Baggage limits on BA & Iberia

[suntanzi]

Hi

 

I have read the website info for British Air & Iberia Air and am still a little confused on the limitations. The BA site seems to say that the weight limit is 70# to & from the US but the Iberia site says they will allow the 23kg (51 pound) limit for connection BA flights. That 51 pound limit is shown by BA for the Europe routes. Since we are flying from US to London and then to Barcelona, I am not sure if different rules apply for each route.

 

Do any of you know which rules apply?

[psygist]

I don't know about BA and Iberia, but Delta has told me they will allow the higher baggage weight limit of 70# for the domestic portion (US) of my international flight to Barcelona. Hopefully, you will have the same higher limit.

[MaseratiCruiser]

I am also in a bit of a turmoil about this issue. I will be flying American Airlines to Paris and then Iberia to Barcelona. I specifically asked American about the baggage weight limits and they said that if my connections followed all the way to Barcelona, I would retain the 70lb per bag weight limit per person (with 2 bags pp allowed) on both airlines.

 

My problem being, is that instead of a connection in Paris, I am doing a stopover for two days in Paris. Which means that when I board Iberia airlines for a flight to Barcelona, I will now only be allowed "one" 40lb bag per person! That means that my wife and I will have to pack one bag each leaving the US, not weighing over 40lb! Is 80lb's worth of luggage total even doable for a 3 week Med trip? Or I might have to find a way of shipping some clothing over to Barcelona for the cruise. Does anyone know if the cruise lines will except packages, or if packages could be mailed to a hotel in Barcelona in which you plan to stay at?

 

Didn't mean to override your question Suntanzi, just relate to it. I think you need to call BA to get a straight answer on the luggage weight issue. My agent at American did not even know the answer to my question, until she put me on hold for awhile while placing some phone calls.

[Aussie Gal]

I have mentioned this before but leaving Australia we are only allowed one bag each and that must not weigh more than 441bs (20Kg). This year we are cruising for 14 days and then having another 16 days trip around Europe on our own. We leave in a few days time and we will not be overweight and yet we will also have all the correct formal gear (my husband brings his dinner suit - tuxedo) as well as a jacket for semi formal nights. He carries a suit pack on board and the flight attendant hangs that up immediately.

 

We will be having 3 different seasons, summer, autummn and Paris temperatures will be what call here as winter, around 14C.

 

I have learnt the art of mixing and matching plus not taking every pair of shoe that I own as they are the accessory that makes up the weight. I usually take four pairs and find I have plenty. You can easily do it and not appear in the same clothes every day. In fact I have typed up what I can wear each day and if I followed it I would have a different outfit for 40 days without including my formal wear.

 

We have been travelling to Europe for the past 11 years and know what we need to take and what is not required.

 

Jennie.

[maadimom]

Cruiseforfood,

You will be restricted to the 20kg weight limit. (44lbs). On internal european flights, the excess baggage charge is 1.4% of the cost of a one-way flight. I am dealing with this issue myself as I am booked with Swiss Air, but it is an Iberia flight. I got a figure of around $12/kilo when I did our flight from Geneva. Don't know for sure if that's right, but sounds like it. Haven't had excess charges here in Europe for some time, but last time I think that was about it. It is very expensive. You can't overload your hand carry either as they are weight restricted as well and yes they do sometimes weigh them. Have never flown Iberia so don't know how strict they are, but am about to find out.

[Kiwifruit]

Hey Guys,

 

If your flights orignate in North America and all legs of your journey are ticketed together then you will retain the two piece baggage allowance throughout your journey regardless of whether you break your journey in Paris or elsewhere in Europe. The problem of different weight restrictions only arises if you have separately ticketed the internal european flights in which case the 20kg allowance will apply to those sectors. I'm surprised neither your travel agent nor airline could advise you correctly as it is a commonly asked question, the answer to which in fact is printed on most airline tickets.

