Baggage Alowance

[theredbarron]

As someone who hung up his airport ID a few years ago (and is now badly out of touch), what is the current situation on airlines strictly applying checked and hand baggage weight limits?

I know that in my days the check-in staff usually applied a bit of discretion and often allowed an extra kilo or two through free of charge. Word I'm getting now from former colleagues is that the limits are now much more rigorously applied and some carriers are actually rewarding staff for collecting excess baggage charges.

Reason for the question is that I'm soon off to the Far East for 5 weeks and would like to stretch my CX allowance of 20 kilos checked and 7 kilos hand baggage as far as I can !

[10 DME ARC]

Red
I find it depends day to day on check in agent, I have had 3-4kgs over checked in no problem yet a few weeks later same place/flight would not allow 1kg over!!
Should have booked Emirates via DXB they have 30kgs allowance its great.......

[sky9]

When I asked I was told that the limit was 0.9kgs over the limit.
Of course there is absolutely nothing to stop you putting every heavy thing you have in your coat pockets before it is weighed then put them back in your case afterwards.
Are there scales at the gate as that is the first point where online check in passengers meet anyone from Ryanair if they don't have hold baggage?

[RevMan2]

You'll find that some DCS will not allow an overweight check-in (contracted allowance plus a tolerance value)to proceed until the x-bag fee has been collected.

Good for check-in staff who are ALWAYS betwixt the devil and the deep blue sea.

[Wannabe Flyer]

Most full fare airlines are pretty ok with allowing one more luggage. I have often checked in 2 bags (over the permitted one) to save myself the hassle of carry on luggage. Never had to pay a dime for it. Last week they allowed me 12 kgs extra out of HKG and did not even bat an eyelid for the extra suitcase.

On the other hand a low cost air asia out of hkg was checking the grams on every bag and not allowing persons in the group to club their allowances which one has to pay for in advance

[Anansis]

Are there scales at the gate as that is the first point where online check in passengers meet anyone from Ryanair if they don't have hold baggage?

About a month ago I flew KTW-BHX with Ryanair. They had a set of electronic scales at the boarding gate and were weighing every piece of handluggage before allowing people to board. A further team of groundstaff were on hand collecting payment from disgruntled looking pax (not sure if they were paying an excess baggage fee or being forced to check overweight bags into the hold).

I'm a law student and had an extremely thick and heavy textbook in my posession. Fortunatly I noticed what was going on and managed to stuff the book down my trousers, hide the bulge with a coat tied around my waist and sneak onto the flight unaffected! :ok:

[Wannabe Flyer]

Fortunatly I noticed what was going on and managed to stuff the book down my trousers, hide the bulge with a coat tied around my waist and sneak onto the flight unaffected! http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/thumbs.gif

:{

Less said the better. thanx for an excellent laugh......................:oh:

[John47]

In my experience Ryanair don't worry too much about hand baggage on departures from the UK but are obsessive about both hold and hand baggage on flights into the UK. I have always assumed that the majority of their pax are Brits and they expect to clean up on excess baggage charges on returning holiday makers. (their hand baggage checks always occur after hold luggage has been checked in so no rearranging can occur.)

BA have always appeared to be more relaxed although I guess that may have changed recently and most of the EU airlines I have flown on seemed to be totally unconcerned so long as hold baggage is not too much above allowed weight.

[frontcheck]

Most UK airlines have a zero tolerance policy these days so I would be careful how much you pack:ok:

[PAXboy]

There are no standard expectations any more. Any airline, using any airport, using any staff, using any contract staff at outposts - you cannot assume anything.

John47In my experience Ryanair don't worry too much about hand baggage on departures from the UK but are obsessive about both hold and hand baggage on flights into the UK.In my experience - 100% the opposite is true! I have also seen FR being hyper critical on checked baggage but ignoring hand luggage at the same airport for the same flight.

I think that it depends on staff, directive of the day, pax loads, visiting managers, the carrier visiting to see how contracted staff are handling their pax, etc.

