large batteries of the type required to run professional video cameras. I read about one US cameraman who was obliged to leave behind a battery costing $650 or be refused boarding the plane.
 
Last edited:
Rob Williams said:
Monarch hand luggage allowance is 10kg
Click to expand...

Wow !

Thomas Cook have increased theirs to 6Kg which is an improvement.I will take my 500mm lens in a very lightweight bag but well protected in bubble wrap. I'll see what else I can put in with it, maybe a camera body. TCs,chargers,tripod will all go in the hold luggage along with my camera bag for use on arrival.Not much allowance left for clothes but who needs it ! Shorts and t -shirt is all that's required.
 
Flying out to Australia this summer every check-in clerk asked me if I had spare batteries in my hold luggage, as "they are not allowed". This is the first year I've been asked such a question and told such a thing.
 
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