Excess baggage discretionary powers
 

Any idea of the offical guidance given to check-in staff on SIA regarding Excess Baggage for Economy pax?

Charges are never trivial and one's personal bathroom scales are never that accurate. Also, I realise some pax do try to take liberties. But there must be some kind of tolerance say +/- 1Kg?

Any advice appreciated.

It depends on your ticketed allowance.

Under the ALLOW section of your ticket it will show either 23 or PC.

If it says 23, then this means 23kg, and check in staff are usually allowed to accept the bag if it is only a couple of 1-2 kgs over this amount. But be nice, as they may simply make you repack.

If it is PC, then you can check in 2 bags, MAX 23kg per bag. Staff are usually far more strict with this, as your allowance is already very high.

But sometimes the "rules" don't make sense. Recent example. Flying out of RSW we checked in three bags. One was overweight and the check in guy was very nice and said we could redistribute the weight amongst the other two or he would surcharge us. So I took out a pair of sneakers and a couple of magazines fromthe offending suitcase and put them into one of the other cases. Voila, all was well. But it did not change the total weight we were loading onto the aircraft.

Go figure!

Ozzy

@ Ozzy
 

Try to think of baggage handlers, lifting 23kg bags over and over and over again and what that affect that can have on a body.

It is just as important to have the weight distributed between your bags for the health of those hauling them around!

It really depends on the airline but most have a "zero" tolerance these days, be careful xs baggage can be very expensive!:*

An extra kilo here or there is extra revenue for airlines. Many airlines set targets and quotas for check-in agents, so your chances of a blind eye being turned to the odd couple of kilos is rapidly diminishing.

I know what you mean about bathroom scales not being all that reliable. My advice would be to pack what you need and perhaps weighing your luggage in the terminal before checking in. You will save yourself a lot of hassle.

I hear you ashlea, but a pair of sneakers and a couple of magazines?? That's what made the difference.

Ozzy

The carrier I work for pays a monthly commission on excess baggage.

There's no such thing as a blind eye.

Heard rumours of a carrier that used to pay a monthy comm to their staff, and then they stopped paying, for whatever reason it was, and never started paying again and then the Mngmnt wondered why their excess baggage revenue dropped to nearly zero :rolleyes:

I have a theory though..................