[Anansis]

In my experience Ryanair don't worry too much about hand baggage on departures from the UK but are obsessive about both hold and hand baggage on flights into the UK.

I can't comment on the situation with Ryanair checked bags (I only travel FR on their promotional fares, use a visa electron and take handluggage only (I like to think Ryanair pay ME to fly with them!!)) but as a general observation, they are getting much stricter than they used to be with handluggage everywhere, including the UK. They almost always seem to check baggage dimentions and strictly enforce the 'one bag' per passenger rule, limiting the amount of duty/tax free purchases passengers can make (especially if your bag is already bulging!). I've always wondered what the airports make of this, perticularly the smaller, cash strapped ones for whom duty free sales are an important stream of auxiliary revenue (someting Ryanair should be familiar with!).

This is not unique to Ryanair though. In short, I'd say that all airlines, including the full service carriers, are getting much stricter with regards to baggage allowances. As usual, for better or for worse, Ryanair are leading the way- a look at them is a good indication of what will be industry standard practice in a few years time. A wink and a smile got me onto an Air Asia flight 12kg over the checked baggage limit a few years ago. These days groundstaff don't have the discretion that to allow that to happen, even if they want to. Even Qatar Airways, whom I consider excellent in terms of customer service, always strictly enforce the 7kg limit on hand baggage.

If you don't want to fall foul of the rules, don't go over the limits!

[Donkey497]

Currently, it's safest to assume that you'll get the limit on your ticket and not a gram more without being charged for it. It doesn't matter whether it's low cost or a full service legacy carrier, I've seen both hit passengers for excess baggage in just about every class & airport I've been through recently.

As Paxboy says, it's more a case of what kind of day the check-in staff have had & how they felt when they started their shift that sets the tone for any leeway you might get.

The best advice I can give is to smile & be nice at check-in, it might just work in your favour....

[Anansis]

I assume you (Redbarron) are flying to/from HKG. I do that route frequently and I'd recommend using the airport post office to mail any holiday purchases home if you are likely to go over your checked weight limit. Its open every day 8am-8pm (5pm sundays) and its pretty cheap to send a parcel to the UK (about £15 for a 3kg packet express airmail).

You can find out all you need to know at Hongkong Post ???? (http://www.hongkongpost.com)

Happy travels!

[Final 3 Greens]

I think that this is one area where there is discrimination against Y class pax.

When I travel on business, I can get away with murder on hand baggage and the checked luggage allowance is 30kg on the ticket, with usually another 10kg from my FF card.

Yesterday, I took three flights in J/C, with 2 pcs of hand luggage that were undoubtedly over the ticket limit (but within the overhead bin parameters, considering their volume) and no one batted an eyelid.

I would not try to do the same in Y or on loco, I would even weigh the bags before leaving home to ensure I was okay.

As another poster said, some middle eastern airlines are pretty good, with a 30kg allowance in Y.

[Businesstraveller]

Seems reasonable to travel in a coat with big pockets which you can load some heavy items into. The result isn't any different from accepting a 'large' passenger on board - and who's going to try and charge an excess for being fat?

I'm sticking my ski boots in my checked luggage next month and will put my skid-lid in my hand luggage. I did consider wearing it whilst boarding if I couldn't fit it in the ruksack, as it's just a form of hat - right? ;o)

[HXdave]

The result isn't any different from accepting a 'large' passenger on board - and who's going to try and charge an excess for being fat?


aren't ryanair looking into that.......................... :D

[bandit2106]

I'm sticking my ski boots in my checked luggage next month and will put my skid-lid in my hand luggage. I did consider wearing it whilst boarding if I couldn't fit it in the ruksack, as it's just a form of hat - right? ;o)
Some airports don't allow ski helmets in hand luggage, Grenoble for one, where they had a sign up last winter, advising that both ski boots and helmets would be destroyed if presented in hand luggage at security.
There seems to be no common policy (or common sense) within Europe on this. :ugh:

The only way of ensuring that the integrity of a safety helmet has not been damaged in transit is to keep it with you.