Confused over luggage allowance?

Hi, sorry but i'm confused over luggage allowance.

I am flying to Barbados and my tickets state that the airline say that i can take 23 kg of luggage per suitcase however I have also read on some of my documentation that my baggage shouldn't weigh more than 20Kg per suitcase (to assist the P&O baggage handlers) otherwise my luggage may be delayed or worse I may have to remove items ? I'm not sure if the 20kg per bag is only applicable for those going from Southampton where they can take as many bags as they can carry?

I so do not want to get to the airport and have the embarrassing situation of moving items of clothing :(

Can you advise?

Hi... it can appear confusing because some of the generic advice is written regarding embarkation at Southampton. For the fly cruise to Barbados you are allowed 23kg which can be all in one case. You are of course also allowed your 5kg hand luggage. The advice regarding one case not exceeding 20kg is for joining at Southampton where some people arrive with a lot more baggage and they ask you to limit each case to 20kg to make it easier for their local baggage handlers.

A word of caution though... we have done several Caribbean fly cruises and the last few they have been very strict with the weights of the cases and we have seen several people having to move stuff around....others might say they have never seen a problem but I would rather not take the chance!!

Thank you - I will ensure that my bags do not exceed the 23kg allowance I do not want to have that embarrassing situation it would be my worst nightmare !!!!

Thanks again for confirming

Although Thomson have been getting a bit keener on hand luggage and more recently we've had it weighed at check-in (bit unpredictable though) so perhaps just bear that in mind if it's a Thomson flight.

 

 

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I thought they always weighed cases at checkin.

 

David.

Could I also add that the hand luggage size is very small. Some people obviously take larger bags but there will come a time when they are checked on.

Although Thomson have been getting a bit keener on hand luggage and more recently we've had it weighed at check-in (bit unpredictable though) so perhaps just bear that in mind if it's a Thomson flight.

 

 

/QUOTE]

 

I thought they always weighed cases at checkin.

 

David.

 

Not necessarily the hand luggage. Yes they do weigh the cases which you check in for the hold but not so long ago it seemed as though you could get away with hand luggage bags which clearly exceeded the size dimensions and they weren't weighed either.

 

Then they started asking you to hold up your hand baggage and seemingly made a visual judgement on the size (and given that an idea that the weight wouldn't be too great) but more recently they have also been weighing our hand luggage too although it's not consistent - whether that's from airport to airport, shift to shift or down to individual check-in staff I've not been able to work out. It doesn't appear to follow a logical pattern.

 

But just in case they are weighing hand luggage as well as cases, to avoid the possibility of xs charges, we've been making sure our hand luggage is within the limits too.

You could always wear a Rufus Roo which is wearable luggage or a luggage jacket.

Basically a coat that has 6 compartments or deep pockets built into it.

You dont even need to put it on just carry it over your arm like you would any other jacket in a warm airport.

Last year our hand luggage (2 small wheely cabin size bags) was checked for size and weight at Manchester, we had been tipped off that it would be, so we took a ruck sack with the laptop in and my handbag and spread out the heavier items between the 4 bags then once through check-in re packed in the wheely cases.

We also got a couple of bottles of spirits in DF and popped them in the wheely cases as well to minimise the amount we had to carry.

Hope this helps but I am sure they will start weighing laptop bags and handbags soon or say you cannot have more than one item of hand luggage which they have never done so far when I have had carry on hand luggage.

Last year our hand luggage (2 small wheely cabin size bags) was checked for size and weight at Manchester, we had been tipped off that it would be, so we took a ruck sack with the laptop in and my handbag and spread out the heavier items between the 4 bags then once through check-in re packed in the wheely cases.

We also got a couple of bottles of spirits in DF and popped them in the wheely cases as well to minimise the amount we had to carry.

 

Hope this helps but I am sure they will start weighing laptop bags and handbags soon or say you cannot have more than one item of hand luggage which they have never done so far when I have had carry on hand luggage.

It's a bit of a mine field isn't it? It's not only because of differing allocations between carriers but whether or not the 'rules' are applied. We were once behind someone at check - in who was being told she only had a 20kg hold allowance for a cruise flight when in fact it was an enhanced allowance of 23Kg. Since then I've always carried the documentation with me which clearly states our entitlement. (This was down to poor knowledge of check-in staff at that airport.)

For our last fly cruise on a BA scheduled flight it specifically gave us a hand baggage allowance and said that we could take a small handbag or laptop in addition to the main piece of hand baggage.

I've just checked our Flight Notification for tthe Caribbean for which we have 23 +5Kg on a Thomson charter. It specifically quotes hand baggage maximum size and that only one piece of hand luggage is permitted. (Thomson will say that if you have a handbag or laptop that it should be able to be put inside the single piece of hand baggage). We have travelled with these conditions before and have seen folks checking in with over sized hand baggage and sometimes also a very large handbag in addition - and they've got away with it.

But as I previously said more recently they do seem to be tightening up - but it's a bit of a lottery. In checking this out I spotted a report on a travel site from someone who was incensed that she was treated very badly at Corfu(?) airport where €133 xs baggage charge was demanded because of the hand luggage xs. Her complaint was that she had been able to fly out with the same weight (because she'd been lucky and it hadn't been weighed). But as others pointed out if she had complied with the regulations she wouldn't have had a problem. In fact she could have been charged both ways.