 

Aussie Gal, good to see a fellow antipodean on board, one way of beating the system from Australia is to get a ticket to Europe which transits North America in one direction, that way you can avail yourself of the more generous two piece baggage allowance. Great if you anticpate doing a lot of shopping ;-)

[suntanzi]

Hey Guys,

 

If your flights orignate in North America and all legs of your journey are ticketed together then you will retain the two piece baggage allowance throughout your journey regardless of whether you break your journey in Paris or elsewhere in Europe. The problem of different weight restrictions only arises if you have separately ticketed the internal european flights in which case the 20kg allowance will apply to those sectors. I'm surprised neither your travel agent nor airline could advise you correctly as it is a commonly asked question, the answer to which in fact is printed on most airline tickets.

thanks! The information is printed but it says 1 thing on the Iberia ticket and another on the BA, that's why I was confused.

[bec2629]

Suntanzi,

While Kiwifruit is correct about the single ticket issue, don't trust that you have a single or "thru" ticket. I would request something in writing stating that your specific ticket is a thru ticket, don't take the airlines word for it.

We had the same itinerary as yours and I was told on many seperate occasions that since our family of 4 had one reservation number (couldn't upgrade with miles because of this)we definately had one thru ticket and was entitled to the higher weight limit. Since the flight originated in the U.S. we were not to worry, there would be no problem :rolleyes: I even purchased World Traveler Plus seats to ensure the higher weight limit, an extra $2500!!

I too was confused by the information on this site, as well as Iberia's and British Airway's, so I made several lengthly phonecalls to both airlines, repeatedly getting the same INCORRECT information.

Our flight this past July was LAX to London on BA, then London to Barcelona on Iberia. Our outbound flight was uneventful, our luggage went all the way through. Three weeks later, our Barcelona back to London leg, on Iberia (they don't have a WT+ section), was a separate ticket afterall. We did have baggage restrictions, even though the BA ticket said 70lb and the Iberia didn't specify. :mad: Not one person I spoke to at either airline told me anything other than we had a thru ticket....end result... while they held my son's boarding pass hostage, we were forced to go to a separate counter to pay E500 on our credit card for overweight baggage and return with a receipt.. we almost missed the flight because the whole process took so long :eek:

I even had the printout from BA's website stating the baggage info along with the names of the airline rep's that I had spoken to by phone. Didn't matter, Iberia was in charge, even though I paid BA for the flight and my contract was with them. The Iberia supervisor was surprised and upset to read the printout from BA, that stated "regardless of stopover or carrier" the baggage limit would be the higher allowance. Not true. He was sympathetic and asked me to write a letter to BA disputing the charge and to include his name. He did give us a bit of a break, but it still cost us a fortune.

The airports in Europe are very strict about weight now. I understand that Heathrow and Barcelona are the worst.

 

I am now in a dispute with BA about this. I wish I would have taken the advice of another poster on this website and just went with the lower limit.

Oh well, hindsight!!

 

Becky

[suntanzi]

Suntanzi,

While Kiwifruit is correct about the single ticket issue, don't trust that you have a single or "thru" ticket. I would request something in writing stating that your specific ticket is a thru ticket, don't take the airlines word for it.

...I wish I would have taken the advice of another poster on this website and just went with the lower limit.

Oh well, hindsight!!

Becky

and THAT is exactly what I am worried about! The airlines are incredibly vague when I talk to them, I am going to keep working on it and get names of employees who give me info so that if I run into problems they can go to the source. I want to say the lower limit is 51 pounds for sure from what I read but I better check again and go buy some featherweight luggage. THANK YOU!!!!

[nyc211]

I am flying Iberia through to Amsterdam, stopping for a short trip and then back home. I was told by Iberia that I would be held to the 44 lbs (20 kilos) per passenger limit. They quoted me $10/kilo additional. I guess I'll be paying.

[bec2629]

I think the biggest problem is the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing......different airlines...different countries :rolleyes:

 

I guess you just need to decide to either pack light , or take your chances and pack the way the airline tells you to :p , but be ready to pay $7 per lb.:eek: if they decide to charge you.

