United's new reduced baggage weigth/size & fees

I've had bags not make it several times and they have always delivered them to me promptly.

Yes, it's happened to me twice in the last 15 or 20 years, and each time I remember thinking "wow, I'd have paid them to collect my bags and deliver them to me, and here they are doing it for free, with an apology!"

Yes, it's happened to me twice in the last 15 or 20 years, and each time I remember thinking "wow, I'd have paid them to collect my bags and deliver them to me, and here they are doing it for free, with an apology!"

Yeah same here. Qantas once paid me $100 because my bag was 24 hours late. Funny thing is that it wasn't their fault in the end - Midwest Airlines didn't transfer the bag at LAX like they should have. I had a fun night in Sydney on that $100 though!

United is making things difficult? By enforcing their regs? Few if any planes have overhead bins large enough to accommodate everyone's total baggage.

Something that's overlooked is weight. A section of bins can be loaded with hundreds or even a few thousand pounds of luggage. There have been several accidents where bins unexpectedly tore loose from the fuselage (Asiana accident at SFO being the most recent). In each case (not including Asiana yet which is still under investigation) NTSB found that bins were loaded far beyond their design limit and has recommended the FAA enforce the weight limit (usually about 40-50 pounds per bin). I wouldn't be surprised if carry-on weight starts to be enforced.

The European airlines tend to already enforce this with low carry on weight allowances.

I just flew United round trip LGA-BOI, I was told my Father was terminal so this was last minute travel (day before bought the ticket) but I digress. My DW and I decided to take a large 62" bag as we probably needed Funeral cloths as well as clothes for at least a week (plan to do laundry if more).

I never ever check bags so this was a first since paying for 1st bag started. I weighed the bag on the home scale at 48 lbs.

Curbside checkin at LGA they did not weigh the bag at least when I was there and no problem getting the bag.

Coming home there is no curbside checkin at Boise so we went to the agent placed the bag on the scale that showed 50.1 lbs the agent said don't worry printed the tag and our boarding passes.

As we walked away, he is calling me back "Sir Sir" the scale now read 54.2 lbs and he asked me to take items out. So doing the old on the floor in front of everyone pulling my dirty underwear out put it back on the scale leaving the bag open we come in at 47lb. He goes "you can put some back in". I put back some pants and a jacket and we are at 50 lb and off the bag goes on the belt.

I don't think I will be checking bags anytime soon (there was a funeral)

So how do these scales work? Why the two different readings? How should you put the bag on the scale? On the side or the wheels make any difference?

Thanks

BTW,

Out of the four legs only leg from DEN-LGA was the only time they were using the carry-on sizer at the gate.

@Brighton- Sorry about your loss. It sounds like the checkin agent was being helpful so you avoided excess weight fees. But the scale should have been very consistent. BTW, most home scales are very inaccurate...especially bathroom scales at lower weights.

About a year ago, people from the Weights & Measures Department with jurisdiction in ATL went to the airport. They found big errors in Delta's scales and fined them. (Maybe others too, but DL was what the news covered). DL was disputing the fine saying the laws didn't apply to airlines. Since customers are charged according to the reading on the scale, it's used in commerce and they have jurisdiction. I didn't hear the outcome.

Maybe file a complaint with the W&M folks in Boise.

I just flew United round trip LGA-BOI, I was told my Father was terminal so this was last minute travel (day before bought the ticket) but I digress. My DW and I decided to take a large 62" bag as we probably needed Funeral cloths as well as clothes for at least a week (plan to do laundry if more).

I never ever check bags so this was a first since paying for 1st bag started. I weighed the bag on the home scale at 48 lbs.

Curbside checkin at LGA they did not weigh the bag at least when I was there and no problem getting the bag.

Coming home there is no curbside checkin at Boise so we went to the agent placed the bag on the scale that showed 50.1 lbs the agent said don't worry printed the tag and our boarding passes.

As we walked away, he is calling me back "Sir Sir" the scale now read 54.2 lbs and he asked me to take items out. So doing the old on the floor in front of everyone pulling my dirty underwear out put it back on the scale leaving the bag open we come in at 47lb. He goes "you can put some back in". I put back some pants and a jacket and we are at 50 lb and off the bag goes on the belt.

I don't think I will be checking bags anytime soon (there was a funeral)

So how do these scales work? Why the two different readings? How should you put the bag on the scale? On the side or the wheels make any difference?

 

Thanks

 

BTW,

Out of the four legs only leg from DEN-LGA was the only time they were using the carry-on sizer at the gate.

Shortly after luggage limits we in place on a return trip we also had a piece of luggage overweight at the airport and like you we had to open our luggage in the middle of the airport and make adjustments. At the start of our trip we also weighted our luggage on our home scale and it was under weight. The problem is it is pretty hard to pack exactly the same way on the return trip if packing multiple luggage or carry on and checked luggage. It is easy to add more weight to one bag or if you had any purchases could be a problem too. Since that trip I purchased a hand held digital luggage scale and so far it has worked out well for us. I find them pretty accurate but I always give myself a 2 pounds cushion just in case. I look at the weight when checking in at the airport and my luggage scale readings have been inline with the airport scale outside of a few ounces.

There are many news articles about airline luggage scales not giving accurate readings.

Shak

My condolences, too, Brighton Line.

So how do these scales work? Why the two different readings? How should you put the bag on the scale? On the side or the wheels make any difference?

But the scale should have been very consistent. BTW, most home scales are very inaccurate...especially bathroom scales at lower weights.

 

About a year ago, people from the Weights & Measures Department with jurisdiction in ATL went to the airport. They found big errors in Delta's scales and fined them. (Maybe others too, but DL was what the news covered). DL was disputing the fine saying the laws didn't apply to airlines. Since customers are charged according to the reading on the scale, it's used in commerce and they have jurisdiction. I didn't hear the outcome.

There are many news articles about airline luggage scales not giving accurate readings.

Fortunately, a domestic scale turned out to be reasonably accurate. It told me 35 kg, so I took out a bag of books (easy weight to shed) to get it down to 32 kg. When I got to the airport, I first tried the bag on a set of scales at a desk that wasn't being used. It read 31.8 kg - which was closer than I would have liked to have planned it, but this was good enough for me. I then took my bags to be wrapped, and the scale at the desk at which I actually checked-in then read 32.0 kg for the big bag. Phew! I wouldn't have enjoyed having to move stuff between the bags after they'd been wrapped.

One thing I did notice, though was that every scale had a certificate from a testing company. I thought that was something that it would be useful (in today's environment) to implement everywhere.

We checked a bag on the way back from LAX and it was 52 pounds. The ticket agent didn't say a word. My husband noticed and quickly placed the other bag (a box of corks) on the scale at the same time and the weight between them was about 60 pounds, so it's possible that is why she didn't say anything.