Ripped Off By Emirates For 10k Baht

[mickj88]

My wife and I returned to the Uk on Saturday. We were due to fly at 1.25 am with Emerates and duly arrived at the airport 3 hours before in order to get our cases checked in and get a meal before flying.Al was going to plan untill we got to the check in desk.I was asked how many bags we were checking and replied 2 ( 1 each) , The guy checking pointed out that we had the weight limit in the 2 cases and then told my wife to put her hand luggage case on the scale as well. I told him that was carry on luggage but he insisted that she check her bag or he would not allow her to take it. The bag was not overly large and weighed exactly 7 Kgs ( the allowed weight for carry on bags) he then demanded that I go to the desk andf pay 10,000 baht as our luggage was 7 Kgs over. Both my wife and i protested but he was adamant that we had to pay.This meant tat we had 1,000 baht left for the 15 hour journey home.Once on the plane I saw at least 4 passengers with the same size carry case as my wifes, In fat on girl had the same case and a rucksack and a bloody guitar case but they let her carry them on. There was another Thai girl in the seat in front of my wife who also had the same size case and a rucksack and another small bag + 2 carrier bags.

I am going to email Emirates with a complaint and ask for my 10,000 Baht back I dont think it will get me any where but I will post here to let you all know when I get a reply.

I have flown many times with them in the past and never had any problems like this apart from the odd time when on a one way ticket when they nearly refused to fly me to Bangkok as they said I would be refused entry.

Before I flew this time I joined their frequent fliers club as we went to Hongkong first for a week and then on to LOS and I discovered that once you clock up 20,000 miles you can get upgrades and our trip gave my wife and I 19982 miles each, the thing is if I dont get a satisfactary answer as to why they made my wife check her carry on luggage and a full refund then I will not use them again.

Edited September 9, 2007 by mickj88

[britmaveric]

Sounds odd, I reckon a one off. Perhaps you pissed the agent off in some way?

[endure]

I'd be tempted to write to them and send it Recorded Delivery rather than just email. Their London address is:

Emirates Airlines

First Floor, Gloucester Park

95 Cromwell Road

London SW7 4DL

UK

[londonthai]

you should go to another check in desk, go to the supervisor (at the end of the check in desks) or even airline airport office

[tartempion]

Sounds odd, I reckon a one off. Perhaps you pissed the agent off in some way?

Oh, we have an expert in stupid remarks on this board, how new is that???

britmaveric is it? I will remember your name....

To the OP: if you flew eco you can check in 20kg each, the check in employee will add a luggage ticket to your plane ticket mentionning the total weight of your bags. Did both of your bags weight 47kg's? Can you find and check your ticket?

He might have been checking the additional hand baggage also (max 7kg's) to charge you even more If that would exceed the 7kg's limit...but then you were two passengers....

Well you could have unloaded 7kg from one of the bags to get the weight down to 40kg's and carry the new 7kg's as a second hand luggae since you were two pasengers....

Calling in on the supervisor would have helped also, check in clerks are not on the airline payroll, the supervisor will.

[bkkmadness]

You didn't ask to see the supervisor/boss above him?

[sumrit]

I've flown with Emirates many times and have never had a problem with baggage. A few days ago my wife and I flew back to Thailand from a holiday in the UK. When we checked in at Manchester airport we had four bags with a total weight of 47kg plus I had my golf clubs which were not weighed and checked in as oversize baggage but weighed 17kg. We also had my wifes' hand luggage and my laptop which were not weighed but had a combined weight of 13kg so the combined weight of all our luggage was about 77kg and they checked us in without any problems. I often take my golf clubs with me and they are always checked in as oversize baggage and never weighed. If they were we would always be over limit.

[ProThaiExpat]

Having gone through an outright removal from the passenger list due to their computer error and paying hundreds of AUD in excess baggage, I could complain mightily about Emirates but won't since they were technically correct at each instance except when they excluded boarding due to their error. They provided upgrade for two as compensation and doubled the baggage allowance he next time.

I think it is a major factor in checking in to any airline as to whether the check in staff are actually employees of the airline in question or contract staff or another airlines staff helping out.

Never had a problem on Quantas until I checked in with a Quantas desk manned by British Airways "bitch" and found myself all over the floor off loading overweight goods.

When I checked into Emirates business class, using the upgrade mentioned above, they were contract staff who really watched the luggage allowance closely, even though it had been doubled as an accomodation.

