Baggage-Allowances Over 20 Kgs

[Ricardo]

Many of us flying down-the-back in Economy find we're rather like pack-mules, when flying to/from Thailand, so it might be worth starting a thread about which airlines offer more than just the basic 20 kgs. Who knows, if it proves to be useful, the thread might even get pinned !

This might be common-knowledge, to more-experienced flyers, but could be useful to newbies or to keep up-to-date on alternatives.

To kick it off, here are my own recent experiences, please feel free to add other airlines' deals :-

Domestic

===========

Beacuse those of us who do connect on, to CNX or HKT or wherever, need to be able to move extra-weight for the last 'hop' too.

IME Thai Airways allow up-to 30 kgs, on domestic-flights, if you're connecting to/from an international-flight in Bangkok. It doesn't seem to matter, whether the onward/inbound-flight is with TG or another Star-Alliance carrier or someone else.

And Bangkok Airways have a free frequent-flyer card which, from your first flight, allows an extra 10 kgs of hold-luggage, so effectively the same service as TG.

International

==========

Flying long-haul, a few airlines now seem to be 'breaking ranks' on the standard 20-kg economy-ticket allowance, perhaps to offer a competitive-advantage, or perhaps in recognition that we often travel over-the-limit ?

Thai Airways's frequent-flyer programme allows Silver-cards 10 kgs extra, and 20 kgs for Gold-card members on all flights.

I've flown Jet Airways (of India) three times, over the past year, and they allow 28 kgs on normal economy-tickets for trips starting in BKK, higher-levels of their Jet-Privilege card also allow an extra 10 kgs (Silver) or 15 kgs (Gold) or 20 kgs (Platinum).

I've also flown EgyptAir about a year ago, and they offer two bags, but they can be up-to 23 kgs each, so you can theoretically move up-to 46 kgs by balanced packing. This applies to all their international-flights, not just to North-America.

Air India's website says 35 kgs is standard for London-S.E.Asia, but I'm not sure what would be allowed for tickets starting from BKK ?

In the Gulf, Emirates allow a stunning 30 kgs of hold-luggage as standard, Silver & Gold ff-cardholders also gain extra baggage-allowance, not sure how much ?

Etihad allow a basic 23 kgs, with frequent-flyers Etihad-Guest an extra 5 kgs(ordinary members) or 10 kgs (Silver) or 15 kgs (Gold) or 20 kgs (Gold Elite).

Qatar Airways offers a basic 23 kgs, with Priviledge-Club members getting 0 kgs (ordinary) or 10 kgs (Burgundy) or 15 kgs (Silver) or 20 kgs (Gold).

And special-rules have always applied for flights to/from North-America, in the past, but might they now slowly be changing.

Perhaps other posters might care to share their own experience ?

[ripstanley]

Air Asia do not have a free baggage allowance. You can purchase baggage allowance from 15kg up to 40kg. The price charged depends on departure port and arrival port. This link lets you check if you are planning to fly. http://www.airasia.com/cn/en/flightinfo/feeschedule.page

[ripstanley]

Qantas have made changes recently. They came in for tickets issued on or after 02/05/2012. This link will assist http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/checked-baggage/global/en

[yermanee]

Oman Air :

Economy : 30 Kg / Business : 40 Kg / 1st class : 50 Kg

On top for the FFP members : silver members 15 Kg / gold members 20 Kg

Quite generous !

Yermanee

[david555]

KLM /Airfrance flights started a few months ago also with 23 kilo for checked luggage & 12 kilo in total for cabin luggage , this for economy BKK>AMS>BKK flights & other ones

Higher classes more , but i do not know as i am cattle class flyer

before i fly EVA so now 8 kilo in total more chocolate & other to bring LOS

Edited July 26, 2012 by david555

[WilliaminBKK]

You can also try this;

http://www.iflybags.com/

[Shrubbery]

Some airlines also offer extra kg's if you use their on-line check-in.

