Another bag weight fail

[peakhour]

Boxing day travel with wife and two kids.

You know what's coming...

So I foolishly pack only one bag for the four of us as we have a small hire car at the other end.

Get to bag drop and it's 25kg.

As VA WP I've never hit the weight limit before so didn't give it a 2nd thought.

I know the rules are 23kg, but I had no other bag to transfer anything into.

Between SG wife, the kids and me we have what about 200kg available of which we used 25.

Carry on we had a laptop, small handbag and small scooter carry on with the kids activities. Doing the right thing and not filling the cabin just cause I only had one check in bag.

So as per the rules I had to open my bag on the check in hall for the world to see, swapping the kids activities for toiletries to meet the weight limit.

Now I have two restless kids about to board with nothing to do, so that we could meet the pointless exercise set by the very unfriendly check agent.

 

[james4321]

Boxing day travel with wife and two kids.

You know what's coming...

So I foolishly pack only one bag for the four of us as we have a small hire car at the other end.

Get to bag drop and it's 25kg.

As VA WP I've never hit the weight limit before so didn't give it a 2nd thought.

I know the rules are 23kg, but I had no other bag to transfer anything into.

Between SG wife, the kids and me we have what about 200kg available of which we used 25.

Carry on we had a laptop, small handbag and small scooter carry on with the kids activities. Doing the right thing and not filling the cabin just cause I only had one check in bag.

So as per the rules I had to open my bag on the check in hall for the world to see, swapping the kids activities for toiletries to meet the weight limit.

Now I have two restless kids about to board with nothing to do, so that we could meet the pointless exercise set by the very unfriendly check agent.

Dont blame the check in staff - the rules about weight limits on checked luggage are OHS limitations.
And the rules apply to everyone, irrespective of status.

 

[Pleb Status]

You know what's coming...

What rule/benefit did VA 'FAIL' to enforce/provide?

 

[mannej]

Dont blame the check in staff - the rules about weight limits on checked luggage are OHS limitations.
And the rules apply to everyone, irrespective of status.

The OSH/WHS limitation doesn't come into play here, as it is below the 32kg maximum. However this is a grievance about the piece based system and the overweight charge more than anything, but I do agree with not blaming the check-in staff as they are probably under instructions to apply the 23kg limit and charge for anything over that.

 

[Richie312]

Boxing day travel with wife and two kids.

You know what's coming...

So I foolishly pack only one bag for the four of us as we have a small hire car at the other end.

Get to bag drop and it's 25kg.

As VA WP I've never hit the weight limit before so didn't give it a 2nd thought.

I know the rules are 23kg, but I had no other bag to transfer anything into.

Between SG wife, the kids and me we have what about 200kg available of which we used 25.

Carry on we had a laptop, small handbag and small scooter carry on with the kids activities. Doing the right thing and not filling the cabin just cause I only had one check in bag.

So as per the rules I had to open my bag on the check in hall for the world to see, swapping the kids activities for toiletries to meet the weight limit.

Now I have two restless kids about to board with nothing to do, so that we could meet the pointless exercise set by the very unfriendly check agent.

As a wp I would have expected you to know much better about the rules then the common practice of people not flying as often you, staff just doing their job

 

[samas]

you reminded me I forgot to upload this bag weight fail... This was in the new Perth T1 Domestic a few weeks back.

 

[Deleted member]

I'm more confused as to why you have a "SMALL" car at the other end for 4 people !

 

[Fiches Mouser]

View attachment 60930

you reminded me I forgot to upload this bag weight fail... This was in the new Perth T1 Domestic a few weeks back.

Wow! Impressed you carried that on. I would have been checking for sure.

 

[anat0l]

Depending on what the kids' activities were, you might have been able to keep them with you rather than swap them into the bag, as some items are regarded as "personal items", of which one (VA policy) or more can be carried on, irrespective of the carry-on allowance. For example, if your kids had a colouring book, that could be carried for free on board in addition to whatever baggage allowance they are allowed on board.

