Who Knows About Baggage? Why Me?

[mamanoodle]

We flew eva evergreen to Amsterdam this summer,booked klm separate to keep money out of gordon brown's coffers, paid 58 euro excess at Amsterdam to Newcastle, still saved on taxes. Flew back with 18 kilo overweight for klm, who have to be the most strict with baggage limits, on the way back have the 06.10am flight to Amsterdam, hubby cursing says no savings on things we bring back, I never thought of that! but, probably because no office open for excess charges luggage goes thro no bother. Eva air Amsterdam not bother about 8 kilo over there so, for once, extremely bloody lucky.

[pgs]

And in case any Brits haven't spotted it already: British Airways cut over from a weight based system to a per piece system in September on long haul flights. First piece is free up to a certain maximum weight (unsure what it is) but the second piece of checked "hold" luggage is in the order of £135 per piece.

23kg limit/bag.

Using QANTAS FF points is far easier on BA than QANTAS - although they're both currently fully booked for the return leg until mid March (if using FF points).

The only problem I've had with BA on the SYD-BKK flights has been the 'we're out of beer' story before we're out of Aussie airspace.

[chiang mai]

And in case any Brits haven't spotted it already: British Airways cut over from a weight based system to a per piece system in September on long haul flights. First piece is free up to a certain maximum weight (unsure what it is) but the second piece of checked "hold" luggage is in the order of £135 per piece.

23kg limit/bag.

Using QANTAS FF points is far easier on BA than QANTAS - although they're both currently fully booked for the return leg until mid March (if using FF points).

The only problem I've had with BA on the SYD-BKK flights has been the 'we're out of beer' story before we're out of Aussie airspace.

That's probably because a plane load of Aussies would have drunk the entire plane dry before it even reached take off speed.

[ClaytonSeymour]

And in case any Brits haven't spotted it already: British Airways cut over from a weight based system to a per piece system in September on long haul flights. First piece is free up to a certain maximum weight (unsure what it is) but the second piece of checked "hold" luggage is in the order of £135 per piece.

If you read between the lines BA's allowance in World Traveller (Economy) Class is actually worse now as the one piece allowance is 23kg i.e. before you could take 23kg spread into two suitcases.

The North & Central America, The Carribean, Brazil & Nigeria are different.

Here's the link anyway:

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagch...ic/en_gb#europe

It is open to misinterpretation as it states that they'll continue to accept individual bags up to 32kg whilst the individual bag limit is 23kg. I suspect some people will think this means they can take 32kg's in one bag in economy & you can understand why. I'm tempted to e-mail them for clarification.

Well I did e-mail them and guess what? Five days and still waiting for any response whatsoever.

[THAILIBAN]

Whatever Airline you fly, be a member of their Frequent Flyer program.

With Thai i believe that you have to fly 10,000 miles to qualify for the basic level, which does not entitle you to any extra luggage allowance.

If you fly with Qantas, you can get an extra 10KG of you are a frequent flyer.

The easy answer is to buy your tuna and toothpaste in Australia

10.000 miles on THAI entitles u to SILVER MEMBERSHIP already (thats UNIQUE for all airlines which are in any kind of Alliance), and as a silver member, you are allowed to check in 30 Kg.

the Basic membership on Thai is already reached be filling the membership form and send it back to them....

even they only give 50% of the miles for their cheap booking classes nowadays, its still the best FF-Program of any alliance-airline in the world, in my opinion.

with no other airline I would have been able to obtain a redemption ticket Europe-Bkk-Europe as I did with THAI this year.

though, their planes are pretty old these days....

[onethailand]

Well I did e-mail them and guess what? Five days and still waiting for any response whatsoever.

Try emailing KLM. You'll never get a response at all.

[ClaytonSeymour]

Well I did e-mail them and guess what? Five days and still waiting for any response whatsoever.

Try emailing KLM. You'll never get a response at all.

