Gazza

Hey all,

Does anyone know the policy of BMI & Singapore airlines if your bags are a few kilos over. My allowance is 40kg + 7 kg hand luggage, but after weighing everything It's about 43kg + 7kg.
Would they generally turn a blind eye or hit me with a charge?

Cheers,

Gaz

BKate

Hi Gaz,

I flew back from Brisbane last week with Singapore and I had 36kg in economy and they said nothing! The flight wasn't very full that may have had something to do with it and also depends who you get. I've flown with them several times to oz in the past 2 years and am always over never had to pay a penny.

Good Luck

Ceri

Phone up Singapore airlines in the UK (phone early morning as later on in the day the lines are always busy. The line can be ringing for an hour before someone picks it up later on in the day. If you phone about ten to 9, 9 am they open... But you should get someone immediately just before 9 am)

They should tell you that you have 10 kilo waiver on top of your allowance for all class of seats/tickets - i.e. you should be able to get away with 50 kilos if your allowance is 40 K(not sure if this figure includes hand luggage too in that 10 kilo waiver weight they allow ... so check on that one)

When I went back home for a month earlier this year, on my return flight back to Aus my suitcases were over the limit (by 9 kilos or so I thought). I phoned sing airlines to see how much they charged per kilo for excess baggage (expensive by the way.. can't remember the exact cost, but it was a stupid price). They told me that they have a 10 kilo wavier, so I thought I was ok.

I got to airport and I was about 15 or 16 kilo’s over (my scales in my mums house must have been wrong). The Hitler who weighed my cases at the check in would not bend the rules, because I had more than 10 kilos over my waiver. So I went to the seats they have, to empty some of my stuff out to give to mum-in-law to take home with her.

So there I was in the middle of the airport opening suitcases to take some things out, my smalls flying everywhere for all and sundry to gawp at , piles of Jeans... which are lot cheaper in the UK to buy, along with bags of monster munch, various food items , tins, cartons of bisto curry sauce...lol , and an aussie bloke sitting on one of the seats there thinking it was all very hilarious .. glad he thought I was there just to entertain him.

He was moaning/explaining away to my mum-in-law ( who was with me in the airport and she couldn't understand why I had bought all this stupid stuff to take back to Aus) that he knows the problem of getting decent stuff in Aus. ( true!) ..And there was something wrong with his passport according to the check in Hitler girl . That’s why he was sitting there to the side as well

Anyway, the lady behind one of the other check in counters, the first class counter ( I wasn't flying 1st class) , must have felt sorry for me .. I was looking very flustered at having to pull out my stuff from the suitcases. She called me over to her counter and checked them in for me.. I got away with it. The original lady who served me and who would not bend, apparently it was because it was her first day on the job and she was out to impress... bl**dy Hitler of a woman!
She was a stickler for the rules and wouldn't allow me with 6 or so kilos over the extra 10 kilo waiver ( I had about about 16k's or so over the original weight in all lol .. I can laugh at it now. But it wasn't funny at the time... My bottom lip was trembling at the thought of leaving some of my lovely stuff behind..lol) .

Anyway, it seems that their policy there is a 10 kilo wavier. Phone up sing airlines and they will tell you this too about the 10 kilo waiver they have. Don’t take the risk of going over the 10 kilo waiver though like I did, or you may end up in the middle of the airport emptying your suitcases.

I was lucky in the end thanks to a kind woman behind the other counter. And don't think that you'll get away with not weighing your hand luggage either. For the first time in my life my holdall was weighed too! (They never usually weigh my holdall/hand luggage. I usually get away with heavy hand luggage) .My hand luggage came to something like 10 or 11 kilo's , which they won't allow for safety reasons... i.e. just in case it falls out of the overhead storage on someone's head ( by the way I got away with this too. I just took it on the plane with me. and the xray guys said nothing when I went through that section. Well I wasn't going to leave my felinfoel, db dragon ale, my bottle of welsh blackberry liqueur , my bars of chocolate, or my other tins of laverbread that I had stuffed in my holdall when I originally packed, because there was too much in my suitcase was I )

There is a 10 kilo waiver policy with sing airlines and your luggage being just 3 k over weight is not going to be a prob, it falls into the waiver ( that's why people get away with being just a few kilos over) -Phone sing airlines ( and not your ticket agent) to double check.. But they told me they have this 10 kilo waiver when I phoned.
cheers