[tom69]

Turkish Airlines

Germany-Thailand 30 kg (economy)

Kuwait Airways

FRA-BKK-FRA 35 kg (economy)

[draftvader]

Wonderful stuff. Jet airways do have a large baggage allowance, but it IS dependant on your destination.

Check this link for the Jet Airways Baggage Allowance Calculator

We bought back 60kg between 2 adults and 1 infant from London. A welcomed addition, indeed. I must also say (having travelled extensively throughout my life) their service and planes are actually very good for the money and, if you like true Indian food, their economy food is actually pretty tasty....which is a nice change. They couldn't do enough for us travelling as a family with an 8 month old.

---EDIT---

We also crammed a further 14kg on in our take on luggage. I am an amazing packer

Edited July 27, 2012 by draftvader

[forgetit]

Emirates allowes you those 30 kg in as many piesces as you would like, so it is possible to bring 30 parcels with each 1kg. most other airlines allows you only 1 or 2 pieces.

for etihad frequent flyers:

silver gets an additional 10kg, gold 15kg and gold elite 20 kg, bringing it to a maximum of 43 kg in economy if you are a gold elite.

[Ricardo]

Turkish Airlines

Germany-Thailand 30 kg (economy)

Kuwait Airways

FRA-BKK-FRA 35 kg (economy)

Is that with their frequent-flyer cards ? Their web-sites seem to suggest 20 kg normal-allowance in Economy ?

Thanks to everyone who contributed thus far, does anyone have any information about airlines flying between Thailand & the Americas ?

Edited July 27, 2012 by Ricardo

[lomatopo]

I did notice this office/service at Suvarnabhumi Bangkok International Aiport recently. I have no experience with the service.

[snairb]

if i check my baggage in with qatar with free excess and have qatar check it through bkk to phuket (bangkok airways)

does the second carrier charge extra? (this is an excellent topic )

[lomatopo]

if i check my baggage in with qatar with free excess and have qatar check it through bkk to phuket (bangkok airways)

does the second carrier charge extra? (this is an excellent topic )

No. Assuming you get QR to interline your bags through to HKT. In theory this should be easy to do, even with separate tickets - show any second ticket details to the initial check-in agent so the records can be linked and the bags interlined - as QR and PG have an interline agreement. In practice this can be variable depending on the initial point of departure and the servicing ground agent's capabilities and flexibility; and your actual routing. You may not be able to get boarding pass(es) for BKK-HKT on PG when checking in with QR for XXX-BKK. Assuming bags are checked through to HKT, clear mid-field Immigration/security at BKK (SBIA), and if not holding boarding passes for BKK-HKT proceed to one of the connection counters. Claim bags at HKT and clear Customs there.

Edited July 28, 2012 by lomatopo

[el jefe]

if i check my baggage in with qatar with free excess and have qatar check it through bkk to phuket (bangkok airways)

does the second carrier charge extra? (this is an excellent topic )

No. Assuming you get QR to interline your bags through to HKT. In theory this should be easy to do, even with separate tickets - show any second ticket details to the initial check-in agent so the records can be linked and the bags interlined - as QR and PG have an interline agreement. In practice this can be variable depending on the initial point of departure and the servicing ground agent's capabilities and flexibility; and your actual routing. You may not be able to get boarding pass(es) for BKK-HKT on PG when checking in with QR for XXX-BKK. Assuming bags are checked through to HKT, clear mid-field Immigration/security at BKK (SBIA), and if not holding boarding passes for BKK-HKT proceed to one of the connection counters. Claim bags at HKT and clear Customs there.

That is not my experience with Bangkok Airways (PG). The interline agreement will get your bags checked thru to your final destination - HKT - but PG will charge you the overweight fee when you check in at BKK and get your boarding pass. They have a record of the weight of your bags. Maybe if the flights are all on one ticket you will not have to pay. I've never done it on one ticket. But for the past year, I've had to pay every time I've changed in BKK to a PG flight.

