Passenger asked to pay EUR1292 excess baggage by EI, zero by QF

[MarkD]

mistyped amount on subject line - sorry!

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1035972&issue_id=9706

Tina pays a heavy price for making a 'bags' of her holiday

TRAVELLERS have been warned to pack carefully by a woman who was charged €1,300 for being over the baggage limit.

Tina Garland, from Galway, recently learnt the hard way when Aer Lingus hit her with a bill of €1,291.94 after she was 26kgs overweight.

The hotel manager was on her way to a six-week holiday in Australia when she was pulled aside in Shannon Airport after her two bags weighed in at 46kgs - well over the 20kg limit. She was charged €49.68 for every kilo she was over.

However, when she was making the return journey at the end of her trip, she was not charged by Qantas Airways - even though she was more over the limit than she had been before.

"I just couldn't believe what I was hearing when I checked in. The ticket was more than €1,100 - my luggage cost me more than my ticket and what was in the case wasn't even worth €1,000," said Tina, who maintained that she had just packed clothes for her holiday.

"Quantas said I was over, but I was just asked if I could put a bag into hand luggage. People are not aware that they can be charged an astronomical amount of money for luggage."

When she got home, Tina fired off an angry letter to the state carrier saying that her funds were limited by the added expense when she was on holidays. However, a letter from a member of the customer care staff in the airline said that the charge was indeed correct.

"If a passenger's baggage weighs more than the permitted personal allowance, all excess weight is charged at the current excess baggage rates," it said.

A spokesperson for Aer Lingus told the Irish Independent yesterday that the charges were in line with the international Air Transport Association (IATA) guidelines and that airlines were obliged to charge them.

[Wot No Engines]

A friend recently got caught out by this. Being an american, he is used to being allowed 2 items of hold luggage with basically no limit (32kg per item). Travelling on a RTW ticket from Oz via the US and then UK, HKG and back to Oz Collecting his eldest daughter in the US on the way (through ticketed the rest of the way). Leaving US, they had 4 bags total of 100kg - no problem (and had checked with US travel agent that this was ok).

Spend a few days in UK and then at check in at LHR for HKG trip told they were well over limit. It ended up costing more to ship 1 x 30kg bag than remaining 200kg sent from US that they knew to be excess. They were allowed the 70kg (QF Platinum helps a bit). Maybe I'm mistaken, but I remember reading somewhere that the maximum limit permitted on any sector applies to the whole of the trip if on 1 ticket (which this was).

Incidentally, many thanks to EK when I moved to Oz. Not only did they come up with F class for little more than J, they didn't blink when we turned up with 120Kg between myself and the wife - they did weigh it - that's how I know how much it was.

[Flight Level Zero]

I don't see this as a problem. The baggae allowance is clearly stated on the ticket, yet passengers constantly take well in excess of this.
FlyBE charge £4.00 a kilo for excess over 20 kgs and £10.00 for golf clubs. With their new fare structure some passengers do pay more for their baggage than the original cost of the ticket but you can't have it all ways.
It is probably about time that all airlines started to tackle the problem of excess or single heavy items and carry on items so that passengers were aware of a common approach.

[PAXboy]

People are not aware that they can be charged an astronomical amount of money for luggage. I have great sympathy for her. I mean, if she does not read the terms and conditions of contract that she has voluntarily entered into, how could she possibly know?? :rolleyes:

Last year, I was making an extended trip to South Africa. I checked up on the baggage weights (hold + hand) for VS. It had been my intention to travel Premium Economy and pay freight for the extra bag.

It turned out to be cheaper to upgrade to Upper with FFMs and get the higher baggage allowance. All information for BA and VS luggage allowance was available on their websites, to enable me to make the comparison. I thought that my case would not notice the difference in the hold but that I would notice the diff when sitting in the big seat. :cool:

[MarkD]

PAXBoy

I am going ORK-LHR-YYZ with BA (codeshared EI from ORK-LHR) soon. I usually take 40-50kg luggage/pressies etc but will be trying to shoot for 55+ this time as it is emigration time. Now usually my 2x32 bags transfers onto the Irish feeder sector but I have to say that gave me the shivers... especially with Willie Walsh cadging every penny he can!

[christep]

TO Wot No Engines

If your friend was on a single round-the-world ticket which included flights to/from/in the US then the baggage allowance for the whole itinerary follows the US rule. The tickets should say this (and always have in my experience). The problems should only arise if it is not actually one ticket.

