New QF INT bag policy effective for tickets issued from 02 May

[FrankC]

Interesting that the email says for travel on or after 2 May 2012, the new baggage policy listed above will apply,
whereas the website says For tickets issued on or after 2 May 2012

 

[serfty]

Interesting that the email says for travel on or after 2 May 2012, the new baggage policy listed above will apply,
whereas the website says For tickets issued on or after 2 May 2012

I think Qantas believe they can do this as it's an enhancement (via increased total luggage weight allowance¹) for statused and QP members.

¹ Even the number of pieces may be limited going forward.

 

[medhead]

Can still take the complimentary stroller (1 piece up to 10kg) when travelling with infants.

Qantas Baggage | Checked Baggage Allowance

Thanks for that, i got confused with DJ.


Sent from the Throne

 

[blu]

Could be a big problem for most Y pax with ski luggage (eg: QF21 & 22 in Dec-Feb; the annual exodus heading to Niseko and elsewhere).
Hope they find out before arriving at the checkin counter.

Snowboarders can (& do now) pack everything into a large snowboard bag with wheels (so not such a problem).

 

[k_sheep]

Sorry I'm going to whinge at this system.

I don't think I've ever had a bag that weighed more than 23kg - and that was after 6 months trekking around Europe, and I didn't send a single thing home!! I make it a point to make sure I can always carry my bag up and down long staircases easily. But I often back multiple small bags. A while back coming from SE Asia I could check a case of kickapoo joy juice (a soft drink) because my main bag only weighed 8kg or so.

I don't even own a bag big enough to physically fit 32kg worth of junk in it!!

 

[clifford]

Sorry I'm going to whinge at this system.

I don't think I've ever had a bag that weighed more than 23kg - and that was after 6 months trekking around Europe, and I didn't send a single thing home!! I make it a point to make sure I can always carry my bag up and down long staircases easily. But I often back multiple small bags. A while back coming from SE Asia I could check a case of kickapoo joy juice (a soft drink) because my main bag only weighed 8kg or so.

I don't even own a bag big enough to physically fit 32kg worth of junk in it!!

A bit like like you Ms Sheep, if I can't carry it on it doesn't go.

The checkin coughes in Australia keep us all less than honest, don't they?

I'm QF gold, but this "enhancement" means nothing to me.

 

[simongr]

A bit like like you Ms Sheep, if I can't carry it on it doesn't go.

If you only take carry on then this doesn't affect you at all.

I agree for k_sheep this is the issue - if people want to take smaller items then they are not as fortunate...

 

[dfcatch]

Could be a big problem for most Y pax with ski luggage (eg: QF21 & 22 in Dec-Feb; the annual exodus heading to Niseko and elsewhere).
Hope they find out before arriving at the checkin counter.

Snowboarders can (& do now) pack everything into a large snowboard bag with wheels (so not such a problem).

From extensive experience I strongly disagree with you.

This system is FANTASTIC for skiing/snowboarding.

The weight system is the mortal enemy of snowsports travelers.

If you had no status - you were limited to a measly 20/23kg or some minuscule amount. If you needed more kilograms you were required to take a second mortgage per kilogram. At least now you can take the bags you need at a reasonable rate. And if you have status - no problem at all.

Fact - hardware will easily take more than 23kg.

Fact - multiple boots will take more than 23kg without even trying.

Fact - you still need to take clothing - which whilst lighter (relatively), still takes another bag - so instead you pack/line/protect/pad-out your two existing bags.

My standard kit every season for the States used to be 3 bags plus 2 carry-on. Thanks to QP extra bag allowance at the time - I never had to pay excess baggage.

Had I been subject to the weight system - I would be bankrupt.

 

[RSD]

Would someone like to guess my allowances on an upcoming trip as I'm fed up with getting different answers -

PER - SIN - LHR all on QF.
a 36 hour stopover then LHR - CAI on BA
and the reverse a month later but with just a few hours stopover in London this time.
The whole trip is on one booking/reference number.

