London Stansted :- Do they weigh bags at security?

[frnikolai]

Hi,

I will be flying out from Stansted soon, and I am unsure if at security - they weigh you're bags to make sure you are in the limits.

I always make sure my bag is under the correct requirements, but sometimes the extra grams does happen!

Thank you.

Nikolai.

[Avitor]

I think they are automatically weighed as you drop them on the belt.

[desk_bound]

They weigh hand baggage as you queue for security........MOL must be so proud!

[daz211]

If you are unsure about the weight there is an area at STN (landside) where you can check the weight get clear plastic bags and dump any item that are not allowed in you bag.

If I remember correctly its at the end of the Easyjet check-in area in
what used to be a shop.

As far as security, I have only ever seen the normal baggage size frames
I am 99% sure the weight is not checked.

[Sikpupi]

...and what do the Security people do if overweight???? Sent the pax back to the Check-in desk to check in it??? and then join the queue again???

Didn't think this was a 'Friskim' Duty???? Always thought this area and procedures were aimed a 'SECURITY' - not revenue generation!!! AND always though that this was Airport Staff and Airport Controlled.....and at least one area MOL could'nt interfere with - not dictated by MOL's Policies & Procedures!!

[jqjjq]

Yes, and it seems they're doing it much more regularly now too. The person in front of me in the security queue last week had a bag that was too heavy and was told to go back to check-in, whilst the person behind me had a full sized suitcase! :ugh:

[frnikolai]

Okay - thanks for you're replies. I will make sure I am under 10 kilos.

Thank you.

Nikolai

[matkat]

Happens at EMA with BMI all the time you are accosted as you go through boarding card check and "invited" to make sure your bag fits in the jig, then again as you go through the gate to board it gets done again! have seen many people told to go back and check it in even if it firts with a shove the security people at the boarding card check get very annoyed about it, I was once checked 3 times:ugh:

[sam dilly]

Maybe it isnt weighed but it should be.
I am fed up seeing little old ladies pulling small bags weighing a good 20kgs
asking all and sundry for help whilst they block the aisles of airplanes.
:*

[frnikolai]

Yes - but that size limit is not going to substantially affect weight. Nothing stopping me taking a 30 kilo bag - which fits under the requirements. Now if everyone did that (probably do) that A319 might struggle to get off the ground.

Nikolai

[Rainboe]

The question was: are they weighing bags at security at Stansted. There have been several answers from people who don't know! I pass through about once a week at Stansted. Yes they regularly take this job upon themselves. Yes they were doing it last week, but I think only at one of the entrances. Last year they took it upon themselves to do this- I objected and said they were security and meant to look for bombs and things, not weigh bags. The answer was 'we are the partners of the airlines'. I said nonsense, they should stick to looking for security items.

They are a bumptious loudmouth bunch of concentration camp guards, shouting at and ordering passengers about. They are an abomination of aviation life, and totally useless, but they are enjoying expanding their empire as a form of job creation and job security (for themselves!).

[Tom the Tenor]

Ducksie must be offering free flights, just pay taxes & charges, to the securicrats at Stansted! The way I cope with STN now is to blank my mind completely to it and think of being on finals at the destination airport in good weather.

[Seat62K]

I fly out of Stansted maybe, on average, 20 to 30 times a year and have never had my hand luggage weighed. As far as I am aware there is no UK government limit on weight. In fact, easyJet's only stipulation in relation to weight is that passengers should be able to lift their luggage into the overheads.

[Thaimike]

As far as I was aware most airports operate the same way, an airline stipulates a carry on luggage size/ weight & number limitation. This is first checked at check-in by their own agents or airport check-in staff. As you pass through security most have size gauges to regulate what passes beyond that point, (weighing at this point is an optional extra).
However it is not unknown for certain passengers who fly regularly to try and avoid costs by purposely hiding luggage from check-in staff and after receiving their boarding card will then try to take the extra baggage through security. This is where the differences often occur, each airport has it's own interpretation as to how they deal with such passengers, some turn a blind eye and say it's not a security function it's up to the handling agents to stop and deal with at check-in and other airports make security rigorously send them back to check-in so that airlines do not dip out with the extra charges incurred. It just depends on where you fly from as to how you get treated, as for obnoxious staff their probably just being as obnoxious as some of the pax trying to cheat the system!!

[frnikolai]

Thank you Rainbow - I think that I will wait and see and when I am flying out from Stansted; I will get my bags exactly 10 kilos. And I shall post back if they weigh them.