While "carry on" baggage is limited to 7 kg. in weight, technically that is not in addition to the 20kg. baggage allowance and they are in their right to pile the carry on onto the scale with your checked baggage. At least that has been what has been done to me many times in tourist. They haven't started weighing in laptops, so put the heavy stuff in there.

The lower the fare, the tougher they are on baggage allowances in my view. Pure economics. We were charged 24 AUD per overweight kilo on Emirates in Sydney. Thank heavens for Jetta's excellent excess baggage service at 3.50 AUD per kilo with pick up at your home or hotel.

[midas]

I have flown with Emirates but would never do so again.

They remind me of an " upmarket " version of a

low-cost carrier I think even Sri Lankan airlines

is better and the Asian airlines are definitely superior.

I also had a legitimate gripe and found their attitude to customer

service was atrocious. What fascinates me is that there are

2 entire blogg Web sites which are entirely devoted to customer complaints

so there's something wrong somewhere .................

I wasn't getting any decent responses to my complaints

and I felt they were just seeing if I would give up and go away

eventually -which I certainly would not !!

So in the end I decided to write a letter to the very top man ( see below )

with a copy to the customer services director

Once I did that I got a swift and decisive resolution -

funny how that always seems to work

Here is his address - in case you want to try also :-

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum

Chairman

Emirates Airlines

PO Box 686

Dubai

United Arab Emirates

[londonthai]

While "carry on" baggage is limited to 7 kg. in weight, technically that is not in addition to the 20kg. baggage allowance and they are in their right to pile the carry on onto the scale with your checked baggage. At least that has been what has been done to me many times in tourist.

that must be a new development - in the UKeven budget airlines don't do that.

I was asked on a few occasions to put my hand luggage together with my mail luggage and once I was asked to transfer some kilos from my main luggage into the hand one.

as the baggage limit goes, the best is to fly with a home airline, and being a citisen of that country helps. There is almost never any problem with thai arline leaving from bangkok - they have their own personnel and take care of the passangers. But they might be strict when coming back.

Also, when you are checking late and the flight is full they might be more strict, than at the beginning of opening of check in.

[britmaveric]

Sounds odd, I reckon a one off. Perhaps you pissed the agent off in some way?

Oh, we have an expert in stupid remarks on this board, how new is that???

britmaveric is it? I will remember your name....

Stupid remark?? Don't be so thick. If you act like an arse or the agent is having a bad day, these people will quite easily mess with you. And they stick together, so going to their supervisor does very little. Any aggressive behaviour on the part of the passenger (arguing/loud voice ect) is perceived a threat and they can refuse you boarding. So don't discount a problem agent even if there is no cause, because at the end of the day they have alot of power over you.

I'd be surprised if you receive dosh back, jammy gits will prob send a coupon to apply towards future travel. (don't cost them anything)

[midas]

I'd be surprised if you receive dosh back, jammy gits will prob send a coupon to apply towards future travel. (don't cost them anything)

I think you can insist on getting cash !

I got a cheque from them drawn on their local bank in Bangkok

[true blue]

i had same proplem with emerites about 3 year ago in manchester girl made me transfer from carry on luggage to main luggage matter of a few kilos then was not going to let me because no return ticket had to show here visa in passport she not even look at it just being pentatic never ever used agian use eithad 30 kilo allowance came back in july with 40 kilos not raised a eyebrow all the way to cnx superb airline and must be cheapest duty free of anywere

[ClaytonSeymour]

I have flown with Emirates but would never do so again.

They remind me of an " upmarket " version of a

low-cost carrier I think even Sri Lankan airlines

is better and the Asian airlines are definitely superior.

I also had a legitimate gripe and found their attitude to customer

service was atrocious. What fascinates me is that there are

2 entire blogg Web sites which are entirely devoted to customer complaints

so there's something wrong somewhere .................

I wasn't getting any decent responses to my complaints

and I felt they were just seeing if I would give up and go away

eventually -which I certainly would not !!

So in the end I decided to write a letter to the very top man ( see below )

with a copy to the customer services director

Once I did that I got a swift and decisive resolution -

funny how that always seems to work

Here is his address - in case you want to try also :-

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum

Chairman

Emirates Airlines

PO Box 686

Dubai

United Arab Emirates

Interesting that you mention Sri Lankan as guess who owns almost 50% of them? Emirates.

