Air France

[lotus eater]

I recently travelled to Paris and back on Air France and would issue this warning - they will not turn a blind eye to even a gram much less a kilogram of excess luggage weight over the permitted allowance - in my case 20kg in economy class. On my route it was 30€ per kilo. So be prepared to pay or have contingency plans to hand off/chuck superfluous stuff. (A further 10kg are allowed in strictly a single piece of hand luggage.)

[Carmine6]

I'm a little confused. Are you saying you were 20kg over the limit and they wouldn't turn a blind eye to that?

[guyidofrance]

I'm a little confused. Are you saying you were 20kg over the limit and they wouldn't turn a blind eye to that?

hi there ...

I know about those AirFrance rules as I live in France and flye up and down to .

but bad enough its the same for all aircompagnies.

I travelled with overload ,2 kilo , no trouble , it depends who you are, how you look ,how you meet .....

but hey ...you are able to confirm youre flight before leaving, pick youre prefaired chair and book online overload luggage.

30 % discount .....thry that next time .

I travel to BKK without clothing , buy it here and leave it here to ....so only interesting items go back to Toulouse ,France.....

suxes next time

[Carmine6]

I'm a little confused. Are you saying you were 20kg over the limit and they wouldn't turn a blind eye to that?

hi there ...

I know about those AirFrance rules as I live in France and flye up and down to .

but bad enough its the same for all aircompagnies.

I travelled with overload ,2 kilo , no trouble , it depends who you are, how you look ,how you meet .....

but hey ...you are able to confirm youre flight before leaving, pick youre prefaired chair and book online overload luggage.

30 % discount .....thry that next time .

I travel to BKK without clothing , buy it here and leave it here to ....so only interesting items go back to Toulouse ,France.....

suxes next time

That's what I was trying to clarify. 20kg is way over limit, so claiming they wouldn't let a kg or so slide based on that seems a bit of a stretch.

I don't know how lenient the airlines are myself since I weigh before I leave and have been within 1kg before, but never over. I have been on some tiny planes though where they have to be strict and they weigh both the passenger and the luggage together.

[NanLaew]

I travel to BKK without clothing ....

Woohoooo! He's flying Nekkid Class (somewhere between Tempo and Affaires?)

[sibeymai]

Qantas just did a similar thing to me Sydney to Bangkok. 3kg over limit (26kg total) and was charged $A35 per kilo, $A105 total.

According to the Qantas website they charge approximately $A6 per kilo for passengers on the route (based on the published fare) which one has to assume covers their operating costs and provides a margin for profit.

I've written to the airline asking them to justify the 500% uplift for the cost of excess baggage.

[NanLaew]

I think the OP was one-kilo over the 20kg allowance and was charged 30€.

My experience is if your flight originates at CDG or you break your journey there. then they will rape you on excess baggage AND the size of your carry on. I had a rolling carry on bag that AF check-in at Houston were quite happy with, However, checking in at CDG two days later for my onward trip to Douala, it was suddenly over-sized and I was asked to check it. I told them it was my laptop and valuables and none of it was going in the hold. After they dicked with me for 10 minutes, they let me carry on. That happened a couple of times.

Generally, I had no problems with overweight when checking in with AF at overseas departure points. Mind you, most of those flights were on a Seaman's ticket and that got me a 30kg allowance anyway.

[Noodles]

Strange...I flew London - Paris - Rio in may and my weight was 29-30 kgs and I was not charged.

Also on my return to BKK with emirates I was not charged.

[lotus eater]

To elaborate.

I have frequently been a few kilos over the 20kg allowance on other airlines and the extra has been overlooked. So while the rule may be universal it is not universally or invariably applied by all airlines. On one occasion that I recall I was some 10 kilos over and the airline charged me for 5 kilos.

In this case I was 5 kilos over and they charged me for all 5. Although I was paying up a hefty 150€ I kept the discussion with the check-in girl and her superiors civil because they insisted it was company policy and they had no discretion. (Another chap at another counter was making a prolonged fuss - to no avail.)

I was emailed prior to my departure with flight details, seat choice. etc and feel that they should have emphasized there that the rule would be strictly applied - this would have given me the choice of removing superfluous stuff at my flat in Paris.

My travel from Paris was barely a week ago.

Edited August 24, 2009 by lotus eater

[PattayaParent]

When I was checking in at Air Asia in Ha Noi my check in bag was 1kg over the limit but my carry on was only 3kgs and the lady still made me remove 1kg from my check in to put in my carry on.

[astral]

When I was checking in at Air Asia in Ha Noi my check in bag was 1kg over the limit but my carry on was only 3kgs and the lady still made me remove 1kg from my check in to put in my carry on.

Budget airlines are a different kettle of fish.

The OP is talking about Air France.

[siam2007]

When I was checking in at Air Asia in Ha Noi my check in bag was 1kg over the limit but my carry on was only 3kgs and the lady still made me remove 1kg from my check in to put in my carry on.

Budget airlines are a different kettle of fish.

my apologies, but have to disagree.

nowadays, ALL airline are extremely strict when it comes to luggage. they have - without exception - happily adopted those budget-airlines-policies.

except that you pay 300-800% more for your overweight luggage on legacy carriers than on budget airlines. and unlike at most budget airlines, you can not pre-book your overweight luggage to get huge discounts.....