[Sheep Guts]

Well she was lucky QF didnt charge extra. Ive paid $1000.00 AUD for excess baggage between Sydney and London. The same is charged by BA. Its absolute Madness. Yet if you went the other way through the USA youd be allowed two 32kg pieces as apposed to One 20/23 kg piece which is the current allowance in Ecomnomy on the Kangaroo Route. Please lets hope Virgins new service doesnt have this rediculous requirement.

I have been on a ONE WORLD ticket went from Oz thru USA, London, and stiull had to pay extra baggage with Cathay on my final leg between Honkers and Brisbane.:mad:

[allthatglitters]

There is a wieght allowance on your ticket/flight coupon, if you go over this, airlines may charge at 1% of the first class fare per kilo.
Imagine what we would carry if there was no allowance.
And how many people have you seen strugling with over sized bags.

[Evening Star]

As pointed out, the weight allowance is on the ticket so in a way I do not have sympathy. However, to develop what FLZ is saying, the problem is the inconsistancy of the allowances. Couple of issues spring to mind:

- Differing allowances (and, as the original article made clear, differing attitudes) between airlines/routes. Very confusing for Joe Punter.
- If one is over the limit, having at least some advance knowledge of the likely cost would probably help to soften the blow (and maybe avoid the sort of bad PR that this type of article gives).

The price range being quoted so far on this thread (£4/kg to €49.68/kg, say £37/kg) is remarkable, which suggests that excess baggage is a bit of a lottery.

[Globaliser]

The price range being quoted so far on this thread (£4/kg to €49.68/kg, say £37/kg) is remarkable, which suggests that excess baggage is a bit of a lottery. To be fair, one was on BE and the other was a flight to Australia, which might go a little way towards explaining the difference.

[Evening Star]

Globaliser

Fair point that will teach me to think before I type :O :\ !

However, still wonder if excess baggage charges are a bit of a lottery. And guess on reflection it is in the airlines best interest for excess baggage charges to appear intimidating. Encourages passengers to pack below a weight and thus keep in control the total load.

Dread the day when somebody thinks of excess weight charges for passengers. I will be in deep trouble (it is not fair, it is my height that adds to the weight ... honest!).

[Globaliser]

I think that your potential liability is no lottery - you know exactly what you are allowed for free and what you might have to pay for, and the charge rates are easily ascertained in advance.

The real lottery is in enforcement. You just don't know until you turn up at the airport whether or not you might be asked to pay anything, and if so for how much (with 45 kg on a 23 kg allowance they might only ask for payment for 10 kg, for example). I have got away with absolute murder on two separate and memorable occasions (55 kg+ on 20 kg allowance), but I like to think that that was the airline's generosity to make up for the many times that I don't have any checked baggage at all. (I know it's a lottery because mere politeness and charm got me out of one of them.)

[PAXboy]

I agree that politeness is the best approach. Also, a willingness to pay. On one occasion when I was about 8 or 9 kgs over a standard 20kg limit, the agent raised eybrows and mentioned the weight.

I looked at the scale and said, "Oh yes! How unfortunate - where should I pay." and took out my credit card. They kindly changed their mind.

However, there is a very serious point to all of this and high loadings cost fuel and that costs money and we have to pay. It would be fascinating to know what the airlines budget for in weight and the trade off of those that have hand case only, against those that are fully laden.

I see that SAA is carrying out it's 5 yearly check of pax and their hand cases. THey take volunteers in the departure lounges at JNB for one month and then CPT of one month. They weight pax and hand case separately and then re-calculate their standard loadings.

They sell the information on to other carriers and aviation authorities around the world.

[allthatglitters]

It's also fortunate for me that we do not get wieghed along with the baggage, otherwise I might just end up with just a pair of jockey shorts. Chilling thought..

[Globaliser]

It's a pity that the re-weighing/re-assessing task wasn't done more often for the operations that needed it most - on the commuters. But a good thing that the CLT accident has raised awareness that airlines do need to watch how much their pax and bags actually weigh.

[Evening Star]

It's also fortunate for me that we do not get wieghed along with the baggage, otherwise I might just end up with just a pair of jockey shorts.

You are lucky! Me? They will be removing body parts to get me down to a standard weight ... selectively remove that is, the liver is useless ... :ooh:

[mutt]

Dread the day when somebody thinks of excess weight charges for passengers. I will be in deep trouble

I had that happen to me on a domestic flight in the Philippines, they insisted that the total permitted weight of PASSENGER AND BAGGAGE had to be 70 kgs........ I didnt come close! neither did my skinny girlfriend.....

Luckily a compromise was found which involved us leaving one suitcase with the airline in Manila for a week.


Mutt.