Personally, I've never had any problems with Emirates (aside from their UK arrivals being heavily targeted by customs). On several occasions, my Wife and I have checked in over 50 kilos (plus hand luggage) in BKK and never a problem with them, unlike EVA and China Airlines who seem to be quite strict in enforcing baggage allowance.

I think the reason you see a large number of complaints is merely due to the type & sheer number of passengers who use them. For what it's worth, try BA in Y class - you'll never complain about Emirates again.

Another thing with EK possibly good/bad depending on your perspective - their flights are often heavily overbooked meaning upgrades are not uncommon, along with offers to fly the following day & free tickets as compensation - something I've benefitted from in the past.

For anyone who is wanting to carry a large amount of baggage, not the greatest airline but, Gulf Air allow an extra 10kg by merely joining their frequent flyer program.

[midas]

Interesting that you mention Sri Lankan as guess who owns almost 50% of them? Emirates.

That is why I mentioned them - I find the attitude to passegers totally

different on these 2 airlines and I have flown on Sri Lankan 5 or 6 times now

[tartempion]

use eithad 30 kilo allowance came back in july with 40 kilos not raised a eyebrow all the way to cnx superb airline and must be cheapest duty free of anywere

Wher does it say Etihad has 30kg allowance in eco???

I will be flying them next week, their website says 20 kg cattle class, 30kg business, which is normal standard practice, silver FF adds 10kg to that I think.

[jackspratt]

While "carry on" baggage is limited to 7 kg. in weight, technically that is not in addition to the 20kg. baggage allowance and they are in their right to pile the carry on onto the scale with your checked baggage. At least that has been what has been done to me many times in tourist. They haven't started weighing in laptops, so put the heavy stuff in there.

PTE, this is contrary to my understanding of the generally applicable baggage allowance in economy class (ie 20kg checked, plus 7kg carry-on plus a laptop if applicable). Note - not talking about the US, which has special rules.

Any further information on this?

[rawdonlad]

use eithad 30 kilo allowance came back in july with 40 kilos not raised a eyebrow all the way to cnx superb airline and must be cheapest duty free of anywere

Wher does it say Etihad has 30kg allowance in eco???

I will be flying them next week, their website says 20 kg cattle class, 30kg business, which is normal standard practice, silver FF adds 10kg to that I think.

I flown from Manchester to BKK several times over the past year and they allow 30k in Economy and 40k in Business class and they have a sign above the check in desks at Manchester saying these allowances. On their website they do say the lower figures but I believe they do give different allowances in different airports. I came back with the missus via Birmingham last month on Emirates and we had 54k (just 20k each normally) in the two suitcases for the economy trip but the checkin girl didn't bat an eye and also we had two large holdalls to take on board.

[onzestan]

use eithad 30 kilo allowance came back in july with 40 kilos not raised a eyebrow all the way to cnx superb airline and must be cheapest duty free of anywere

Wher does it say Etihad has 30kg allowance in eco???

I will be flying them next week, their website says 20 kg cattle class, 30kg business, which is normal standard practice, silver FF adds 10kg to that I think.

On some routes Etihad offers special allowance. Have to contact local Etihad office or have your travel agent inquire.

cheers

onzestan

[Daewoo]

http://www.emirates.com/TravellerInformation/FAQ/Baggage.asp[/url]']

Free Checked Baggage allowance for adult

Two checked bags (pieces). The total of the three dimensions not to exceed 158 cm (62 inches) per bag provided that the overall dimensions of the two pieces shall not exceed 273 cm (107 inches) and the weight not to exceed 32kgs/70lbs per bag (piece).

Maximum Cabin Baggage Allowance

Economy Class -

1 BAG 22 X 15 X 8INS -55 X 38 X 20CMS

- weight not to exceed 7kgs -15lbs

Weight not to exceed 15lbs/7kgs. Plus duty free purchases of liqueur, cigarettes and perfume in reasonable quantities.

My record was flying home to Aust from Malaysia with MAS at the height of SARS.

The 747 had 98 passengers so the staff had obviously been told to try and find revenue anywhere they could. The guy I was flying with and I both had $Au1000 (27,000 Baht) excess bagage bills. Luckily it was flying for work, so out came the Amex....

Cheers,

Daewoo

[jackspratt]

http://www.emirates.com/TravellerInformation/FAQ/Baggage.asp[/url]']

Free Checked Baggage allowance for adult

Two checked bags (pieces). The total of the three dimensions not to exceed 158 cm (62 inches) per bag provided that the overall dimensions of the two pieces shall not exceed 273 cm (107 inches) and the weight not to exceed 32kgs/70lbs per bag (piece).