 

Good Luck,

Becky

 

BTW, I heard from someone that had excess baggage, that the counter person was very nice and let them slide, maybe it wasn't 4 suitcases and over 100lbs like ours was, though :o

[Kiwifruit]

The best way of checking is to refer to the airline ticket itself. For each sector it should state what the baggage limit is and will say either 20kgs (44lbs) or 2 pcs (which can be up to 35kgs each). If each sector states that you are allowed 2pcs then I can't see how Iberia can insist otherwise as its an express term of the contract you have entered into with the airlines. If the ticket is a single ticket and doesn't allow 2 pieces for all sectors take it back to your airline or travel agent and insist they reissue it. If they are having difficulties suggest to them that they read the IATA ticketing manual.

 

I have travelled to europe numerous times via Nth America so as to avail myself of the more generous baggage allowance and have never ecountered any problems with internal flights in Europe including those operated by Iberia but then again as we know from the French sometimes the Europeans just like to make their own rules and ignore international laws ;-). It occured to me Suntanzi that if you are flying straight through to BCN (via LHR) then your baggage should be checked right through to BCN in any event and any problem would only arise when you come to check in on the return journey. Have you considered using BA for your internal flights in Europe? Having a single airline carry you right through may help but at the end of the day regardless of airline just insist that your ticket allows for 2pcs and you should be ok.

[maadimom]

A lot of the BA flights to Spain are now operated by Iberia. Be sure to check this out as well before you book. Also. For Iberia internal flights, be aware that there is nothing provided on board without a fee. Even water. You can bring your own onboard with no problem.

[suntanzi]

Have you considered using BA for your internal flights in Europe? Having a single airline carry you right through may help but at the end of the day regardless of airline just insist that your ticket allows for 2pcs and you should be ok.

good info, thanks! BA put me on Iberia when I booked. I can't get BA to respond to me but Iberia did:

 

With regards to your inquiry we wish to inform you that the baggage

allowance on flights from/to USA is on the piece concept. This

means that each passenger can check for all classes of service: 2

pieces / max weight per piece of 32 kgs. Economy class: max sum

of length, width, and height for one of the pieces is 158 cms (62") and

for the second 140 cms(55"). For cabin baggage/carry-on , passengers

are allowed to one piece of hand baggage not exceeding 115 cms ,

(45") length, width, and height and 10 kgs weight. This piece must fit

in the closed overhead rack or under the passenger's seat.

in addition to the above allowances-

- a small size hand bag or purse.

- a coat

- a walking stick or standard umbrella.

- a small camera and/or pair of binoculars.

- a pair of crutches.

- a personal computer.

 

Thank you for your interest in Iberia.

Sincerely,

 

Informacion.Iberia.com

[Globaliser]

If you hold a single ticket issued by BA for all sectors of your North America->London->Spain journey, then the piece count limit (2 pieces, each no more than 32 kg, plus dimension limits) applies to all sectors of your journey, as this is the higher allowance. To get this, go to the FAQ section of BA's website and search for Answer ID 2313.

 

However, that answer equally clearly states:-

Please note: The information above only applies to journeys which are issued on a through ticket(i.e. one ticket).

 

If you hold separate tickets for any multi journey, the baggage allowance stated on each ticket will apply for that flight sector.

This may be the source of some of the confusion.

 

If you want to avoid some of the risk, it may be worth noting that all BA and Iberia flights between London and Spain now carry the codes of both airlines. My advice would be to make sure you book yourself on a flight operated by BA, not one operated by Iberia. You'll get a higher level of service, too - for example, Iberia now charge for refreshments.

 

One other thing that may help is higher tier frequent flyer status with a oneworld airline - that is something that often gets small excesses overlooked.

 

bec2629 - I'm sorry to hear that you had a problem with this after all. Who did you get your air tickets from? Do they have anything to offer as to why you ended up with two separate tickets rather than a single (through) ticket? If you were told that you had a single ticket, then it definitely sounds like you have a valid complaint with someone.