Changes to airline carry-on allowances and Brisbane terminal connections

I am a regular overseas traveler, but on a trip to the US through Brisbane (BNE) and Los Angeles (LAX) last week, I noticed a few changes to airline carry-on allowances, and terminal connections in Brisbane.

Brisbane airport terminal connections

The train link between the Brisbane domestic and international terminals is no longer free. The orange “T-Bus” shuttle is provided free between the terminals, and leaves around every 10 minutes. It now costs $7 if you want to catch the train between the terminals.

Baggage Allowances

Carry-on baggage allowance is being clamped down on across the global.

• At Brisbane international terminal, all carry-on bags are being weighed before travelers enter customs. The normal allowance is one carry-on at 7 kg max, plus a personnel item such as a purse, laptop, etc. I normally keep my laptop in my carry-on with a compact camera, a gorilla pod and a few accessories, but this all comes out at 11 kg. Luckily when I removed the laptop and a couple of magazines it dropped to 7kg. I have no clue how anyone is supposed to carry-on a bulky DSLR and lenses anymore. (A number of recent web discussions mentioned several photographers are now shipping their equipment ahead to their destination.)
• On my LA to Miami flight even American Airlines was clamping down on the size of carry-on bags and checking nearly every bag for size. This surprised me a lot, as US airlines are traditionally easy-going when it comes to carry-on baggage.

Blankets and Pillows

I have known for a while that American Airlines had gone “cash free”, meaning if you want to buy a snack or alcohol you had to have a credit card. I was shocked to find on my latest flight that they are now selling blankets and pillows. A fellow traveler a couple of seats over asked a flight attendant for a blanket and pillow, only to be informed they had to be purchased.

Arm Rests

And on the subject of air travel, who had the bright idea to put the seat entertainment controls on the top of the seat arm rest? A couple of my flights had this control placement, and the entertainment system went into melt down each time I sat my arms on the arm rest, with lights flashing on and off like a Christmas tree….. Hope they put a bit more thought into the design of the rest of the plane.