Maximum Cabin Baggage Allowance

Economy Class -

1 BAG 22 X 15 X 8INS -55 X 38 X 20CMS

- weight not to exceed 7kgs -15lbs

Weight not to exceed 15lbs/7kgs. Plus duty free purchases of liqueur, cigarettes and perfume in reasonable quantities.

Cheers,

Daewoo

The above appears to be a bit misleading (from Emirates, not Daewoo).

Whereas the checked baggage allowance may be interpreted as meaning the above dimensions, plus 32kg per bag, another part of the Emirates website says:

CLASS

BAGGAGE

ALLOWANCE

BAGGAGE

LIMITATIONS

Economy

20kg/44lbs.

Two checked bags for which the length plus breadth plus height (L+B+H) should not exceed 45ins/115cms per bag.

Maximum weight 32kgs/70lbs.

I interpret this as meaning you can have 2 bags, each not exceeding these dimensions, but the TOTAL weight (within you allowance) cannot exceed 20 kg.

They will carry bags above this weight, but they must not exceed 32kg, and I surmise the difference between 20kg and 32kg is possibly subject to excess baggage charges.

[technocracy]

Some of the figures of weight people have flown with on here are astonishing!!!

We've flown between Laos and the UK (relocating her to UK then me to Laos!) and have never tipped the scales at much over 40kgs for two bags.

In terms of weight though generally I fly Thai and Business class AND have a gold card (wife has silver) I think we are entitled to something around 70kgs if you add all the extras together!

As for this 20Kg and part of that is hand luggage - that is utter crap! This has never been the case on no airline anywhere. Budgets airlines still give 20kgs + 7kgs hand luggage - no issues.

[mickj88]

I wasn,t being arsey with the guy in fact I was very polite , My wife spoke to his superior who told her if she took 3kgs from the hand luggage and put it in another bag but still checked the hand luggage in then there would be no charge but this wasn't possible as we had no other bag. The total weight of all 3 bags came to 47 KGs the hand luggage was 7 Kgs . I have no Idea what the problem was as basically they said pay up or leave the bag or take out 3 kgs and put in another bag , they new we had no other bag and didn't offer any assistance.

As I said there were people walking on the plane with bigger luggage and they had no problem I can't quite remember now but the check in assistant did pass some coment to my wife in Thai, and we all know how sometimes they can be quite derogatory about thai ladies married to ferang but she can't remember what he said either.

I have been in touch with customer relations and obviousley they cannot comment until they have spoken to the check in desks in Bangkok but they did give me their email address and asked me to send a coppy of the receipt and our membership[ numbers + the complaint in an e-mail which I have done .

As soon as I get a reply I will post.

[Daewoo]

http://www.emirates.com/TravellerInformation/FAQ/Baggage.asp[/url]']

Free Checked Baggage allowance for adult

Two checked bags (pieces). <snip>and the weight not to exceed 32kgs/70lbs per bag (piece).

Did anyone else notice this??? To me that reads as 64KG total.

[endure]

Some of you appear to be mixing up two different sets of baggage allowances. There are two separate baggage allowances depending on where you're flying to/from. If you're flying to the USA, Canada or Brazil your baggage allowance is calculated using the piece concept. In economy you're allowed to check in two pieces of luggage. The total dimension of each piece of luggage must not exceed 158cm and the weight of each piece must not exceed either 23kg or 32kg depending on which way you're flying. If you're flying to the rest of the world your baggage allowance is calculated using the weight concept. For Emirates the allowance in Economy is 20kg. It's all explained at http://www.emirates.com/uk/TravellerInform...sp#tcm:12-23584

[jackspratt]

http://www.emirates.com/TravellerInformation/FAQ/Baggage.asp[/url]']

Free Checked Baggage allowance for adult

Two checked bags (pieces). <snip>and the weight not to exceed 32kgs/70lbs per bag (piece).

Did anyone else notice this??? To me that reads as 64KG total.

Methinks wrong - look at my post #22 above.

[Westerner]

http://www.emirates.com/TravellerInformation/FAQ/Baggage.asp[/url]']

Free Checked Baggage allowance for adult

Two checked bags (pieces). The total of the three dimensions not to exceed 158 cm (62 inches) per bag provided that the overall dimensions of the two pieces shall not exceed 273 cm (107 inches) and the weight not to exceed 32kgs/70lbs per bag (piece).

