Two flights different luggage allowances

[mutt]

Arrived in LHR last night on a flight which gave me a 45kg luggage allowance in Economy class. When checking in for a UK-Ireland flight, it was pointed out that i was 5 kgs over their 20 kg allowance, but "she would let me off".....

Is there any kind of agreements between airlines where the 2nd airline is obliged to accept the higher allowance?

Would like to find out before my return flight when i will be using the 45 kgs.....

Thanks.

Mutt.

[Boss Raptor]

I have had a similar experience, BA going Prague-LHR-LAX...

Checked in at PRG assuming I would have my american transatlantic style baggage restriction as no '20K' allowance was indicated on the ticket...the american limit being size and number of pieces based...I was infact 25K and 1 piece

...No I was apparently going to be limited to 20K, I argued the toss, BA check in-staff and station manager made big show of 'well this is the way it is' but finally got away with it...what would have happened if I was using up all my transatlantic allowance and had several pieces?!

Very angry I got our corporate travel agent to pursue this with BA and we never did get a satisfactory response...

And yes you guessed it for the return LAX-LHR-PRG I asked at check-in and yes I was 'of course sir you can have your full american transatlantic baggage allowance, why do u ask?!'

[Globaliser]

If both flights are on one ticket, the higher allowance should apply for the entire journey - at least if the connection is written as a connection ("X") and not a stop ("O").

If you're travelling on two separate tickets then it's two separate trips, so you could get caught out. You can understand why the second airline in this situation wouldn't be obliged to accept anything over its stated limit.

But if the first sector is the one with the higher allowance, then you can usually get around that by through-checking the bag because disparities in baggage allowances, esp if a different airline is operating the second sector, will be the last thing on the check-in agent's mind.

The baggage allowance for each sector will always be on the ticket, anyway - and BA's standard economy allowance has been 23 kg for many years now. I don't really understand why they'd kick up a fuss about 25kg.

As a rule, some charm and flattery can often get a lot of excess baggage through. Twice now I have checked in over 55 kg on a 20 kg limit without being charged by QF, although I wouldn't want to try it on a regular basis.

[Boss Raptor]

Mine was a through ticket and as far as I am concerned I was entitled to the higher baggage allowance...

This is quite a common occurance/mistake...a colleague travelled some months back PRG-VIE-JFK on Austrian, PRG sector operated by a Dash 8...was told he could only check-in 20kg as and I quote 'it was a Dash 8 and not room for excess baggage'...they refused to accept his 40kg of baggage and he had to leave a case behind...different airline different staff...

[bealine]

Mine was a through ticket and as far as I am concerned I was entitled to the higher baggage allowance...

This is quite a common occurance/mistake...a colleague travelled some months back PRG-VIE-JFK on Austrian, PRG sector operated by a Dash 8...was told he could only check-in 20kg as and I quote 'it was a Dash 8 and not room for excess baggage'...they refused to accept his 40kg of baggage and he had to leave a case behind...different airline different staff...

This is, unfortunately, a common occurrence and quite within the airline's rights. At BA, the higher baggage allowance is permitted on a through ticket but,of course, if the aircraft is weight-restricted, some baggage may be left behind to follow at a later time! Where problems occur is (a) where another carrier is used for the Trans-Atlantic leg and (b) stations where we use handling agents (virtually everywhere except LHR and LGW) where the handling agents often interpret the rules "their" way!

Certain regions have "embargoes" at certain times of year.

Christmas is a particular problem as heavy presents for family and friends travel the globe in accompanied baggage! If you know your baggage will be in excess of your allowance, please do contact your airline in advance to make sure you will be able to take it! (Being willing to pay excess charges may well not be enough, you may have to leave the excess behind!)

[MarkD]

I fly BA from ORK codeshare-LHR-YYZ and Aer Lingus (A321) have never murmured about my 35-50kg total bags despite their own allowance being 20kg in Y, as my ticket always indicates the 2PC (2 x 32max) for the transatlantic.

[surely not]

Handling Agents only interpret things their way if the airline hasn't given them any clear instructions as to what their policy is.

There has to be a sense of realism if you are comparing the baggage carrying capability of a B747 with that of a Dash 8. I would feel very p!ssed off if I'd kept within the 20kgs allowance on the Dash 8 only to have another pax on a through ticket with 40kgs mean my bag was left behind!

[Boss Raptor]

...and the airline should also ensure that the passenger is aware, in the case of these through tickets even on the same airline it is far from clear in many situations that different baggage allowance are in force...

[mutt]

Thanks for the answers, i have to say that in 15 years of flying with EI, this is the first time that someone has mentoned that my luggage was over weight.


Mutt.