...and on this trip I'm going to be using every one of those 96kg that I'm hoping for.

So far I've been told -

• 96kg all the way there and back as I'm a QF WP
• 96kg to London then whatever BA allow (I'm in economy)
• 96kg all the way to Cairo and then whatever BA allow on the way back

And I thought that IATA changed things to simplify it for everyone!

 

[Awesom Andy]

Interesting that the email says for travel on or after 2 May 2012, the new baggage policy listed above will apply,
whereas the website says For tickets issued on or after 2 May 2012

For international flights, the changes apply to tickets issued on or after 2 May.
For domestic business class flights, the changes apply to travel on or after 2 May.

 

[anat0l]

Would someone like to guess my allowances on an upcoming trip as I'm fed up with getting different answers -

PER - SIN - LHR all on QF.
a 36 hour stopover then LHR - CAI on BA
and the reverse a month later but with just a few hours stopover in London this time.
The whole trip is on one booking/reference number.

...and on this trip I'm going to be using every one of those 96kg that I'm hoping for.

So far I've been told -

• 96kg all the way there and back as I'm a QF WP
• 96kg to London then whatever BA allow (I'm in economy)
• 96kg all the way to Cairo and then whatever BA allow on the way back

And I thought that IATA changed things to simplify it for everyone!

For your outbound trip (PER-SIN-LHR // LHR-CAI), I would imagine it would be:

• For PER-SIN-LHR, all on QF, you get your allowance as per being a QF WP, which is 96 kg (or more accurately, 3 x 32 kg bags).
• For LHR-CAI, on BA, you get the allowance afforded to you as a BA Euro Traveller / World Traveller, which is 1 x 23 kg bag.

This is my guess; the outbound to LHR is obvious, but I suspect that LHR-CAI will not be covered under your nominal QF allowance because:

• You can't check through your bags from PER all the way to CAI (36 hours stopover - no one will do that).
• Your LHR-CAI flight is probably on a separate flight segment / journey, which means the baggage allowances are evaluated all over again. (It would be unlikely that you can have a 36 hour stopover where all of those flights from PER to CAI can be covered under a single, marketable flight segment).

As for your return, CAI-LHR-SIN-PER, I'd presume that this entire mess is on one flight segment (quite possible, since the QF booking engine should conceivably send you back to LON to make sure you can connect on any possible flight going back to PER).

The naive guess for your return is that BA (or the already foreshadowing incompetent contracted agent they use at CAI) will force you to stick to the BA allowance of 1 x 23 kg bag. However, if you are checking all the way to PER (i.e. one flight segment and this is possible), then the IATA rules actually state that the allowance of the MSC will apply, which in this case is QF. (Since this flight crosses IATA sub-areas, the first carrier to exit a sub-area is the MSC; in this case, QF is the first carrier to exit the Euro/ME/Africa sub-area, whereas BA only flies within a sub-area).

With your QF baggage allowance, it will naturally be 96 kg (or 3 x 32 kg) going home.

Problem is if the agents at CAI don't believe you and won't process you through. Unless you print out the relevant IATA Resolution for this procedure, along with the QF allowances, then you might have some hope. I have my healthy level of doubts, however, whether the BA agents in CAI (which I will guess to be contracted and not BA employed) will actually be competent enough to realise all of this (if they are even competent to do their jobs at all, period, and that is if they don't need to be bribed in the first place).

 

[RSD]

For your outbound trip (PER-SIN-LHR // LHR-CAI), I would imagine it would be:

• For PER-SIN-LHR, all on QF, you get your allowance as per being a QF WP, which is 96 kg (or more accurately, 3 x 32 kg bags).
• For LHR-CAI, on BA, you get the allowance afforded to you as a BA Euro Traveller / World Traveller, which is 1 x 23 kg bag.