Well, it's looking that way with BA; still no response.

[euca]

And in case any Brits haven't spotted it already: British Airways cut over from a weight based system to a per piece system in September on long haul flights. First piece is free up to a certain maximum weight (unsure what it is) but the second piece of checked "hold" luggage is in the order of £135 per piece.

Who flies BA anyways???

Baggage allowances are not the only way BA make themselves disliked. I have been carefully avoiding BA for 23-years, now. I shall continue to do so and I see from various comments on this thread that little appears to have changed.

[misterme]

Bagage trick from a pro...

1)Cabin bag must be small. If it's small, they won't weigh it. Put the heaviest items in your carry-on. Books, paper, electronics, etc.

2)If you know you'll be overweight, you may opt for a second cabin bag. (rules allow for a cabin bag and a personal item, ie purse, laptop, or 2nd small bag) Again, heaviest items in this one. ***Ask someone to watch your 2 cabin bags while you check in.*** Out of sight, out of mind. Once boarding passes are issued, you're rarely questioned again.

3)Now that all your heavy items are out of your checked luggage, you're allowed 2 peices (within size and weight limits). These should be the only bags the check-in agent sees.

Frequent Flyer programs allow an extra checked bag, making it 3 (Royal Orchid Silver, and other Gold levels)

Business Class allows an extra checked bag (and sometimes an extra cabin bag), a good alternative if you're forced to pay $400+ for extra luggage, you may as well buy Business in the first place. ***First Class/Business Class often ignore extra baggage charges*** if you're really over and nice about it, they often will waive the fees.

[sybille47]

Just a quick follow up. Air Asia X have started operating KUL to Australia, and don't have ANY free checked in luggage allowance.

[kiakaha]

Well i left Bangkok Airport last month ready for my return trip back to Australia,and i was proud i now had 3 suitcases to take back to Sydney with me.

I had bought cheap deoderants,soaps,toothpaste,flyspray,and cans of tuna and heaps of coffee.

Everything that i could get cheaper in Thailand i brought back with me.

There i was lining up to check in to return to Sydney with a big smile onmy face thinking i had saved a hel_l of a lot of money and wouldnt have to buy anymore toothpaste,deoderants etc until my return trip next year.

As soon as i got to the THAI AIRWAYS counter he weighed my 3 bags and said 48kg !

I think he said i was 18kg over?

Well....................you know what happened next?

He said its 775 baht per bloody kilo over the 30kg !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well what a waste of money it was on the SAVINGS i made on all the stuff.

Does anyone know of a airline or how i can get more baggage than just my standard suitcase on a flight.?

Any airlines allow more kilos per customer?

Thai first class + Gold Star Alliance = 60 KG checked

Thai Business class + Gold Star Alliance = 50 KG checked.

Thai Business class + Silver Star Alliance = 40 KG checked.

Plus your carry on, another 15 KG easily.

Always research your allowed weights(it usually printed on your ticket/e-ticket), plan accordingly for accompanied/unaccompanied/freighted, no problems.

[Rumpole]

3. There is a method called "unaccompied baggage" in which you can get your baggage on a plane, quite possibly the flight you are on (but no gaurentee), by paying for it a a rate that is much less than the "overwieght accompanied baggage" you have to pay if you are overwieght. Different airlines have different policies on how you can do this. Best idea is, if you know you are going to have a lot of baggage, try for this "unaccompied baggage" rate with the airline and arrange it before you travel with them. Talk to them about it at the airline office in town, before you go to the airport. Carry only what you need, and send the rest of your luggage unaccompied baggage. You may need to pick it up on your arrival in your arrival airport. Of course, you have to pay a fee, but it is usually much less than the overwieght baggage fee you pay (which can be 1% of a first-class ticket for overwieght baggage.) I've done it before, but it was quite a few years ago.