Keeping spare bags - plastic, calico or foldable - in your checked bag, handbag or backpack (etc.) is useful for a situation like this. I always keep a few plastic bags in whatever main bag has my clothes, as that's where I put my dirty clothes as I travel.

Did the kids have anything to carry on after being forced to check in their activities? What activities did they have? You might have been able to hold onto both; remember the kids get up to 7 kg each by themselves as well, unless they are infants (less than 2 years old), by which then you also get to take on a reasonable amount of material to tends to their needs (nappies, formula, etc... I'd assume toys shouldn't be unreasonable).


Anyway, at least you were able to continue on your flight. I assume your post is purely in the spirit of venting, not accusatory.

 

[N860CR]

I can see how stupid it is that a "high value" customer is required to go through such a pointless repacking exercise for absolutely no value or convenience to the company.

As pointed out, the OHS limit is 32kg so this was just a matter of Virgin being difficult. And no, it doesn't matter what the "rules" say - part of being a high value customer should mean you're entitled to a bit of common sense

 

[phily]

So I foolishly pack only one bag for the four of us ....

Yup, I'd agree.

 

[marki]

I can see how stupid it is that a "high value" customer is required to go through such a pointless repacking exercise for absolutely no value or convenience to the company.

As pointed out, the OHS limit is 32kg so this was just a matter of Virgin being difficult. And no, it doesn't matter what the "rules" say - part of being a high value customer should mean you're entitled to a bit of common sense

I would have to agree with that statement
Common sense is under rated were rules and regulations are entwined ......to choke you!

TBH sometimes my little paranoid-self says that they are out to get me. I am happy when there not, that gold platinum card should have some pull.

 

[PLANT]

I'm assuming it was gold you transporting.... 24kg in backpack!
IPads were built for kids

 

[bullerdude]

They changed the policy the other year so that the 32kg bag allowance is a business class benefit and reduced platinum members to 23kg bags.

 

[Pleb Status]

I can see how stupid it is that a "high value" customer is required to go through such a pointless repacking exercise for absolutely no value or convenience to the company.

As pointed out, the OHS limit is 32kg so this was just a matter of Virgin being difficult. And no, it doesn't matter what the "rules" say - part of being a high value customer should mean you're entitled to a bit of common sense

Without the strict enforcement of the rules, you get issues like the QF priority boarding problem, where the culprits know that the rules will not be enforced and will always want the rules to be 'bent' for them.

Also, in the VA world with family pooling, being a VA WP does not necessarily mean you are a 'high value' customer.

I weighed my hand luggage (for the first time in a long time) at home a week ago proir to travelling on 3K as I knew that they are strict on the 7kg limit. No issues therefore arose when I was asked to weigh my hand luggage at check in.

 

[basso]

Without the strict enforcement of the rules, you get issues like the QF priority boarding problem, where the culprits know that the rules will not be enforced and will always want the rules to be 'bent' for them.

Funny how this board can manage to have cough sessions about rules not being enforced, while at the same time haveing cough sessions about rule being enforced. (As for the case at hand, I actually wonder if the check-in staff have any discretion - or they are just faced with a computer says no situation when someone fronts up with 24kg)

 

[Kolo]

I do think that if CI staff are not allowed discretion then the rules should be changed, to allow the 23kg per passenger to be able to be averaged over all, providing of course no bag is over 32kg.

 

[straitman]

I have to say that the title of the thread is appropriate IMHO.

It was an individual fail rather than an airline fail though.

Aviation is an industry that is entrenched in regulations and for anyone to expect a casual drop of the rules at any given time is dreaming.

If anyone is convinced a particular regulation is wrong then the time to argue the case is not when dealing with an airline representative who is merely doing their job.

Easy answer, as someone pointed out, is to always carry a small rolled up bag that can be expanded and used independently if needed.

 

[samas]

I'm assuming it was gold you transporting.... 24kg in backpack!

Wow! Impressed you carried that on. I would have been checking for sure.

I should have captioned that pic to state that my backpack was only ~6kg. The scales were broken. However I stopped reporting issues to airline staff as nothing ever seemed to be done about them.