This is my guess; the outbound to LHR is obvious, but I suspect that LHR-CAI will not be covered under your nominal QF allowance because:

• You can't check through your bags from PER all the way to CAI (36 hours stopover - no one will do that).
• Your LHR-CAI flight is probably on a separate flight segment / journey, which means the baggage allowances are evaluated all over again. (It would be unlikely that you can have a 36 hour stopover where all of those flights from PER to CAI can be covered under a single, marketable flight segment).

As for your return, CAI-LHR-SIN-PER, I'd presume that this entire mess is on one flight segment (quite possible, since the QF booking engine should conceivably send you back to LON to make sure you can connect on any possible flight going back to PER).

The naive guess for your return is that BA (or the already foreshadowing incompetent contracted agent they use at CAI) will force you to stick to the BA allowance of 1 x 23 kg bag. However, if you are checking all the way to PER (i.e. one flight segment and this is possible), then the IATA rules actually state that the allowance of the MSC will apply, which in this case is QF. (Since this flight crosses IATA sub-areas, the first carrier to exit a sub-area is the MSC; in this case, QF is the first carrier to exit the Euro/ME/Africa sub-area, whereas BA only flies within a sub-area).

With your QF baggage allowance, it will naturally be 96 kg (or 3 x 32 kg) going home.

Problem is if the agents at CAI don't believe you and won't process you through. Unless you print out the relevant IATA Resolution for this procedure, along with the QF allowances, then you might have some hope. I have my healthy level of doubts, however, whether the BA agents in CAI (which I will guess to be contracted and not BA employed) will actually be competent enough to realise all of this (if they are even competent to do their jobs at all, period, and that is if they don't need to be bribed in the first place).

...and THAT is why I am completely over these damn rules - because everywhere you go nobody has a damn clue what the rules are - even here in Australia - and even if they do know the rules they have no idea how to apply them - it's not a rule but a lottery when you are trying to travel with a lot of gear

 

[serfty]

Would someone like to guess my allowances on an upcoming trip as I'm fed up with getting different answers -

PER - SIN - LHR all on QF.
a 36 hour stopover then LHR - CAI on BA
and the reverse a month later but with just a few hours stopover in London this time.
The whole trip is on one booking/reference number.

...and on this trip I'm going to be using every one of those 96kg that I'm hoping for.

So far I've been told -

• 96kg all the way there and back as I'm a QF WP
• 96kg to London then whatever BA allow (I'm in economy)
• 96kg all the way to Cairo and then whatever BA allow on the way back

And I thought that IATA changed things to simplify it for everyone!

With IATA resolution 302 it should be as follows:

• It's QF's allowance PER-LHR.
• It's BA's allowance LHR-CAI
• It's QF's (non elite) allowance CAI-PER.

Look your booking up on one of these sites:

1. www.checkmytrip.com
2. LAN.com Detalle de su ticket
3. https://eitr.amadeusasia.com/index.aspx

What do each say for allowance on each segment?

 

[RSD]

With IATA resolution 302 it should be as follows:

• It's QF's allowance PER-LHR.
• It's BA's allowance LHR-CAI
• It's QF's (non elite) allowance CAI-PER.

Look your booking up on one of these sites:

1. www.checkmytrip.com
2. LAN.com Detalle de su ticket
3. https://eitr.amadeusasia.com/index.aspx

What do each say for allowance on each segment?

I will check those sites shortly and see what I get. When you say "QF (non-elite) allowance CAI-PER" what do you mean by the "non-elite" bit?

 

[ChrisFlyer]

I will check those sites shortly and see what I get. When you say "QF (non-elite) allowance CAI-PER" what do you mean by the "non-elite" bit?

He would be referring to the default baggage allowance given to passengers without status. For an economy ticket, that would be 1x23kg with the MSC rules applied.