And most of the int'l weight allowances mentioned in the earlier posts differ depending on whether you are flying to/from Europe/UK or North America.

CX allows 46 kgs to/from the US in economy.

[lomatopo]

if i check my baggage in with qatar with free excess and have qatar check it through bkk to phuket (bangkok airways)

does the second carrier charge extra? (this is an excellent topic )

No. Assuming you get QR to interline your bags through to HKT. In theory this should be easy to do, even with separate tickets - show any second ticket details to the initial check-in agent so the records can be linked and the bags interlined - as QR and PG have an interline agreement. In practice this can be variable depending on the initial point of departure and the servicing ground agent's capabilities and flexibility; and your actual routing. You may not be able to get boarding pass(es) for BKK-HKT on PG when checking in with QR for XXX-BKK. Assuming bags are checked through to HKT, clear mid-field Immigration/security at BKK (SBIA), and if not holding boarding passes for BKK-HKT proceed to one of the connection counters. Claim bags at HKT and clear Customs there.

That is not my experience with Bangkok Airways (PG). The interline agreement will get your bags checked thru to your final destination - HKT - but PG will charge you the overweight fee when you check in at BKK and get your boarding pass. They have a record of the weight of your bags. Maybe if the flights are all on one ticket you will not have to pay. I've never done it on one ticket. But for the past year, I've had to pay every time I've changed in BKK to a PG flight.

And most of the int'l weight allowances mentioned in the earlier posts differ depending on whether you are flying to/from Europe/UK or North America.

CX allows 46 kgs to/from the US in economy.

OK, that differs from documented, first-hand experiences posted on some airline-centric forums I've been reading. I assume you could not get a BKK-HKT boarding pass when you checked in with Qatar Airlines? But they were able to link your two separate tickets, and interline your bags to HKT? Have you always flown Qatar to/from BKK? You checked in at the Connection Counter at BKK? Could you have checked in on-line?

[whimsy]

Emirates transport golf bags for free.

In addition to your checked baggage allowance, you may also check in

one set of golf clubs

and

one pair of golf shoes

free of charge in any class of service on any Emirates flight.

[Ricardo]

And most of the int'l weight allowances mentioned in the earlier posts differ depending on whether you are flying to/from Europe/UK or North America.

CX allows 46 kgs to/from the US in economy.

Thanks for the first feedback, on flights to/from North America, I'm assuming Canada would be the same as the USA, unless anyone knows different ?

Anyone else have experience of flights/allowances, perhaps with US-carriers, as well as via stopovers ?

If every of the 400 passangers would Cary 2 35 kg bags, then maybe the airplane overweight and crash!

I saw one time a documentation about this where overweight people in America often the reasean that the airplane have problems!

1. I believe most check-ins these days would give you grief, for trying to load an individual bag over 32 kgs ? To avoid the baggage-handlers straining their backs.

2. Overweight at take-off might have been a problem in the dim-and-distant past, with propeller-driven aircraft, but wide-bodied jets can be 350-500 toms at take-off, so a known few thousand kgs of extra hold-luggage shouldn't be a problem, if right-on-the-limit for the aircraft-type/runway-length/altitude then the loadmaster might remove a few tons of low-priority cargo such as mail.

if i check my baggage in with qatar with free excess and have qatar check it through bkk to phuket (bangkok airways)

does the second carrier charge extra? (this is an excellent topic )

Thanks for the comment !

IME (with PG to Chiang Mai) there should be no problem in doing this, assuming you had a PG frequent-flyer card, and up to 30 kgs. (due to 10 kgs extra with the ff-card on PG).

Incidentally Qatar now fly DOH-HKT themselves, albeit with a stop in KUL, which may also solve your problem for you ? One can hope that it may eventually operate direct, as their fleet expands.

