When airlines offer to ‘courtesy-check’ your carry-on at the gate to avoid crowding in the aisles or to cover for lack of bin space, it may be a very dangerous courtesy indeed, because when you hand over the valuables in that bag, you’re also surrendering any compensation if they are lost or damaged.
That’s because under the Warsaw Convention of 1929, which still governs airline responsibility for baggage. It warns passengers not to check anything fragile, perishable or valuable, and frees the airline from paying anything like the true value of a laptop, jewelry or cameras. It’s the reason everyone recommends, and the airlines require, that you carry those yourself.
But, when the airline tells you there’s not enough room in the overhead, or insists at the boarding gate that you surrender your bag to be placed in the hold, there’s no time or space to repack, and possibly not even a small bag to put the valuables into.
And, of course, even if nothing disappears from your bag, you’ll still have to wait for it at the baggage carousel.
