Check-in Desk Scales?
 

As a frequent traveller with excess luggage, I have started to wonder if there is any consistency in what the check in desk scales actually say.
With baggage charges in the region of £30 per kilo on some of the routes i fly, an error of a couple of kilos can cost a lot of money.
I have noticed on my travels that the same untouched bag can weigh differently on different scales and at different airports.

How often are the scales calibrated, and is the calibration certificate available for inspection before I part with a large wedge of money for the 40KG my company usually allows me to travel with as excess?

As far as i know the BAA check the scales every night.

When scales are broken a nice gentleman comes round to fix them, and it was he who told me they SHOULD be checked everynight.

But what you should do and what actually happens are two different things.

Whilst i appreciate excess is expensive, especially to Shanghai, if you came to me and asked to see the 'certificate' for the scales before paying your excess you'd get an offer to check it on the next scales. Failing that we'd probably end up arguing that unless you pay the excess you're not going anywhere.

Most check in agents know when their scales aren't working. You don't have to be in this job long to be able to accurately guess the weight of a bag without needing to put it on the scales.

Thanks for the reply... Granted, the scales at Heathrow are always working, and generally give the same reading as the bathroom scales I'd checked them on before travelling, so no worries there. It's just that often I have rechecked my bags for onward travel in China and the readings have been way different. (Ok, I've come to expect this in china over the years, and never complain if they bags are lighter :D )

But there seems a lot of expensive measures in life that we just accept... I worry about pint glass sizes and petrol pumps as well, but with those measures Customs and Excise take a very keen interest, so there are rules and regulations for the accuracy of the measurements, and petrol pumps generally have a date of last calibration sticker on them.

With the airlines dropping ticket prices and also baggage allowances, excess baggage is now becoming a nice little earner for them, and the leeway we used to get for a few kilos over is disappearing as well... So I for one want to be confident that I am actually paying the right price.

Ha Ha Ha!!!

They used to when the BAA was a nationalised concern (just like they used to delouse the carpets in the terminals once a month).

The scales are calibrated once every six months, or as a "one-off" at the airline's request. However, all sorts of things can happen like feeder belts on adjacent desks that "kiss". When a 20 kg bag is placed on, hypothetically, Desk 1's scales, Desk 2's may read 6.5 kg with nothing actually on it! This can, and does, happen frequently.

There is nothing to stop you, if you think the reading is faulty, asking to weigh the bag at another desk close by.

As a rule of thumb, 20 kgs becomes difficult to lift. 30kgs requires a lot of effort to get off the floor. If you travel or move parcels regularly, you know when a bag is over 30 kgs!!!

And Michael O'Leary has apparently announced today that in January Ryanair will start trialling a new online check-in scheme to give discounts to passengers who limit themselves to < 10kg of (hand) luggage... so better make sure those scales are accurate!

I've certainly had one incident with hand-baggage where I got hugely different results.

I was flying from Dublin to Edinburgh with Go (their hand-baggage limit was 6kg). When I checked in in Dublin, it weighed 6.1kg, but the check-in operator decided it was OK.

In Edinburgh, I gave away a gift that would have weighed in the region of 1kg. I also left a novel there by accident, so in theory the bag should have been at least a kilo lighter. At Edinburgh airport, it was weighed at 6.6kg. They decided I had to check the bag in.

To add insult to injury, the plane was about 50% full.

UK question really, but if one is parting with money on what one suspects are faulty scales, surely that is a matter for Trading Standards?

What on earth are you taking? How many spare pairs of socks do you really need?:\ :8 :ok:

Yes! Another of the Government's Watchdogs with no teeth!!!

Wether the plane is 50% full or not the bag still weights the same and if it fall out of the overhead locker onto one of the other 49% onboard its still gunna hurt as much!

F.T.L

^ I might copy that and put it on my check in desk

My best friend is a Trading Standards Officer, she when based in a city with an airport regularly checked the scales for accuracy there.

Just seen another thread about Ryan air cracking down on check-in staff being generous with baggage allowances... So come on MOL, lets see current and valid calibration certificates posted next to the scales. And let's see Trading Standards taking a regular interest in there accuracy.

But it was a 6kg bag. Most airlines allow that anyway.

I'm sure when MOL buys an airport and is responsible for the care and maintenance of the equipment there, you might have more luck with your request.

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I'm sure when MOL buys an airport and is responsible for the care and maintenance of the equipment there, you might have more luck with your request.
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So, the airlines happily take the money, but aren't worried about the equipment it is weighed on?

Don't get me wrong... this isn't a rant about excess baggage charges, I just like to be sure that I am being charged for something fairly... Though I guess in the grand scheme of things a couple of kilos here or there isn't a big difference to the flight when i guess the average pax weighs anywhere from 50 to 150 kg.

They may also be loosing out if the scales are calibrated incorrectly...

Alright! But what does she do when she finds scales that are out?

When was the last time an airport or airline was fined for inaccuracy???

Exactly!!! A Watchdog with its teeth pulled!!!

So PVGSLF if I understand correctly you are judging the accuracy of the airport scales by whether the weight shown coincides with the reading you got from your bathroom scales.

So when and by whom did you last have your bathroom scales calibrated by? The check-in agent might wish to see the certificate before believing you!!

Passengers do not know whether the flight is full or not before they turn up with their baggage, so it is irrelevant as to how full the flight is, you exceeded your allowance.

The other wonder of pax behaviour is when they strain to tow their wheeled suitcase/trunk to check-in, bust a blood vessel lifting it onto the scales, then feign shock when told it is over 32kgs and will have to have the weight reduced!! There is still a lot of manual handling involved with getting the bag to the aircraft and it is unreasonable to expect loading staff to deal with bags over 32 kgs on a regular basis.

surely not.....

I like to beleive that my bathroom scales show at least 5kg heavier than actual.... and that's the way I want to keep it!

For the same reasons I bet airlines wouldn't be complaining if the checkin scales were reading 5kg heavier than actual weight.... More money from Pax... and less weight on the plane...

But like I said previously, if I arrive at check-in and those scales are about the same as i checked at home, then i'm happy... It's when i need to recheck bags en route and the readings are markedly different that it gets me thinking.

Oh.. and don't worry, if I am travelling with excess, I do pack it sensibly in a number of bags no heavier than 25kg... The average chinese taxi can't cope with a lot of weight concentrated in one place.

Why not take a look at the "What is the point of Frequent Flyers" post - it might mention an extra baggage allowance - really helpful to me when I stopping in Bahrain (warm), UK (cold), and Philadelphia (B cold!) - as well as having my kilt with me for a wedding and returning with a few urgent spars for the company!

Thanks GulfAir! :ok:

(I suppose I could cut weight by wearing the kilt ;) )