Excess And Carry-on Baggage Variations

[mark lamai]

out of swampy the other day on jetstar ( i know, you buy cheap and you get cheap)..

BKK- melbourne excess is now 600 baht per kilo, was 450 they said.

no leeway, forked over my 9000 baht. one way fare was about 14000!!

then the carry-on i always go with is 3 bags weighing all up about 20kg.

never had a problem before with jetstar, thai, bangkok airways, singapore airlines.

but the boss lady said i had to check in 2 bags or leave them behind,

standing there negotiating for 30 minutes, 5 mins to closing and she wont issue me a boarding pass.

my bags contain fragile and expensive cameras and computers, so i was not ever going to check them in.

Finally i seemed to convince her that she would not lose her job, she went through a procedure of forewarning the cabin crew

and heaven knows what else. so i got thru, took more than an hour in total including my excess baggage discussion time.

What is the real reason i wonder?

collecting more revenue from excess check-in? or just unlucky with the lady on duty.

i used to hide my carry-on behind other passengers when checking in, haven't bothered more recently because of no problems.

But it was a very uncomfortable time standing there thinking i might miss the flight.

Bangkok airways:

Bkk- Samui. same gear. 1000 baht excess, no carry-on problem.

Samui-BKK. no excess charge, maybe coz i registered on thier website , not sure.

Thai Airways:

BKK-Chiang Mai and return. same gear.

No excess charges and no problems carry-on.

maybe coz of frequent flyer card and also maybe coz of booking with platinum mastercard, not sure, but it was lovely on a Airbus A330 instead of the flying cigarettes bangkok airways use.

I have seen some airlines recommend that you don't check-in cameras and computers,

but i guess if they weigh too much or are too large it becomes a catch-22,

and you are left with simply not knowing if you will have a problem or not,

I think i will go back to hiding the check-in bags.

only other time I had a problem was leaving melbourne, i had checked-in fine, and then there was an officious nazi on the airside just before passport control, telling me i had too much. he seemed to be a general catch-all, not working for any airline in particular, very strange, only time i ever saw that.

[THAILIBAN]

I heard that so many big carriers are becoming extremely stingy these days (despite their announced record-profits every year!). I heard that GULF and EMIRATES do not accepot more than 20 Kg for free now, starting 1st of April. (did fly Emirates on 29th of march and no problem with my 25 KG that day).

even THAI announced that they will not accept overweight luggage any longer.

any recent experiences ?

what I do to avoid discussions about the hand-luggage: I store my business-pilot-case (small in size but, believe me, its heavy: tons of paper) at the left-luggage-counter for an hour or so (costs me just 4 Euro in my home country), then after checking-in, I get it back and then pass the security control and boarding gate without any problems....

[merijn]

I heard that so many big carriers are becoming extremely stingy these days (despite their announced record-profits every year!). I heard that GULF and EMIRATES do not accepot more than 20 Kg for free now, starting 1st of April. (did fly Emirates on 29th of march and no problem with my 25 KG that day).

even THAI announced that they will not accept overweight luggage any longer.

any recent experiences ?

what I do to avoid discussions about the hand-luggage: I store my business-pilot-case (small in size but, believe me, its heavy: tons of paper) at the left-luggage-counter for an hour or so (costs me just 4 Euro in my home country), then after checking-in, I get it back and then pass the security control and boarding gate without any problems....

Funny that is exactly the same what i always did at AMS.

Because i travel always with only hand luggage there was always a problem during check-in because they did not believe that i could travel to Thailand without luggage or only hand luggage.

So they always asked to check my hand luggage which was always to heavy off-course. ( pilot top loader bag )

I ended up with putting my carry on in an locker at the airport did my check-in and picked up my carry on and went to the gate without any problem.

The pilot bag looks small and especially designed for carry on.

Edited May 31, 2008 by merijn

[thetravellingcat]

yeah the limit seems to be 20Kg and they are so keen to charge rediculous amounts for excess. I was 5Kg over after repacking my bags at the airport, she let me through after going to the counter twice. Didn't weigh my small backpack or laptop carry on with a combined weight of 10Kg! I had to post 18Kg of stuff back to the UK. Cost me 1/3rd of the ticket price!

[themikeymeister]

I have just had recent wallet busting experience of this.

Flying back from Bkk to Uk with Emirates on 25 May. Was 3 kg over at 23kg, and no hand luggage.

Emirates charged me 4200 baht for the excess 3kg. They were being strict with every passenger, with people opening their suitcases at the check in and swopping the stuff around between bags to comply.

I would guess this is a way of extracting more brass from the customer to compensate for the ever increasing price of jet fuel.

