Sorry to quibble with you again, BUT, BA did not give you double allowance, they do not give double allowance for migrants. You were travelling in Club World & were therefore entitled to 3 bags at 23kg each - that has been policy since February. In fact you could've gotten away with 3 bags at 32kg each as BA have relaxed the 23kg per bag limit until Nov 2008.

Re. booking hotels as part of the Stopover scheme, please do compare the prices with any deals on the hotel websites and hotel discount booking sites. We're passing through Singapore next month and I know the scheme is often recommended on here, but I checked a few of the prices and they were no cheaper.

Might be worth checking this site too: http://www.wego.com/

Taxes on flights in and out of Australia are scandalous

iainandsam, have a search in the Australia and Far East forums for threads on hotels, as this is often discussed.

WOW I am very surprised i have never known an agent be cheaper than booking direct. you learn something new every day . Good luck with your move
Raven

We're travelling with Singapore Airlines at the end of August and have a two day stop-over in Singapore. I asked about the 40kg luggage allowance when I originally booked the ticket and they said it was fine.

I called again last week to reconfirm and they said again that it's fine as long as we have a visa for indefinite stay and a one way ticket. They've mentioned they'd update our records if I sent the booking reference and also a copy of our visas, which I scanned in and emailed to them yesterday. But, they said it would be fine to sort out at the airport when checking in so I'm probably just being a little over-cautious with wanting it in writing.

Hope that helps.

Pardon me, but did you make the booking? Stop being so pedantic - you are like a dog with a bone!
Do you get some perverse pleasure in trying to put other's down?
I may have been wrong about the allowance but I am correct about you my dear....you are indeed a prize 'Humpty Dumpty'!

Now, will someone please give the man a cupie doll so we can all move on!

Stop being so childish. Do you get some perverse pleasure in giving other people duff advice? The point is, you've already stated that 'several' airlines give double baggage allowance for migrants, now including BA it seems. If other people go and book BA based on your advice they may get a nasty surprise. If you can't stand someone challenging your opinions don't bother posting on a public forum.

I don't want to get involved in your little tiff but it would seem to me that the fact that an increased allowance being due to the passenger flying Clubworld is very relevant.

Now perhaps we could get back to being helpful.

From what I have read on this and other expat web sites there is clearly ambiguity as to which airlines do give double baggage allowance and my original comment was well intentioned and based on our personal experience.

For what it's worth, I was only trying to make people aware of what happened to us so that other people would double check and not get landed with a hefty bill if they had a stopover.

Your comments to me on this and the other thread have been belligerent and patronising quite frankly and I am sure anyone reading my original comments would realise that I was not trying to give duff advice at all.

I think it is very likely that there are some people on this site who may be put off contributing after reading some of your comments, so maybe you should just accept that other people have had different experiences and let them share without jumping all over them.

Sorry, you made this something personal in reponse to my comment above. In what way was it patronising? You made reference to BA's baggage policy and I stated some facts. You neglected to point out that in order to get the increased baggage allowance you travelled in business class, I'd say that was pretty relevant.

I really don't think there is much ambiguity about this double baggage thing. There is one airline where you can safely walk into a travel agents, or book any old fare on-line & get the double baggage allowance, provided you meet the visa requirements - that is Singapore Airlines. Other airlines may offer the allowance if you pay a special fare, or book through a specific reseller, like a migration organisation, or even at their whim let you away with at the airport - but SIA is the only one who has a clear policy - that's why they are mentioned over & over again on here.

Just to throw a spanner in the works, SIA may have a "clear policy" but it is discretionary and doesn't appear to apply if you are moving from Singapore, even if you have hundreds of thousands of FF miles (go figure that one ), so it's best not to assume they do it from every country. Any country, come to that.


Now I'm out of here.

Best of luck with your move, ianandsam.

That's a fair point....I think it is SIA UK policy....and people do sometimes have problems at Changi if they have a stopover and the bags haven't been checked through.

Okay, since you will not let this go. My reference was to the comments that you made on this and the other thread about baggage allowance. Although I tried to give an honest account of our personal experience you have consistently attempted to rubbish my contribution to the debate and I take exception to that. You come over as being a know it all, therefore my quip about you being a 'Humpty Dumpty' was correct. It is a colloquialism.

For those who were not privy to those comments here is a link to that thread.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551220

I think if you take a look at this, you will see from your tone and according to this definition, you were indeed patronising.

Thesaurus Legend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adj. 1. patronising - (used of behavior or attitude) characteristic of those who treat others with condescension
arch, condescending, patronizing
superior - of or characteristic of high rank or importance; "a superior ruler"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

Thanks for linking to the previous thread. I see a similar outcome, you throwing your toys out of the pram when others question the advice you are giving. FWIW, in that thread I was only pointing out the reason why you got stung for excess baggage, I think that reason is helpful for other people to know. If Qantas made a mistake as you say then surely you could've claimed this money back off them when you arrived in Australia?

PS...sorry to the OP for this thread hijacking!

Yes, get it in writing before you leave....producing an email or letter at SIN airport usually does the trick, providing all your flights are booked on the same ticket.

I have not thrown my toys out of the pram at all, in fact you have completely hijacked this debate by trying to sound like you are the World's Greatest Authority on airline travel! On the last thread it was clear that you were a dog with a bone and I did not want to get into a protracted dialogue with you.

I took exception, as I am sure other's will have, to the following bitchy comment which you put in your very first comment to me on the other thread:

This was uncalled for and a bit of a rant quite frankly. You just stopped short of saying 'Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah! And you have the temerity to call me childish! We are all entitled to question policy and procedures and give detail of our own experiences if we feel it may be helpful to other emigrants.

Finally and ironically though in your last paragraph on here you seem to have only reiterated what my advice was all along, namely that anyone making a booking should get their baggage allowance written down before they depart and not leave it till they get to the gate.

That is all I suggested in the first place!

Apologies to the OP....if I were you, I would go by boat!

I'm more than happy to admit that comment was perhaps a bit abrupt. It actually wasn't aimed squarely at you, but came at a time when post after post on other threads of 'it's not fair' and '' from people not eligible for Singapore Airlines double baggage freebie...and that is what it is, something for nothing, a generous gesture on their part, for which they control access to it by visa type. SA may very well remove this offer one day then we can all stop debating it, people will just have to accept that if they must bring 40kg luggage then they have to pay for it.

I have done exactly what you did before, flew into Aus on BA with higher baggage allowance and got onto a Qantas domestic flight booked seperately....I was lucky enough to get away with it, you didn't. However if I had got stung I wouldn't be criticising Qantas for 'raining on my parade' or calling them 'bloody minded'. Much as I'm no Qantas fan they were only enforcing the contract they had with you. Yes, I know, you thought you had a verbal agreement.

Of course your advice on getting it in writing is valid, yes it's good advice but some of the others things you have said are not, IM MY OPINION. I'm not sure why you take such exception to someone questionning your advice - 'World Greatest Authority.....blah blah'. The reason people post on here is to get advice from others who have done it all before, your contibution is of course as valid as the next persons but like any post on a public forum others are allowed to disagree!