Glapper

Just a word of warning for everyone wanting to use Emirates to fly to Oz when emigrating. We have been told today that they no longer give you the extra baggage allowance. They did give you 40kg of luggage per person but have now withdrawn it.

We have already booked our flight over with them after they confirmed that we would be getting the extra allowance but I'm having a right fight with them just to honour what they confirmed only 2 weeks ago.

memewest

WHAT!!???

NEVER.....

That would certainly change who peeps travel with in the future!!!

Pollyana

Not much choice now though if you want the 40kgs, as this cuts it down to just Singapore that do it for free. Some of the others will do it on a special migrant fare, which costs extra.
Its basic economics from the point of view of the airline. Years ago when fewer people knew about the allowance it didn't cost them so much in lost revenue. Nowadays freight space is too valuable to give it up for free, so I'm not surprised that they are stopping as well, and I forsee the day when Singapore may well follow suit.

hitchcock71

i think singapore will do in the nxt few weeks

bcworld

I'm not so sure.....people will get used to the fact that they travel with 20kgs or pay their way.

Emirates are great for people flying from Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow etc who don't want to go near Heathrow.

And when you think about the number of people Emirates cram onto their planes I'm not surprised that baggage space/weight is at a premium.

I agree with Polly too, I think Singapore will not be too far behind in withdrawing this perk.

Pollyana

I'm quite surprised that any of them have lasted this long offering it. Even 5 years back when I came over it was becoming rarer. In the days before mass exchange of info on forums like this, little perks like 40kgs of luggage were golden nuggets that you only got to hear about on the grapevine. Didn't cause much loss of revenue to the airlines because so few people knew about it. Now the information is more out there in the public domain it must cost a fortune in lost freight space - think of a family of 5, all with 40kgs each instead of 20, thats a lot of revenue after all.

I agree on the choice of airline too - seasoned travellers take a lot of other things into account besides the cost of the luggage, and personally I would air freight the extra over if necessary, while travelling on whichever airline ticked all the other boxes for me.

Evelin

not so sure about that. When I came out, 11 years ago, I knew about it. BUT then, only a fraction of todays migrants moved to Australia. You are right, economics is the name of the game. However, couldn't the Australian government contribute towards it? They are the ones who can't get enough of migrants. Alone through the migration process this country makes quite a bit of money and employs a lot of people. For many migrants the high costs of immigration is a strain on their pocket especially if you are not coming from an English speaking country and every piece of paper has to be translated.

Maybe BE could file a petition? I have successfully made my contribution in regard to the 457 Visa unfair pay regulation a couple of years ago and the law has been changed.

I imagine it is very difficult migrating with children and havingwith just 20kg luggage allowance.

bcworld

I understand what you are saying, and although the government encourages people to come....no one is forced to. I think you would find it very difficult to argue that people who chose to migrate half way around the world should be entitled to free excess baggage allowance. You can also bet that if the Aus government were to pay, they would be charged top whack by the airlines....the costs would be significant to the taxpayer. 20kg of excess baggage would certainly cost the same as all of the expenses associated with my visa!

It's a commercial decision for the airline alone - they don't offer it out of the goodness of their hearts. They do so I'd imagine to try and secure a loyal customer who will fly them again on the kanagaroo route. Current economics is probably dictating that the costs to them outweigh the benefits.

Pollyana

Can't see the taxpayers of AUstralia being too keen to pay for migrants to bring extra luggage in, either. As you say no-one is forced to come, and its our choice what we bring with us. I was lucky enough to get the allowance, but coming on a Pros Marriage Visa I really had to plead with Cathay to get it. There's no way I would've expected Australia to pay for it though, and if Cathay had said no then I would've just accepted it was my own choice to take extra and therefore have to pay for it.

Bottom line after all is that its always been a privilege, never a right.

hollykimalan

I wonder if you will get the 40 Kg if you 'book' your flights with
the IOM people?
HKA
x

hitchcock71

not everyone gets this golden ticket of extra allowence



if you are on a 457 for example and might be here for 4yrs no matter what its a no you dont get the extra

SuzyandAsh

There is a website www.movingplanet.com.au (you need to sign up as member). Emirates were giving discounts on flights FROM UK to Australia with the 40kg luggage allowance if you are emigrating with valid visa (assume this is still the case!) Discounts on flights aren't allowed from Australia to UK as far as I know and there are restrictions on dates when discounts are allowed. EG, we couldnt get any discount when we are flying back to Perth in Jan 09. Hope this is some use

BATS666

....and only a few weeks ago Emirates were offering 50kgs until the end of the year? Seems a major turnaround !

hollykimalan

I spoke to the sales desk at Glasgow Airport for Emirates and they said if we
go in person (or talk to them direct on the 'phone) and buy our tickets from them we could negotiate stuff like the 40kg thingy.
From memory and I think it worked out about £100 more expensive for 5 of us to book in person (rather than a search engine on the 'net) but we would have fully flexible tickets and better luggage allowance.
I will let you know how we get on....dont hold your breath as the house aint sold yet!
HKA

Centurion

There is no incentive for an airline to offer it on the UK > Australian sectors anyway. They are busy routes as is that are nearly full.

A migrant is not what an airline would consider to be frequent flyer business. The trip is normally one way and any repeat business to return "home" isn't really going to be due to loyalty for getting a migrant fare in the past, but purely based on the fare and/or the quality of service of a particular airline at the time of booking.

I'm surprised Singapore airlines even offer it to be honest at all. They are more about quality at the expense of not being the cheapest. And they know it.