Wont be going over the limit again that's for sure.

Ho hum

Edited June 1, 2008 by themikeymeister

[IMA_FARANG]

out of swampy the other day on jetstar ( i know, you buy cheap and you get cheap)..

BKK- melbourne excess is now 600 baht per kilo, was 450 they said.

no leeway, forked over my 9000 baht. one way fare was about 14000!!

then the carry-on i always go with is 3 bags weighing all up about 20kg.

never had a problem before with jetstar, thai, bangkok airways, singapore airlines.

but the boss lady said i had to check in 2 bags or leave them behind,

standing there negotiating for 30 minutes, 5 mins to closing and she wont issue me a boarding pass.

my bags contain fragile and expensive cameras and computers, so i was not ever going to check them in.

Finally i seemed to convince her that she would not lose her job, she went through a procedure of forewarning the cabin crew

and heaven knows what else. so i got thru, took more than an hour in total including my excess baggage discussion time.

What is the real reason i wonder?

collecting more revenue from excess check-in? or just unlucky with the lady on duty.

i used to hide my carry-on behind other passengers when checking in, haven't bothered more recently because of no problems.

But it was a very uncomfortable time standing there thinking i might miss the flight.

Bangkok airways:

Bkk- Samui. same gear. 1000 baht excess, no carry-on problem.

Samui-BKK. no excess charge, maybe coz i registered on thier website , not sure.

Thai Airways:

BKK-Chiang Mai and return. same gear.

No excess charges and no problems carry-on.

maybe coz of frequent flyer card and also maybe coz of booking with platinum mastercard, not sure, but it was lovely on a Airbus A330 instead of the flying cigarettes bangkok airways use.

I have seen some airlines recommend that you don't check-in cameras and computers,

but i guess if they weigh too much or are too large it becomes a catch-22,

and you are left with simply not knowing if you will have a problem or not,

I think i will go back to hiding the check-in bags.

only other time I had a problem was leaving melbourne, i had checked-in fine, and then there was an officious nazi on the airside just before passport control, telling me i had too much. he seemed to be a general catch-all, not working for any airline in particular, very strange, only time i ever saw that.

Get used to it, it will be happening more often. Fuel costs are going up and every kilo the airlines carry for you costs them money. Like it or not....you are going to have to pay for that. So expect to pay in overweight charges or ticket fares going up. The airlines do not run a non-profit service so you can tote all your worldly goods about, you know.

One thing you can do, if it fits in with your travel plans is to use the unaccompanied baggage method. I'm not sure if the low cost (budget) airlines do have it, but I know TG allows it. I used it when I left BKK to return to the U.S. (some years ago I admit). I took the baggage I wanted to send as unaccompanied baggage to the TG baggage office in BKK about a week before I flew. They don't promise your baggage will be on the same flight as you, but they will make every attempt to have it waiting for you when your arrive at your destination. The earlier you get it to them, the more likely it is to be waiting for you at the airport when you arrive. In certain places, they will even arrange with a local delivery company to have the baggage delivered to your home. And the baggage can be insured against loss.

Of course, it costs money (no, they don't do it for free). Insurance and deliveray to your home are extra fees. Still it is usually cheaper than paying excess baggage fees. For TG you used to be able to drop it off in the baggage office in BKK, and they took care of the rest (once you paid the fee, of course).

I haven't gone this route for years, but it is worth asking the airline. If they say no, can't do that,then what do you lose? Just be sure to check with the airline office, probably best at the downtown business office, because sometimes the airport staff may not know about this service.

Edited June 1, 2008 by IMA_FARANG

[tartempion]

I think a Frequent Flyer card helps.

Checked in on Ethihad Brussels airport one week ago economy counter with 30kgs and showed FF card. I was getting silver after this flight allowing an extra 10kgs on future flights. No comment was made on my bag, whilst the lady at the counter next to me was clearly in trouble having 25kgs. She was making a call to a friend to come to the airport and pick up 5kgs she needed to remove from her bag...

[brahmburgers]

brief story of the other side of the coin:

About 5 years ago I came from SFO (San Francisco) to Bkk on a return flight, Eva Air. I had regular two suitcases packed to the gills - and also a 9-person inflatable raft. Even rolled up, the raft was about half the size of a VW bug, and quite heavy. They let it on for an added $100 ....the good old days.

At Bkk, I strolled on past Customs - with stroller packed to overloading, with nary a wink or a nod from officials.

I only used the raft once. It got put in storage where rats ate holes in it - rendering it unusable/unpatchable. I found out later it's better to store inflatable rafts inflated, as it's tougher for vermin to bite in to them.