Maximum Cabin Baggage Allowance

Economy Class -

1 BAG 22 X 15 X 8INS -55 X 38 X 20CMS

- weight not to exceed 7kgs -15lbs

Weight not to exceed 15lbs/7kgs. Plus duty free purchases of liqueur, cigarettes and perfume in reasonable quantities.

Cheers,

Daewoo

The above appears to be a bit misleading (from Emirates, not Daewoo).

Whereas the checked baggage allowance may be interpreted as meaning the above dimensions, plus 32kg per bag, another part of the Emirates website says:

CLASS

BAGGAGE

ALLOWANCE

BAGGAGE

LIMITATIONS

Economy

20kg/44lbs.

Two checked bags for which the length plus breadth plus height (L+B+H) should not exceed 45ins/115cms per bag.

Maximum weight 32kgs/70lbs.

I interpret this as meaning you can have 2 bags, each not exceeding these dimensions, but the TOTAL weight (within you allowance) cannot exceed 20 kg.

They will carry bags above this weight, but they must not exceed 32kg, and I surmise the difference between 20kg and 32kg is possibly subject to excess baggage charges.

This is the way I interpret it too. Hope it's right as I am flying with Emirates next month.

[madmitch]

My wife and I returned to the Uk on Saturday. We were due to fly at 1.25 am with Emerates and duly arrived at the airport 3 hours before in order to get our cases checked in and get a meal before flying.Al was going to plan untill we got to the check in desk.I was asked how many bags we were checking and replied 2 ( 1 each) , The guy checking pointed out that we had the weight limit in the 2 cases and then told my wife to put her hand luggage case on the scale as well. I told him that was carry on luggage but he insisted that she check her bag or he would not allow her to take it. The bag was not overly large and weighed exactly 7 Kgs ( the allowed weight for carry on bags) he then demanded that I go to the desk andf pay 10,000 baht as our luggage was 7 Kgs over. Both my wife and i protested but he was adamant that we had to pay.This meant tat we had 1,000 baht left for the 15 hour journey home.Once on the plane I saw at least 4 passengers with the same size carry case as my wifes, In fat on girl had the same case and a rucksack and a bloody guitar case but they let her carry them on. There was another Thai girl in the seat in front of my wife who also had the same size case and a rucksack and another small bag + 2 carrier bags.

You state that the bag was not overly large but there are in theory strict dimensions for bags allowed as cabin baggage. Did the bag fulfil these criteria? If not, that would be why they insisted on you checking it in and unless you can prove otherwise you will not have any grounds for a refund.

I know this size issue is often overlooked and it is very annoying to see some of the bags that are allowed on flights as hand luggage but that's at the discretion of the agent and if you got one that was either being pedantic or having a bad hair day then it's just tough luck.

[sumrit]

http://www.emirates.com/TravellerInformation/FAQ/Baggage.asp[/url]']

Free Checked Baggage allowance for adult

Two checked bags (pieces). <snip>and the weight not to exceed 32kgs/70lbs per bag (piece).

Did anyone else notice this??? To me that reads as 64KG total.

If there's two or more people traveling together (eg. a family) each persons individual allowance is 20kg but they don't have to have individual bags, they can share them. If they do this then the weight of each bag must not exceed 32kg.

[technocracy]

http://www.emirates.com/TravellerInformation/FAQ/Baggage.asp[/url]']

Free Checked Baggage allowance for adult

Two checked bags (pieces). <snip>and the weight not to exceed 32kgs/70lbs per bag (piece).

Did anyone else notice this??? To me that reads as 64KG total.

If there's two or more people traveling together (eg. a family) each persons individual allowance is 20kg but they don't have to have individual bags, they can share them. If they do this then the weight of each bag must not exceed 32kg.

What is so hard to understand with luggage allowances?

Ok let do this simple and this is pretty much the standard affair for nearly ALL airlines (excluding flight to the US and in the US):

Each person is allowed 20kg per luggage checked in - regardless. Example if two people are travelling together then they have 40Kgs to play with one bag could be 30kgs the other would have to be 10kgs. However ANY bag regardless must not exceed 32kgs in total - even if you have the allowance for 100kgs - one bag CANNOT excess 32kgs. This I believe is for health and safety purposes for baggage handlers (correct me on this if wrong).

You are then allow 7kgs of hand luggage as long as the bag is within the dimension of the carrier.

A laptop by nearly all airlines is a free allowance on top of the above.

Is it that hard to understand?