[syd barrett]

By law the check-in staff cannot charge you for weight 10% or less of the agreed limits.

If you are supposed to carry 20kg then 22kg must be permitted without charge.

If check-in staff disagree and try charging you for excess, ask to speak to the check-in supervisor and demand to see the calibration certificate of the check-in weighing apparatus.

On the signed certificate you will see the wording "accurate to + or - 10%"

[triffid]

When I was checking in at Air Asia in Ha Noi my check in bag was 1kg over the limit but my carry on was only 3kgs and the lady still made me remove 1kg from my check in to put in my carry on.

Budget airlines are a different kettle of fish.

my apologies, but have to disagree.

nowadays, ALL airline are extremely strict when it comes to luggage. they have - without exception - happily adopted those budget-airlines-policies.

except that you pay 300-800% more for your overweight luggage on legacy carriers than on budget airlines. and unlike at most budget airlines, you can not pre-book your overweight luggage to get huge discounts.....

Interesting new information to me - about prebooking overwieight luggage.

About all airlines being equally strict, well it hasn't been my experience in the past, but at present I don't know but will certainly test it in future.

By law the check-in staff cannot charge you for weight 10% or less of the agreed limits.

If you are supposed to carry 20kg then 22kg must be permitted without charge.

If check-in staff disagree and try charging you for excess, ask to speak to the check-in supervisor and demand to see the calibration certificate of the check-in weighing apparatus.

On the signed certificate you will see the wording "accurate to + or - 10%"

Again, this is interesting new information to me.

[NanLaew]

By law the check-in staff cannot charge you for weight 10% or less of the agreed limits.

If you are supposed to carry 20kg then 22kg must be permitted without charge.

If check-in staff disagree and try charging you for excess, ask to speak to the check-in supervisor and demand to see the calibration certificate of the check-in weighing apparatus.

On the signed certificate you will see the wording "accurate to + or - 10%"

By law? Who's <deleted>' law? Citation needed! Good luck negotiating with supervisor Mrs Olga Limpopo at Bulawayo International airport you wally!

Oh boy... I would just love to be the sorry punter behind you at check-in when you pull a stunt like this. I can see you now, blood vessels sticking out, red-faced, sweating like a rapist, ranting and waving your arms and blissfully unaware at the +100 pissed off people behind you WHO MOSTLY HAVE OBSERVED THE BAGGAGE WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS. You, making a hue and cry because baggage rules are for proles and you are what? barely silver elite status but still jonesing in coach class because you are a cheap, arrogant <deleted>.

And then someone smacks you from behind.... and as you fall to the ground, there's a ripple of applause.

PS. Thanks for allowing me to vent. Been a bad morning here.

[NanLaew]

Pay attention you 'frequent fliers'!

The OP is talking SPECIFICALLY about AIR FRANCE baggage check at CHARLES De GAULLE airport in PARIS.

Thanks for chipping in on AirAsia, Emirates and the rest. All very interesting and quite IRRELEVANT. Those that transited through CDG without problems, we are very, very happy for you but once again totally IRRELEVANT.

As I stated in MY post that corroborates the OP's RECENT experiences, the check-in staff for AF at CDG are UNRELENTING on dicking with passengers regards checked baggage weight AND carry-on baggage weight. Thay are very, very anal and arrogant... but that extends to pretty much all aspects of passenger liaisons at that airport.

Witness, my connecting flight to CDG that was canceled because of a fuel tanker drivers strike at the airport. This neccessitated a later flight and a stopover in CDG as my onward flight to Guinea was not a daily service. AF would not stump up for ANY compensation, accommodation, transportation or any other real or perceived inconvenience because (you will like this), the striking drivers and inability to refuel the eventually cancelled flight was 'not directly caused by AF'. If you can imagine this statement being delivered with a typically gallic shrug while the passenger 'service' agent saying it looks into the middle distance somewhere left of your shoulder.... you get the picture. How dya like THEM apples!

OK, I admit my afternoon isn't getting any better.

[syd barrett]

Good luck negotiating with supervisor Mrs Olga Limpopo at Bulawayo International airport you wally!

WHO MOSTLY HAVE OBSERVED THE BAGGAGE WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS.

You, making a hue and cry because baggage rules are for proles and you are what?

Barely silver elite status but still jonesing in coach class because you are a cheap, arrogant <deleted>.

You would need to use your common sense when pressing check-in staff to adhere to this rule. Personally I would only press the matter in a European country, this topic was concerning Air France.

Obviously, it would be little use citing this rule at Central African Airports (where 2kg extra would never be a problem).

As you said above, we should all try to observe baggage weight restrictions, however due to the possible faulty weighing apparatus +/- 10% it may happen that a bona fide 20kg bag might clock at 22 kg and it would be unfair to be asked to pay US$ 300 for those two extra kg!

For your information I am Silver status with several airlines and usually travel Y class unless someone else is paying.

If that makes me a 'cheap arrogant <deleted>' in your eyes; so be it.

[NanLaew]

Nah syd, you are alright. As I said, I was having a bad day.

Keep up the good work!

[NUMBNUTTS]

Ya have to know its all a rip - wadda they do if the craft is say 10,000 kg over the limit - drop off all the fat people? Get better looking flight staff? Drink all the booze on the ground? Demand a super - it works every time - or hand a bag to the person behind ya with no bags. Dont forget the claim check.