B.A. to charge extra ┬г240 long-haul return for extra bag

ANYONE BOOKED TO TRAVEL ABROAD (OR RETURN TO UK) FROM 13 FEBRUARY WITH B.A. SHOULD BE WARNED OF THESE EXTRA CHARGES.
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BA to charge ┬г240 for extra bag

British Airways is planning to add up to ┬г240 to the cost of a return long-haul flight if passengers want to check in an extra bag.
Travellers on shorter international trips will face a bill of ┬г120 and those on domestic journeys, ┬г60.

The fees, which apply from Tuesday 13 February, will be imposed even if the combined weight of the two bags is below the allowance.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6341129.stm

People need to check more than one bag when they travel? How extraordinary. What on earth do people pack in those gargantuan suitcases you see them lugging around airports? I struggle to fill half a suitcase when I'm going away for a fortnight. Think about it. How much room do 7 XXL knickers, 7 pairs of socks, 3 or 4 shirts, a spare pair of trousers and a pair of shoes take up? What else do people need to take on holiday? If there's a bald fat old cunt standing in the check-in queue with you asking questions about "Which one's got the kitchen sink, then?" or "Running away from home?" it'll be me

The ones I pity are the middle-aged guys lining themselves up for a heart attack. They're carrying both the suitcases, the battle-axe wife is following along - carrying only her hand-bag, of course - and pursing her lips because hubby clearly is struggling. And they're just setting off on their 3-week tour of Yurrup. If he's lucky he'll have a coronary before it's over, and she can collect the life insurance. Or perhaps that's her dastardly plan all along

ANYONE BOOKED TO TRAVEL ABROAD (OR RETURN TO UK) FROM 13 FEBRUARY WITH B.A. SHOULD BE WARNED OF THESE EXTRA CHARGES.

I see that flights to NA are exempted and i wonder if in general a NA passport holder would still be allowed 2 bags intra-Europe say on a RTW.

Get out the bigger heavier bags then. And if a few handlers sprain their backs and sue them ???

The passport you hold is irrelevent.

If you are traveling on a connecting flight to North America (on BA), the limits don't apply. If you're traveling on an intra-Europe flight and not connecting to North America, they do. Any other questions?

The passport you hold is irrelevent.

If you are traveling on a connecting flight to North America (on BA), the limits don't apply. If you're traveling on an intra-Europe flight and not connecting to North America, they do. Any other questions?

Sorry, dude. US passport people get 2 bags everywhere.

That is wonderful to hear, and as it should be. The rest of you, eat shit.

Sorry, dude. US passport people get 2 bags everywhere.

Oh, that's what those blue-rinsed over-weight ladies are who trail round after their obese husbands. Didn't know polygamy was allowed in the US. :geek:

Oh, that's what those blue-rinsed over-weight ladies are who trail round after their obese husbands. Didn't know polygamy was allowed in the US. :geek:Allowed, but not legal. Don't ask, don't tell, don't you know?

The rest of you, eat shit.

Or is it SUCK EGGS, as they say?

http://upload6.postimage.org/198652/matt.jpg (http://upload6.postimage.org/198652/photo_hosting.html)

[cottmann]

......Sorry, dude. US passport people get 2 bags everywhere.

Sorry, not so. The piece baggage allowance applies only to flights when the passenger is traveling directly to or from North America, Mexico and Brazil and certain other countries in West Africa, as the BBC site mentions. Even then, the individual airline may reduce the weight per piece, as BA, Swiss and Lufthansa and other airlines have done, to 23 kg per bag in Economy (or one piece at 32 kg). A US passport holder traveling on any flight that does not start or finish in the USA or Canada (or is not traveling on one of the other routes mentioned) is generally subject to the same weight baggage allowance as everyone else, though airlines may have different policies (e.g., Gulf Air). By the way, as I understand it, there is no law or international agreement that requires air carriers to continue to favor certain routes over others in terms of free baggage allowances. Each airline establishes its own rules regarding baggage allowances (see, e.g., JAL at http://www.jal.co.jp/en/carriage/index_c009.html) and there is nothing in them that gives special favors to US passport holders everywhere.

