Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Some of you are already aware of this.But for all of those who aren't..............................

Last night I took my Mum to Manchester airport for her flight to Sydney.
She is off for good so therefore, on a one way ticket.

She went to the check in desk, but her luggage was over the allowance, so they sent her to the Malaysia Airways help desk.
The woman behind the counter said that her luggage weighed in at 41 kilos. 20 kilos is the normal alllowance but she was given an extra 10 kilos as a goodwill gesture. :) She then proceeded to add up the extra 11 kilos and gave my Mum a bill of £350.00!!!!!!!!!!!!! I kid you not. £30+ for every kilo over the allowance.
Fortunately we were there to take her extra bag home with us.

Just make sure you weigh all your bags before you leave for the airport ;) :scared:


The Bread Knife

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Good God. That is high. Glad you were there to help. Some airlines allow upto 40K for emmigrating people. Does Malaysian airlines only allow 30k.

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Yes, Malaysian Airways only allow 30 Kilos now.
They have stopped the Migrant allowance apparently!!!
As we found out last night.

The Bread Knife

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Interesting...

We've booked with Malaysian and we were quoted 20 kilos. My own personal guess is that if you are over that by a bit then they won't trouble you, and if you are saying they allowed you 30 kilos then that's quite generous as it's another 1/3 of the weight. I guess the problem is trying to send what you don't need with the shippers and leave what you do, but I'm thinking that most people end up with more stuff than they realise when they eventually leave !!!

Definitely a good job you were with your Mum. I will be weighing mine before I leave and then watching the wife to make sure she doesn't try to sneek things in ;)

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

I am a very frequent flier in the back of the flying tubes and even though 20 Kg is the standard allowance (outside of US), I routinely carry 24 - 30 Kg without ever an issue.
The rule for baggage handlers is that they will not lift a case >32 Kg.
Anything greater than 32 Kg in one case (no matter what your allowance is ) will cause problems.
Trust me on this one!

Andrew

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

This is my Quantas experience.

We originally booked a return flight to Perth as going on holiday while validating and then returning to tie up loose ends.
Well 3 months ago decided that all loose ends have been tied up and we may aswell go and stay on the flight already booked.
Phone up Quantas and advise them of this where they tell me that we will have to pay to transfer the ticket over to a migrant ticket and then we may not be able to get the flight we where on ????
The nice lady advised that we should just stay on what we are on and then let Quantas know when we get there and cancel the return leg.
Ok i thought, then realised we would like the 40Kg allowance for migration to which she advised NO !! you can't have it unless you change your ticket.
So we have 20Kg each ... what a joke !
We now have to send 2 suitcases as Extra Baggage 3 days before for £160 and then have to take the suitcases we have
they will charge us £16 for every Kilo at the airport that they feel its over.

Im Not impressed and this has put me off using Quantas ever again.

Not impressed with there customer service .

S

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

I flew back to the UK in March last year and was careful just to take my 20kg limit. On returning to Australia, after abit of shopping etc, my weight was 32kg. I rang the airline (Singapore) who said even though it said 20kg on your ticket, they allow you 30kg but just don't advertise it. Otherwise they would be well over weight wise.
;)

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Should have left the kitchen sink at home! :D

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Anyone hoping for the 40kg migrant allowance must get it in writing from the airline - don't just turn up and hope for the best. And if possible ring the airline service desk at the airport just before you fly and get them to check your PNR - this is your personal booking record which will confirm if they've allowed the 40kg.
Qantas have always insisted on only granting it with their migrant fare - which is approx £200 more than normal. Don't believe any agents who tell you otherwise! :)

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Hi Polly,

You're right about this, coz I've already checked with Singapore Airlines and they stated they require migrating passangers to confirm in writing their visa details prior to booking flights.
I now have it confirmed in writing from them that they will give my hubby and son 40kg's instead of the usual 20kg's ready for when I book flights with them. They also stated this is only agreed for those with permenant residency visa's, not temporary.
Anyone hoping for extra baggage allowance, check it out first with the airline before you book!!!

Shell

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Surprised no one else hasn't already posted this so I guess I will! :p

Fly to Oz via the US and you get 64kg per person (standard). Plus, flying 'tother way round the globe should cut down on the jet lag you suffer.

With that in mind, can anyone post back to say why every man and his dog seems to fly to Oz over Europe/Asia? Armed with the above information, it doesn't really make sense - migration fare or otherwise.

Oh and the cost of flying via the states is the same if not cheaper (I've been quoted £480 per person via Air NZ).

Cheers,

Rob

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

I’m sorry. I’ve been wondering if I should reply to this thread because it has become apparent to me in the past that people can take offence quite easily...

But!

If I understand correctly you and your Mother turned up at the airport and just expected her to be allowed to take over 40kg’s on the plane because she ‘had the right’ as somebody on a one way migrant ticket.

Did it not occur to you, or your Mother, to check directly with the airline that taking more than double the normal allowance was going to be OK?

I apologise if I have misunderstood but it appears to me that you were a little bit unrealistic in you expectations. Surely it makes sense to find out for definite what the situation is and get it confirmed etc.

You should be grateful that they gave you so much extra for free and only charged for half of your extra 100%.

I don’t intend offence; I was just slightly taken aback by the whole surprised tone of your post.