Thanks to everyone, for their contributions so far, just a reminder (to keep it relevant & helpful & concise) that we're looking for hold-luggage allowances more-than 20 kgs in Economy to/from Thailand, and connecting domestically with international-flights, to try to identify the better-than-average deals on-offer.

I suspect that carry-on luggage might also be a useful, but seperate, topic ? Because having checked-in with the maximum, the next step is to do the best one can, with the pull-along/small-rucksack/computer or hand-bag and duty-free bag !

Edited July 29, 2012 by Ricardo

[NoshowJones]

Air Asia do not have a free baggage allowance. You can purchase baggage allowance from 15kg up to 40kg. The price charged depends on departure port and arrival port. This link lets you check if you are planning to fly. http://www.airasia.c...eeschedule.page

I arrived in Bangkok from the UK with my case weight 20 Kilos, I then wanted a single flight to Phitsanulok max weight for luggage 15 kilos. Welcome back to LOS land of stupidity. Like I was going to dump 5 kilos from my case. I just got a bus.

[kuripot]

British Airways Economy International could well justify the usually high airfares due to the baggage allowance.

From my interpretation of BA baggage allowance you are permitted 23KG of Hand Luggage plus a laptop bag as per;

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagcabin/public/en_gb

Checked in baggage is the usual 1 bag at 23KG but you can take up to an extra 10 bags on a scale of charges

1st extra 23KG bag £34

2nd extra 23KG bag £77

subsequent extra bags up to a maximum of 10 extra bags @ £ 77 per bag

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagchk/public/en_gb This is for baggage paid in advance on the BA website.

For a maximum fee of £827 it would be possible to take a grand total of 276 Kg of luggage. This could possibly be a cheap baggage option if moving to Thailand

Onward domestic air travel may pose a slight problem though as might actually moving this volume of luggage !!!

[el jefe]

if i check my baggage in with qatar with free excess and have qatar check it through bkk to phuket (bangkok airways)

does the second carrier charge extra? (this is an excellent topic )

No. Assuming you get QR to interline your bags through to HKT. In theory this should be easy to do, even with separate tickets - show any second ticket details to the initial check-in agent so the records can be linked and the bags interlined - as QR and PG have an interline agreement. In practice this can be variable depending on the initial point of departure and the servicing ground agent's capabilities and flexibility; and your actual routing. You may not be able to get boarding pass(es) for BKK-HKT on PG when checking in with QR for XXX-BKK. Assuming bags are checked through to HKT, clear mid-field Immigration/security at BKK (SBIA), and if not holding boarding passes for BKK-HKT proceed to one of the connection counters. Claim bags at HKT and clear Customs there.

That is not my experience with Bangkok Airways (PG). The interline agreement will get your bags checked thru to your final destination - HKT - but PG will charge you the overweight fee when you check in at BKK and get your boarding pass. They have a record of the weight of your bags. Maybe if the flights are all on one ticket you will not have to pay. I've never done it on one ticket. But for the past year, I've had to pay every time I've changed in BKK to a PG flight.

And most of the int'l weight allowances mentioned in the earlier posts differ depending on whether you are flying to/from Europe/UK or North America.

CX allows 46 kgs to/from the US in economy.

OK, that differs from documented, first-hand experiences posted on some airline-centric forums I've been reading. I assume you could not get a BKK-HKT boarding pass when you checked in with Qatar Airlines? But they were able to link your two separate tickets, and interline your bags to HKT? Have you always flown Qatar to/from BKK? You checked in at the Connection Counter at BKK? Could you have checked in on-line?

It's neither Qatar nor HKT, but the intl airlines shouldn't matter unless they have a code share agreement with PG.

yes, CX linked my two separate tix and interlined my baggage to CNX. I could not do on-line check-in with PG and used the Connection Counter at BKK.