To be on the safe side it's best to check carefully what each flight/carrier states for your flight. Ours is different from Thomson's standard allocation on their website because presumably as a charter flight P&O have negotiated the terms for their cruise passengers.

We have found that we were only allowed one piece of hand luggage when on both Thomson and Thomas Cook P&O charters. One change earlier this year was that you can now purchase extra luggage weight if you wish. We were on Thomas Cook and by memory I had to phone TC something like 5 days before travelling - it may have been less - and I was able to purchase extra weight. I think I purchased 15kg which certainly made life easier. If you go onto the P&O website under "Help" and put in luggage allowance you should find the details. I printed off the email from TC confirming the extra weight purchased but when I got to check-in it was already on the computer.

We haven't had our hand luggage weighed but we have been asked to show it. I think you don't really know day to day what the check in staff are going to demand. There was someone on our table who had been on a BA flight - they booked late and all the charter flights had gone - and they had to pay quite a substantial amount of money as their cases were overweight.

I've been on plenty of flights where people have oversized hand luggage etc and got away with it but I've also seen people being charged for it. On an EasyJet flight I saw one lady putting her case in the frame they use for easily measuring case sizes. It was over size and when she lifted her case the frame came with it. I don't know how that one finished.

For our last flight on Thomson we bought newbags for hand luggage from Ebay. Actually not that easy to get as they are surprisingly small.

Thomas Cook at Manchester airport are very strict with hand luggage they seem to weight it all and it's only one piece though you can also carry another one onto the flight if it is a purchase from inside the airport .This year we have travelled with 4 different airlines and hand luggage has been weighed 3times Monarch just looked at it .You can purchase extra allowance which I will do if I need to when I get ready for packing .

As this thread is quite long it surprises me that nobody has made mention of the weight allowance for the return journey?

Could this be because when you travel home your luggage is collected from outside the cabin as usual and taken ashore, placed in aircraft containers and not seen again until you arrive back in the UK.

Only once have we been asked to enter the sheds at Barbados to identify our luggage and that was because of a new security system at the time but once again no mention of weight allowance.

The moral therefore must be "leave plenty of room for the items you buy while on holiday".

As this thread is quite long it surprises me that nobody has made mention of the weight allowance for the return journey?

Could this be because when you travel home your luggage is collected from outside the cabin as usual and taken ashore, placed in aircraft containers and not seen again until you arrive back in the UK.

Only once have we been asked to enter the sheds at Barbados to identify our luggage and that was because of a new security system at the time but once again no mention of weight allowance.

The moral therefore must be "leave plenty of room for the items you buy while on holiday".

Yes good idea to leave a margin for anything you buy whilst away. But you raise an interesting point - are the cases weighed after collection from outside your cabin? Surely they wouldn't have time to weigh all the cases, or do they? Has anyone ever been picked up for over-weight luggage on the return journey when you don't have to check-in your luggage yourself as at Barbados?

Sorry that was the point I was making. They are not weighed for the return journey as far as I know. We were to our limit going out on all occasions and added a considerable amount for the return journey and never had a problem.

I think the system is not sophisticated enough to weigh each piece and then put in a place to bill someone at check in for the return leg so you do get away with any additional weight over your allowance.

Then if you disagreed with the new weight figure they would not be able to retrieve your case from the container.

Though I am sure they may look at it in future.

Maybe we are in the minority but usually our cases weigh less on the return sector, not from the USA but always from the Caribbean/Med where we tend not to buy local items.

Also once youve used all your sun tan cream, after sun etc you tend to shed a few pounds.

Sorry that was the point I was making. They are not weighed for the return journey as far as I know. We were to our limit going out on all occasions and added a considerable amount for the return journey and never had a problem.

Hmm........... interesting. I'll bear that in mind. ;)

I think the system is not sophisticated enough to weigh each piece and then put in a place to bill someone at check in for the return leg so you do get away with any additional weight over your allowance.

 

Then if you disagreed with the new weight figure they would not be able to retrieve your case from the container.

 

Though I am sure they may look at it in future.

 

 

 

Yes the logistics would be difficult............ but as you say it's likely to be a loop hole they will seek to plug.

As the weight of the luggage dictates the amount of fuel they take on, which in turn dictates the cost of the flight, I would like to think that the luggage is weighed at some point prior to being loaded; whether en masse or individually. What I think most passengers forget is that human beings pick each and every case up; and these baggage handlers are experienced enough to know when a case is seriously over limit. At this point, they may isolate the case and contact the owner, which could prove highly inconvenient.

There is no way that a baggage handler is going to isolate a suitcase because he / she believes it is too heavy. When returning from Barbados the crews task is to get the luggage off the ship as quickly as possible (usually in the early hours while we are sleeping) and get ready for the new passengers.

This luggage is then again placed as quickly as possible in the aircraft containers ready for transport to the airport by local handlers. The staff are time restrained. In a real world yes if time permits then each case would be inspected and weighed but not normally in these circumstances. (I used to work on the ships)