I think I did see scales, but not on every desk.

Nikolai.

[Brian H]

I travel often through Stansted and have never had my hand luggage weighed by security, perhaps because I only ever have one small travel bag. What does annoy me is people with more than one peice of hand luggage. On my last trip the women in front of me had a small suitcase, a laptop in a bag and a hand bag that was at least twice the size of my travel bag, and she was let through despite all the signs stating only one piece of hand luggae. .

[STN Ramp Rat]

I travel a lot through STN and also work there from time to time.

yes they do weigh the bags and if they are over 10Kgs they put a heavy tag on it. I have asked and been told that they do this as a health and safety requirement for the security staff. If they have to lift a bag off the X ray belt they know if its over 10Kgs. Its not a Ryanair or an easyjet thing !!

beware Ryanair are looking closley at the hand baggage and are making charges at the gate for people with more than one bag.

[Capt Wannabe]

STN Ramp Rat is quite correct. The main reason bags are being weighed at Central Search is because of the H&S concerns. Any one who travels through STN regularly will notice that the frequency with which bags are being weighed has increased drastically over the last few weeks.

In addition, be aware that many more airlines - not just Ryanair - are checking the hand baggage at the gate now. With FR, if you have a bag and then buy Duty Free and hence have a shopping bag as well then you have to put one inside the other. Otherwise you will be deemed as having two bags and have to check one into the hold - for which there is of course a charge :ok:

There are many pros and cons about this, but it is quite clear from the FR T&Cs that you accept when you book your flight :rolleyes:

[IB4138]

This should prove a damper to airside shopping.

So when sales drop, as a result, will the traders look for reduced rents from the airport operator, who will then increase charges to the airlines who adopt this policy to compensate?

Tis a vicious circle and one some of the bean counters at the airlines haven't taken into account.

[Thaimike]

Look guy's it's quite simple really!!
Hand baggage means HAND BAGGAGE(10kgs) & ONE PEICE means exactly that.
Passengers who check-in luggage on the upper weight limit and then expect to try and take as much again through security or to the departure gate will be charged. Airlines are starting to wise up to the pax who are disregarding the weight/bag number limits. Everybody moans about the queues at security but when you see the size and amount of bags that some pax try to get through no wonder it slows the system down.
Why on a short flight do pax need to take everything they own and the kitchen sink inside the aircraft with them I just don't understand.
If you don't need it on the flight then check it in, if you don't want to pay for carriage leave it at home. Give the security guy's a break and minimise your hand baggage and that way you will minimise the queues and time it takes to get through security. Help security and help yourselves!!!!
Stop whinging!!

[IB4138]

There are two issues here.

The one bag through security rule, which is all well and good and the other being the purchase of goods airside being penalized by rechecking of hand baggage for number of pieces and weight at the gate by airlines.

Pax are not going to make purchases airside, if the airline is then going to charge them for the carriage of those purchases. Is this not a restraint of trade, which needs looking at?

After all, are the airline going to charge and reweigh hand baggage in flight if a purchase is made on the aircraft? Of course not as they have made the profit on the sale.

[Seat62K]

Good point! I can't see Ryanair insisting that onboard purchases which are not consumed must fit into passengers' one piece of hand luggage!

[lplsprog]

Not many airport operators in these times want or could increase fees to airlines. Just see what Ryanair would do if that happened, MOL would throw his rattle out if the pram again.:}

[Thaimike]

I agree with the one piece of hand baggage that is within the size/weight limits going through security, I have no real problem with the extra check at boarding gate area, but if you have purchased items airside and these are contained within bags packed inside these outlets then sense should prevail and these are allowed on board at no extra cost. This must be understood by the likes of MOL. If he wants to land/take off and have check-in facilities all at a low cost then the airport has a right to make money somewhere without the pax being further penalised!!

[bizdev]

Confirmation of previous posts - I went through Stansted a couple of weeks ago and when I got to the security entrance, the security officer who checks your boarding pass asked me to put my bag on the scales - I said to him that I did not see the point as I am flying with easyJet who did not have a weight limit - he replied that it was for health and safety reasons.

[Sikpupi]

ThaiMike....agree 100% with you.

MOL's theory to teh Airports is that 'you reduce airport charges - we'll deliver passengers and it is up to you to get the maximun revenue from them when they land and depart'. So..he can't turn around now and tell the airports that the passengers can't carry on a bag of duty free/ airport purchase etc as an additional bag!!