 

[Ken1]

We'll by flying VCE-LHR on BA connecting with LHR-SIN and SIN-SYD on QF the same day as part of a J One World Award. Our E-Ticket shows a 32kg allowance for the whole trip from VCE, the QF J allowance for tickets issued before 2 May. (For our other BA European flights - LHR-GVA, ZRH-LHR & LHR-FCO we have the standard BA J Club Europe allowance of 2 bags.) With the new QF allowance an extra 32kg bag in J costs $90 if you buy online up to 7 days before the flight or $120 at the airport.

I've asked QF staff on 131313 several times about purchasing an extra bag and have been told that we can't buy it online as our first flight is with BA and that we'll have to pay at the airport and that it would be the QF $120 charge. Today I asked again and was told that we would pay the BA excess rate. The BA rate for an extra bag is £77/$119/€98 for Club World and £34/$51/€43 for Club Europe. I then phoned BA and was told that since the QF flight is the MSC we would have to pay the IATA per kg rate and I mentioned that QF now charge for additional luggage by the piece similar to BA but she thought it would still be a per kg charge. I then asked if we could just check our bags from VCE to LHR and have the BA Club Europe 2 bag allowance and then re-check our bags to SYD with QF and was told yes but since our ticket shows 32kg for that leg I wonder if the BA check in agent would allow that.

I realise it's probably going to come down to the check in agent we get on the day but I'll be interested in any thoughts on the best way to handle this - we would like an extra bag if possible and don't mind paying the $120 fee - it's a lot better than the old system of $50 per kg.

 

[RSD]

He would be referring to the default baggage allowance given to passengers without status. For an economy ticket, that would be 1x23kg with the MSC rules applied.

Now I'm even more confused - I hadn't seen anywhere that allowances would be applied on a non-status basis for people that had status? This just gets more and more confusing and complicated!

 

[anat0l]

Now I'm even more confused - I hadn't seen anywhere that allowances would be applied on a non-status basis for people that had status? This just gets more and more confusing and complicated!

I wonder how airlines register limits etc with IATA?

My impression is that status related baggage benefits are over and beyond the IATA systems; that is, IATA makes no formal provision for status customers as such. As a result, such bonus allowances are directly administered by the airlines themselves. If an agent for an airline needs to look up the limits, they would refer to IATA registered limits; any status baggage allowances would need to be through instruction by the host airline of the status holder's program.

On top of this, an agent may claim that they only need to follow the directive of IATA for baggage (in accordance with the MSC) and thus this will not include status benefit since IATA is not binding on status entitlement. Which is why I suggest printing out the rules for the check-in agent (especially when the agent is not one contracted by the host airline on the MSC, let alone an employed agent of the MSC). You may be able to use the printouts to show your entitlement according to status, but there is still a high risk that it may not work (though in all cases I'd more than likely put it down to an incompetent agent, and in CAI I don't have high hopes for a competent one).

Very happy to be corrected on my assertion about IATA and status entitlement.



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Aust Freq Fly app: bringing this anat0l content to your mobile.

 

[serfty]

I wonder how airlines register limits etc with IATA?

My impression is that status related baggage benefits are over and beyond the IATA systems; that is, IATA makes no formal provision for status customers as such. ...

Very happy to be corrected on my assertion about IATA and status entitlement.
....

No, the airlines can file their statused bonus luggage information with APTCO (The Airline Tariff Publishing Company) to be auto applied to the e-ticket - but they appear not to want to do this.

More here:

Automated Baggage Rules

MSC IATA resolution 302 effect on QF - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[oz_mark]

No, the airlines can file their statused bonus luggage information with APTCO (The Airline Tariff Publishing Company) to be auto applied to the e-ticket - but they appear not to want to do this.

According to ATPCO, 250 airlines have done so

Carrier Implementation StatusMore than 250 carriers have submitted their baggage policies to the Baggage Allowance and Charges database so far. These airlines’ policies are currently available in the Baggage Allowance and Charges database.

ATPCO-Products-Baggage Allowance and Charges-Background and Implementation Status