loidy

I thought i would write about our recent experinece with emirates...we emigrated on 20th september and flew with emirates from manchester.I was all organised and sent them a letter with proof of visas etc, requesting the 40kg per person baggage allowance...they were really prompt and rang back a few days later and said that this was approved and all we had to do was ring our agents and ask them to put it on the flight details so we did, all sorted. we got to the airport on the evening of our flight, some of our mates with us to see us off, and we were told that we were not allowed the 40kg each!!! never mind that we pleaded explaining it was all our lives in those suitcases, they were really unsympathetic and cold and kept repeating there was nothing they could do, it wasn't on their computer and that we could either buy new tickets with the 40kg allowance on or pay 750 pound for excess baggage, we were gutted. after 40 mins of opening all our luggage up at check in and having to decide what we could afford to leave behind we finally checked in our 20kg each...so much for our calm farewell to our friends, we were totally stressed out and upset
we have had no luck in complaining, they have refused to send our remaining luggage out and are trying to blame our travel agents which is bollocks as they did exactly what was required......so thought i would let you all know so that if you are flying with emirates, get it in writing from head office for the extra allowance or even better fly with a company who know what they are doing, we will never fly with them again and neither will any of our friends and family ( i do hold a grudge!!), anyway, hope this info helps somebody, xx loidy

wmoore

It's up to the booking agent to request the extra baggage allowance at the time of making the booking. The only way Emirates (or any other airline) will let you have the extra allowance is if it's printed on your ticket.

Sorry you had such a hard time with it but airlines have a delicate balance in making sure there is enough fuel to carry the weight of passengers and baggage. If every passenger turned up expecting double the baggage, the plane would run out of fuel before reaching its destination.

biggy

we didnt have ours printed on our tickets but we did have email confirmation from Singapore re extra allowance.....and we needed it...we ogt MISS PMT on book in at Manchester lol

loidy

our booking agents advised us to write directly to emirates, which i did, and emirates got in touch with us to say that this was APPROVED. so in my book, that makes emirates the guilty party, our agents did everything that they were requested to do....loidy
ps: the flight was only half full anyway on both legs!

loidy

i think we must have had the same woman!!!!!!!!!!!!

biggy

bugger poor u she was a witch just like shazza's MIL lol

wmoore

We flew with Emirates too. I phoned them before booking tickets and they advised me to make sure the agents gave the instruction when booking, so it would be printed on the ticket. At the very least you need something in writing.

Three Legs

We booked our flights with Singapore Airlines last week using Trailfinders (Who by the way are absolutely tree-men-dosis) and we had to forward copies of our relevant passport pages, ie photo and visas.

Trailfinders book the seats with Singapore on the basis we are going to provide evidence of our one way journey.

Ironically I've just received a phone call from Trailfinders around half an hour ago confirming they have our passport copies and we are green for go re: the 40kg per person.

Trailfinders and Singapore ...

The winning combination.



Three Legs

Flying Banana

I'm not taking sides here, however I've worked in the airline industry for 15 years and it is a very common occurence to find that agents don't enter these details correctly or 'forget' (i'm being charitable here and won't use the word lazy) to update your details on the booking system.

From what you put above Emirates were happy to allow you the 40kg but your agents were responsible for updating your details with this fact. You phoned your agents who I am assuming didn't send you written confirmation or amended tickets/booking details. I'd say both Emirates and yourselves did what was necessary and it looks far more likely a lazy or incompetent agent made the f**k up.

With regards then being point blank refused the extra at check in, Emirates are renowned for being very strict on baggage limits, if you've ever seen how much someone returning to Dubai can try and sneak on board you would probably understand why. It's not the check in agent's fault, if the computer details don't have the increased baggage allowance on it then all she/he is doing is applying the airline's rules fairly, the same as she/he would have done with all pax. It doesn't help you I know, especially at such a stressful time as emigrating.

Unfortunately the airlines are in a 'can't win' situation on occasions like these. If they apply their rules equally to everyone, the one or two people who find themselves in your situation will rip the airline to shreds for being 'heartless b**tards' but if they let one or two people bend the rules you watch suddenly how many extra bits of luggage appear, which for the reasons below isn't an option either.

With regards the plane being only half full on both legs, the number of seats free has no bearing on whether the plane is 'full' or not. Pretty much every large airline will be part of a cargo group. They will usually have a lot more cargo than can fit onboard a full (with pax and bags) aircraft ready to go, when they know how many pax are booked they can then add freight (which is where they make their money) to the maximum takeoff weight of the aircraft meaning the empty seats upstairs aren't costing them money. You then still need to factor in stuff like weather (hot day - aircraft needs to be lighter to get in the air, bad weather forecast - more fuel in case a diversion is called for etc etc) then the amount of fuel needed to get to where it's going, and trust me on say a Dubai to Melbourne flight they need every single drop they can squeeze in. In fact it is such a fine calculation, if the plane is full they will often reduce drinking water in the tanks to 75% capacity, only load just enough meals onboard for those that are actually flying - no spare ones etc etc. Now imagine, lets say in a half full aeroplane 150 pax, everyone turns up with just 10 kg over, that's a ton and a half extra weight to carry so they can take that much less fuel but the extra weight increases fuel consumption.

Please don't take this post the wrong way or as a dig/having a go, just was trying to explain that I am sure it was nothing personal by Emirates (and no I don't work for them lol). I am far more inclined to believe that your agents are the ones who messed this up and as is usally the case are frantically avoiding taking any of the blame knowing you are now 12500miles away and can do nowt about it.
Just for those flying OUT of Australia, Emirates and some other airlines doing the longer non stop sectors are now weighing handluggage as well, this means when they say 5kg they mean in total, that includes your laptop/bag, rucksack, bag of food etc, anything over will get put in the hold or have to be left behind so be aware.

biggy

ask them to send confirmation in writing mate...just to b sure

OzTennis

Yeah, I tend to agree that the fault seems to lie elsewhere. The moral is to get everything in writing and printed on the ticket before you get to the airport. As in many things in this forum we learn through the mistakes of others so thanks for posting your unfortunate experiences.

We had an 'experience' with BA once. On flying back to the UK from Tulla (Mel) my sister in law gave us a lovely iced Christmas cake in a tin at the airport which I put into my hand luggage. 'Sorry Sir, hand luggage is too heavy'. No amount of pleading, pointing out we were just a few lbs over, our 2 bags combined were just on the limit, it's Christmas etc would work. Sister-in-law had to take the cake home!

I've also had amusing experiences on domestic flights in the UK where a bag of tennis racquets couldn't go into the cabin - everyone has heard of terrorists taking over a plane with forehands, backhands and serves of course. Yep, offensive weapon like a knife to some airlines.

OzTennis

lynnj

I'd have to agree with flying banana, its defo an agent error. Get on to your agent and ask them to forward you a copy of the printout of the booking showing that there was a confirmed 40kg baggage allowance, chances are they can't do it. The only reason for them not to produce the print out is if there is something on there which proves them liable.

Chances are the agent forgot to do it, forgot to end the booking when they did it which means the details wouldnt have reached the airline, or just plain didn't know how to!

In the end you will still probably have to pay to ship the baggage yourselves as i'm sure you need the stuff faster than you will be able to sort the matter of who pays the shipping out.

Lynn

Three Legs

I'm on to it ...

Thanks for the heads up.

rossifumi

Sorry to hear about this, tis sheite!

Biggy, sorry but I have the monopoly on MIL witches.

Rich

chilliman

I'm flying with singapore on the 22nd November, I have checked with their reservations team twice - both times they said provided you have the visa in your passport no problem. Should I get something in writing then??