CAn't see airports (especially where the airport staff also so the boarding) playing hard-ball on this rule.

Now..passengers taking the mick with 2-3 mini suitcases - well that would get on anyones goat and that passenger will need a short sharp lesson and a hefty fine in the pocket will be the only cure. I personnaly would get great joy if I was in the queue seeing a passenger get singled out for that!!!

Sikky

[muppetbum]

solve all your handbaggage weight limiots with one of these coats
SCOTTEVEST/SeV iPod Clothing and Travel Clothing Solutions, Technology Enabled Clothes, Multi-Pocket Gear Apparel for Gadgets (http://www.scottevest.com/)

my hubby has the shell and fleece combo. It has about 47 pockets , one of which is capable of holding a laptop!! He can support the weight of his handluggage with one finger but it takes two people to lift his coat :eek:

[A2QFI]

I have given up on the LoCO airlines - incomprehenible pricing, hidden extras, batty flight times, no seat selection. I now pay a bit extra, get baggage checked in free, select seats during on-line check-in and don't have to be at the airport at stupid o'clock to check in for a flight which lands 70 miles from where I want to be (Frankfurt/Hahn). They used to be cheap and reasonable value - they are now neither of these

[shuttle4zulu]

I have been following this thread and have to say was dreading my STN experience..I can say now however that today I flew FR to BHD with no problems whatsoever, in fact it the smoothest transit I have ever had through any UK Airport and believe me when I say I have been through most in connection with work.:ok:

I was so panicked in fact that I turned up at STN -4hrs in case anything went pear shaped but no, my printed boarding card scanned, maybe slightly too big bag not even given a second glance, security staff courteous, friendly boarding staff and an early departure to boot.:D

Word of warning though, if you have printed off your boarding card make sure your printer is printing clearly, mine wouldn't scan at BFS, this was remedied by a short walk to check-in where a no hassle, no cost solution was offered..may not have been the same at STN but I was cute enough to have my hotel print me off some new ones just in case.

[ladylily63]

We have just booked flights with Ryanair to Alicante and I was wondering this very same question. How do they enforce the hand baggage weight if you have used the online check in facility?

We normally pay for hold baggage but have decided to cut costs and weight and try the hand baggage approach as only a 4 night stay

[extralegroom]

It obviously goes without saying that if you're using online check-in, you're bypassing all the airport check-in desks and going straight to security. Which means no-one, up until that point, has checked that the weight of your hand baggage falls within the airline's stipulated limits. So at the entrance to the central search area at Stansted, where the BAA guards check your boarding passes, they will usually ask for any large-ish items of hand baggage to be placed on the scales. What they say then depends on what the scales say, and on which airline you're flying with. If it's easyJet, they have to let you away with whatever weight the bag is (as easyJet have no limit on cabin baggage weight) but if it's over a certain amount (not sure what) they'll put a "heavy" tag on it, for health and safety reasons so they say. If however, you're flying with Ryanair, then each bag must weigh less than 10 kilos or you'll be sent to check-in and charged there at the airport rate for checking a bag in AND using an airport check-in desk. So beware.

[TightSlot]

but if it's over a certain amount (not sure what) they'll put a "heavy" tag on it, for health and safety reasons so they say.
This appears to be a very sensible and reasonable practice - you appear to doubt that it is the true reason? Can you tell us why?

[ThreadBaron]

'Heavy' tags are attached to bags over 32kgs. Seems sensible to me. Tells the handlers that two of them should hoick it, Sorry, 'team handle'.
for health and safety reasons so they say. So, they say correctly! Why the cynicism?

[extralegroom]

It's BAA's inconsistencies which frustrate me. If this is a health and safety concern then why is it only at Stansted that they weigh your bags at this stage? With countless other airlines you can check-in online and, if travelling with hand baggage only, proceed directly to security. So why don't the BAA at Heathrow or Gatwick (where arguably, BA passengers are the worst offenders for weighty hand luggage) adopt the same policy there? That's where the "cynicism" comes from.

[TightSlot]

Thanks - fair enough

[blackace]

Well it will all change soon. Currently there are many concerns that check-in staff are letting through overweight bags. STN are going to install new conveyors that will simply not accept the bag if it is over the preset limit.

This is good for the airline, but not so good for either the check-in staff or the passenger. Imagine the delays caused by being just a few grams overweight.

This is being adopted at all BAA Airports.