A US passport holder traveling on any flight that does not start or finish in the USA or Canada (or is not

I've never been charged for more than one bag. As far as I am concerned I am always on a US based itinerary even if I stop in Bangkok for one week or 90 days or 6 months and buy my onward tickets here. Technically, I might be only allowed one bag but I think the gate agent DON'T KNOW. And whether it is extended by convention or courtesy of the airlines, not sure.

......Sorry, dude. US passport people get 2 bags everywhere.

Sorry, not so.

In other words, I was correct to begin with. What a surprise.

I've never been charged for more than one bagSo your previous assertion that all US passport holders are always entitled to two bags is now, apparently ...
"1 I've never been charged for more than one
2 But that's possibly because the check-in people don't know their job"

... rather than a statement of fact. (There is a third alternative - the check-in staff are intimidated by a loud-mouth Yank). Furthermore you've given no evidence that you're traveling to or from places other than North America, wherever the origin of your travel. Has your travel ever been, for example, Bangkok-London return, or Bangkok-Sydney return, and if you've been extended the same courtesy? Is your class of travel Cattle or Business (where different courtesies apply anyway?)

One of my favourite airport sights, a few years ago, was of an American who was beside himself with rage because the Thais would not accept US dollars in payment for the departure tax. The American Imperium does not run everywhere unchecked

One of my favourite airport sights, a few years ago, was of an American who was beside himself with rage because the Thais would not accept US dollars in payment for the departure tax. The American Imperium does not run everywhere unchecked

That's funny, I saw the exact same sight last time through lovely Suvarnabhumi...except that it was a skinhead Brit in head-to-toe fake soccer kit trying to use sterling.

[cottmann]

......Sorry, dude. US passport people get 2 bags everywhere.

Sorry, not so.

In other words, I was correct to begin with. What a surprise.

boygeenyus is correct, and what passport one holds has nothing to do with free baggage allowances. The piece system operates only where governments have approved it and therefore the piece system only applies:
* between USA/US Territories and all countries
* between Canada and Europe, Middle East, Southern Africa, South Asian Subcontinent, the Far East except Guam and South West Pacific, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay
* between the Far East and Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Mexico, USA
* between Guam/Saipan and Japan (including Okinawa), Hong Kong, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India.
* between Pago Pago and South West Pacific

Some governments have not approved the piece system　and therefore the free baggage allowance from such countries to USA/Canada is based on the weight system

[Brad the Impala]

In any case, BA have delayed the implementation of this policy until at least September.

In other words, I was correct to begin with

But you weren't sure of that in the first place, were you? You switched quickly to make it look like you knew all along, and now you've switched back. Not so consistent here, I would say.

Posters who suspect conspiracies whenever they can't get the better of their nemeses, a BoyGeenyarse switch hitter, those who search through the old forums in their spare time. What is SwatD coming to?

From one who has maybe gotten away with it a couple times (when the whining Brit next to me didn't), I say 555. And the gate agent in Rome did ask me if my trip ORIGINATED in the US (which it did).

Do beware the weight limitations, esp. on flights that have to curve around southern China. They weight handcarry and checked sometimes.

In any case, BA have delayed the implementation of this policy until at least September.

Not strictly true: It is also being linked to the reduced total free baggage allowance coming into force on 30 September.

"Passengers will be limited to a single 23kg bag - unless they travel to the US or other countries whose rules are based on pieces of luggage, not weight. The rules will not be fully enforced until 30 September - and those who find a single bag too unwieldy are exempt.
BA said it would handle the process of applying the extra charges "sympathetically", acknowleding that many passengers are unclear about what they have to pay. In practice, this means that people guilty of "modest infringements" of the new weight limit between now and the end of September will not be penalised.

People such as those with disabilities, the elderly or pregnant women will not be forced to pay the excess if they cannot easily handle a single 23kg bag.

Customers have previously been allowed to check in more than one bag as long as their luggage did not exceed weight restrictions. In some cases the previous weight restriction was 32kg.

A spokeswoman said the policy was being introduced to comply with new health and safety regulations designed to protect baggage handlers."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6355999.stm

In other words, I was correct to begin with

But you weren't sure of that in the first place, were you? You switched quickly to make it look like you knew all along, and now you've switched back. Not so consistent here, I would say.


I knew and was confident from the beginning. I was willing to accept the miniscule possibility I might be wrong, though, and really wasn't interested enough to google up the precise rules to find out.