Cheers.

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

The US route has been posted before, many times, and people do go that way. The problems with it are - you have to enter the USA, so you need to meet visa waiver conditions, or get a full visa, and go through customs/immigration with all your luggage. Imagine that with a tribe of kids, no thanks!
Some people feel its worthwhile, others - like me - didn't want the hassle.O like the Asian airports en route, and I like the ease of luggage in one end - then settled till Aus. Also, there is a matter of personal airline preference, lots of those which are popular and reasonably priced - like Singapore and Cathay - go via Asia.

And a note of caution - 64 kg, yes, but GET IT CONFIRMED IN WRITING!!! Its not automatic. And no one item can weigh more than 32 kg, owing to health and safety - baggage handlers won't touch them.

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Hi Rob,

As Polly has said, alot of people are aware that flying via US gives you 64kg's, however, there have also been many people who have done that route saying that it is common to get stuck in customs/immigration for 8-9 hours and as I have a 2 year old, the flight itself is long enough, without that as well! :scared:

It's a persnal choice, but no way do I wanna risk it - despite the fab luggage allowance.

Shell

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

I've never been stuck in a US immigration queue for more than 1 hour. I'm definitely going that way round - as I want to stop off in San Fran, Hawaii and Fiji on the way through as well as benefit from the extra allowance.

Never heard of having to get baggage allowance confirmed though - I understood checked in baggage was max. 2 x 32 kg, and cabin baggage was a max of 18kg. Just did a quick check on some airline websites, and they do state 2 pieces up to 70 pounds (32kg) each.

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

I can only imagine that people who get stuck in US immigration queue for 8-9 hours are either osama bin laden look-a-likes or just bloody unlucky!!

My father-in-law is in the merchant navy and regularly flys via the US and as long as you are in 'transit' i.e. not going out of the airport, you will have a max 2 hour wait and you can get through immigration relatively easy under the Visa Waiver programme. AnywayI for one will welcome the chance to get off the plane to stretch my legs!!

All personal choice though I guess!

Rob

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

We flew Singapore Air Sydney to London March last year one way ticket.

We were one of the first to check in and had 72kg between us. We apologised to the lady on the desk and made a joke out of it saying we were going back to the UK to live reluctantly. I think she took pity on us for that, even though it was a fib. We got it all through no extra cost.

We had packed the cases in smaller amounts for ease of handling by us and ground staff. Did this help or was it just a nice lady at check in? The flight was jammed to the rafters so it wasn't like a half full run.

Murphy's Law :confused: Bit like the Murphy's Law for upgrade to Business Class.

Merlot :)

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

We flew with Emirates in December last year. When we confirmed our flights i asked what our baggage allowance would and they said that as we had one way tickets they assume you will not be returnng and the baggae allowance per person would be 40kg.

I left it a day or so and rang back to confirm this and got the name of the customer adviser just in case when we got to the airport and found this to be incorrect. Thankfully :D they were telling the truth, weight was not a problem we were well under the 40kg per person.

As someone said the only stipulation they have is that not any one bag should weigh over 31kg.

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

You are quite right and we should have thought about this before we left.
I just wanted other people to be aware and not make the same mistake she made.
She knew she might be slightly over the allowance and was willing to pay, obviously not that much!!!


The Bread Knife

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Hmmm. I have been pulled apart in US Immigration several times. My personal record is just 4 hours and stopped 3 times for "additional security" when trying to board the plane. The funniest one was as I stepped foot onto the plane and I thought my ordeal was over, a security guard standing at the doorway hauled me back off again!!
Our conversations were getting quite heated by now as I fully appreciate security but wished the seperate groups of security officials would communicate with each other as it was 3 seperate groups that questionned me.
Look like Osama? 30s, very white, married, clean shaven, business professional, well-educated, suit, 3 young kids (not with me nor wife), British passport, never been to Middle-East. They told me it was random and I was unlucky. Incidentally, it seemed to be random that only non-US passport holders were selected.
In all seriousness, they told me that is the typical profile of a terrorist.
As far as I am concerned, the US airport security are extremely incompetent and I would avoid like the plague.

PS: Not all airlines go through the US and most travel agents will be affiliated to certain airlines and if they don't go through the US, they won't be offered. This applies to web site searches too.

Andrew

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

There is another alternative. Fly to Vancouver with Air Canada, and then they fly to Sydney via Honolulu. One of the two flights daily does not take on any passengers at Honolulu (or let anyone leave) and hence you apparently do not need to go through US Customs.

Even if you take the other flight and need to go through US Customs & Immigration, you can do this in Vancouver at the US pre-clearance facility. Transit passengers do not normally have to clear Canadian customs and immigration.

Make sure the extra baggage allowance also applies to your UK domestic flight connection.

Jeremy

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Not everyone wants to wait for 2 hours in a queue. And I am not aware they give any 'fast-track' for transit passengers - many people miss their connections for this reason.

Nobody argues with the right of the US to police its borders, but it would be nice if it was resourced properly (ie with enough security checkpoints and personnel to deal with the numbers coming through). A 2 hour wait at immigration is never acceptable.

Jeremy

Re: Baggage allowance...............BEWARE!!!!!
 

Not entirley true, depends on your passport (and visas contained within).