Since we're talking about this in relation to connections from an int'l flight, the amount of the fee needs to be considered. The first time this happened I used my full 46kg allowance on CX and paid about 1200 baht in overweight charges to PG for my flight BKK-CNX. The worst part was that I hate schlepping heavy carry-on bags around various airports so i checked everything and had a nearly empty carry-on bag. Since my bags were interlined thru to my final destination, I did not have the opportunity to pull 10kgs of stuff out of the bag in BKK. The last time I flew, I filled my carry-on instead and only paid about 300 baht in BKK.

FYI - I was never charged by PG when flying the identical route until Oct 2011.

[gogolores]

Austrian Airlines AUA: 23 Kg, but only on piece allowed.

[Ricardo]

Any Star Alliance carriers still give that 2 bags to the US deal?

Egyptair are in SA, 2 pieces of up-to 23 kgs each, but flying via Cairo is a long way round.

Ditto Turkish Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines, according to their websites.

Also ANA, via Japan, which might be a better routing, or Singapore Air ?

And indeed Thai Airways itself, 2 pieces of up-to 23 kgs.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Ricardo

[Ricardo]

Just learned this morning that, for flights booked from 15th June onwards, Jet Airways have increased their standard-allowance (on flights between Europe and Bangkok) from 28 kgs to 30 kgs, every little helps !

Edited July 31, 2012 by Ricardo

[Lotusbluete]

Flew beginning June HKT - BKK - HAM by Emirates, 2 adults, one child. Emirates allowed 30 kg/person, i.e. 90 kg. Flight HKT - BKK by Bangkok Airways (PG). Enquired several times (!) about luggage allowance with Bangkok Airways, was told 20 kg free and THB 700 for 10 kg extra, i.e. for 3 person THB 2100. Checked in at Phuket Airport, ended up with about 110 kg (!). Had the money on the counter but the check-in officer said "no problem". Checked luggage through to Hamburg without any extra payment.

By the way, amongst the 3 of us we had another about 40 kg of hand luggage. No problem!

[nong38]

Last year I flew LHR-BKK, I had weighed my luggage at home before I set off ( not realizing that one of the wheels of my case must have been resting on the floor! When I got the Emirates check in desk, I was expecting 26kg only ot see 34 come up! The lady at the desk asked me to take 4kg out of the case and take it on as hand luggage, she gave me an Emirates bag to help out! Hand luggage is supposed to be 7kg, it was not weighed, I have not seen any hand luggage weighed has anyone else? The reason I ask is that my hand luggage case weighs 3kg and my laptop with adaptor weighs 3.5 kg! Loads of space left but 7 kg is a very low figure.

30 kg is pretty good but soon reached and then there is the problem of getting to the airport avoiding stairs and other hazards!

This is a thread worth pinning so I am glad its going to happen.

Well done.

[Ricardo]

The thread on luggage-allowances with Srilankan Airlines says that their hold-luggage allowance in Economy is 30 kgs.

Edited August 6, 2012 by Ricardo

[ravip]

Information from UL - (as of 06 Aug 2012)

Thank you for contacting SriLankan Airlines!

You may refer to our baggage allowance as below…

Checked Baggage Hand Luggage

Economy Class 30kg 07kg

Business Class 40kg 14kg

**Please note that the above baggage allowances may vary if you are having an onward journey to any American country.

You can contact SriLankan Airlines direct Customer Baggage

Edited August 7, 2012 by sbk
email removed per forum rules

[beano2274]

I read that if you went normal by Lufthansa it is 23 kgs and one piece only, however if you are in the Miles and More thing they have then it is 2 pieces of 23 kgs each, could anyone confirm this here as well?

[bangkokburning]

Air Asia ztill doesnt get it. They do short haul but want people to check bags at stupid prices. I bought 20kg luggage for wedfing trip. Was 2kg over on return, idiot wanted b700.We swapped a bag out - no problem. Left a bad taste in my mouth. Surely cargo hold EMPTY.

That is Thai domestic.

KAL I think is 2 bags 23kg ea to US

Edited September 6, 2012 by bangkokburning