The only problem with this method is that you will probably have to retrieve your baggage from the cargo terminal - which may be situated some considerable distance from the passenger terminal. Unaccompanied baggage is also often subject to more stringent customs inspections and bureaucratic release procedures. It may be cheaper, but it is not particularly convenient.

Edited November 11, 2007 by Rumpole

[Ricardo]

Well, here are some tips for how to carry overweight baggage with you (no success guaranteed, however it works in 90% cases).

1. Arrive well before time, i.e. try to be the first passenger, as they leave more allowance for the early birds (I noticed in almost every case)

2. Pack you baggage in at least three packages, i.e. valuable, non-valuable and cabin luggage. You are allowed (in Asia) 20Kg per person and 7Kg for cabin luggage, but usually they let you 20-30Kg and 7-10KG for checked in and cabin luggage respectively. So you can fairly take 27-40Kg in all. When you have one piece of non-valuables (like mama etc.) you can get rid of them in case if they dont allow.

3. Accompany a friend with you, if possible, so that person will take your excess baggage home.

4. Be humble and request the lady on the counter. I have seen being polite n humble you can get the things done.

These are my tips, anyone to add some more.

At one occasion I could manage to bring about 54 Kg in all, i.e. 34Kg in checked in luggage and 20 Kg in cabin, 2 pieces each, i.e. 4 pieces in all. But that happens once in a while. Its not that I am smart or handsome, it was probably just a chance and a mix of many factors, such as luck, polite check in staff etc.

A couple of extra hints :-

I tend to get several extra kgs in the many pockets of my safari-jacket, and my shorts have 5-6 pockets too, once through security & onto the plane the books or sweets can then be re-packed into my 7 kg carry-on.

Most airlines allow plenty of duty-fee with no problem, so buy sweets in the duty-free lounges, I get several kgs of Roses chocolates and After-8 mints in the special sweetie-shop at LGW !

What really bugs me, is that we are now limited at most airports to just the 1 carry-on, due to alarmist new security-rules, and yet the airlines & governments have not increased the hold-luggage allowances by a single gram.

[lomatopo]

It's generally not that difficult to obtain the baggage rules...

http://www.thaiair.com/Travel_Destination_...eck_in_faqs.htm

How much luggage am I allowed to check?

The luggage allowance for Royal First Class is 40 kg. (88 lbs.); for Royal Executive Class passengers: 30 kg. (66 lbs.); and for Economy Class passengers: 20 kg. (44 lb.).

Royal Orchid Plus Gold Card members are entitled to check an additional 20 kg. (44 lbs.). Royal Orchid Plus Silver Card members can check an additional 10 kg. (22 lbs.) of luggage.

Infants (not occupying a seat) are allowed 10 kg. (22 lbs.) excluding one fully-collapsible child stroller, pushchair, or infant-carrying basket.

For travel To/from Canada and the U.S.A., the following regulations apply:

Passengers in all classes of service, from First to Economy, are allowed two pieces of luggage. The sum of the three dimensions (length + height + width) for each piece cannot exceed 158 cm. (62 inches) and the weight of each piece cannot exceed 32 kgs. (70 lbs).

A Child (2-12 years) occupying a seat is entitled to the same free luggage allowance as an adult passenger.

An Infant (not occupying a seat) is entitled to one piece of checked luggage, the sum of whose three dimensions does not exceed 115 cm. (45 inches), plus one fully-collapsible child stroller or pushchair or infant-carrying basket.

How many pieces of carry-on luggage am I allowed?

Each passengers may hand-carry one piece luggage the sum of whose dimensions (length+ height + width) does not exceed 115 cm. ( 56 + 46 + 25 cm) (44.85 inches, i.e. 21.5 x 18 x 9.75 inches) and which does not weigh more than seven kg. (15.4 lbs). Pieces exceeding these dimensions must be checked in at the Check-in counter prior to departure. A woman is allowed to carry a purse as well.

Is canned tuna fish really that expensive in Australia?