Qantas bagge limits

[Dave Noble]

The strict limit on 23kg per piece (not even having the option to pay to carry more) is NOT an improvement on current checked luggage rules. With the current restrictions on carry ons, pax have to check in more than previously. Some UK airports (LHR and LGW are apparently the worst) are failing to cope with the increased checked baggage. Therefore it stands to reason, that in the (hopefully unlikely) event carry on restrictions are still significant come October that BA will not be able to impose stricter check luggage rules as they intend, at least without even further backlash from travelling public.

The current allowances on non piece based routes are 23Kg for economy / World Traveller Plus , 30Kg for business and 40Kg for 1st

The new allowance is

1PC WT = max 23Kg => no change other than the piece count
2PC WT+/J/F => max 46Kg , improvement of 23Kg/16Kg/6Kg for W/J/F respecitively

Hmm... Cannot see how it is not an improvement for the current majority of routes operating a weight based system

The statement that there is no option to pay to take more is false. Additional pieces can be taken (GBP120 on a longhaul route / GBP96 if paid in advance ) at a much lower rate than current excess rates ime

BA do seem to be going to clamp down on allowances, but that I cannot see anything to complain about; the ticketed limits have been there and on small excesses often waived , but that has never been a published benefit and , I speculate, would have been clamped down on even without the move to piece system


There is a loss when travelling transatlantic on BA with a 23Kg vs 32Kg piece limit, but that in itself is not a surprising change given that the main alliance member in the US already has such a limit.

For those travelling BA from Australia on weight allowances, I cannot see how they are any worse off, though in many cases are better off

Dave

 

[Dave Noble]

But wasn't the old limit 20kg for economy passengers? Crtainly is for the kangaroo route with both QF and BA. So isn't 23kg > 20kg?
.

BA's current weight allowance in economy is 23Kg to Australia

Dave

 

[JohnK]

But wasn't the old limit 20kg for economy passengers? Crtainly is for the kangaroo route with both QF and BA. So isn't 23kg > 20kg?

Yes 20kg was the old allowance but both airlines were flexible and would let you get away with more plus you could check-in more than one piece to the allowable allowance. Until every airline does the same I cannot agree with what BA is doing. Yes it is their right to do what they want but some us will not agree with it and will do everything possible to avoid flying with them. Isn't that loss of business.

OT slightly but JQ will hopefully start operating SYD-ATH and/or SYD-FCO in the next few years. From what I understand JQ are very strict on the 20kg allowance in economy. Why would anyone fly with them when GF would more than likely still be cheaper and allow you up to 30kg in deep discounted economy, sometimes even more depending on the check-in agent.

 

[acampbel]

Hmmmm ..... sounds a bit Ryanairish to me.

When travelling OS with the family we like to take 1 large suitcase for the parents, and 1 compartmented backpack for the kids. Apart from the time my wife went a bit OTT and we exceeded the 32kg ceiling, this worked well for us. Then we decided to take a side-trip to France this year and booked on Ryanair. Fortunately I was forewarned about their strict 15kg per person limit that could not be pooled, so we carried a couple of flimsy bags in our luggage and repacked everything before checking in at Stansted.

Having to deal with 4 x checked bags + 4 x hand luggage + 4 x coats and sundry items with Master 7 and Missy 5 in tow was a less than pleasant experience. So BA's changes to baggage policy have an impact beyond the pure weight issue.



Cheers,


Andrew

 

[Dave Noble]

Yes 20kg was the old allowance but both airlines were flexible and would let you get away with more plus you could check-in more than one piece to the allowable allowance.

BA had calculated the loss that they were making with people not charging the excess amounts and also from allowing pooling of allowances so that , methinks, was going to be witrhdrawn regardless. No-one, imo, can have any valid issue with an airline saying that an amount of X is permitted and then only allowing X before charging extra and , I would still say, this gives a more generous allowance to those travelling in premium cabins and only has limited impact on economy

For me, the icing on the cake, is the additional piece of sporting goods ( such as for me, diving gear ) that is being allowed. from an allowance of 23K for Wt+ , it jumps to 69Kg under the new scheme

Dave

 

[JohnK]

No-one, imo, can have any valid issue with an airline saying that an amount of X is permitted and then only allowing X before charging extra and , I would still say, this gives a more generous allowance to those travelling in premium cabins and only has limited impact on economy

I have no problem with BA or any airline for that matter tightening their grip on the weight allowance. It's their right to do so.

I am not particularly concerned whether the premium cabins get a more generous weight allowance under the new guidelines. What concerns me is what happens in economy. And the new restrictions appear to be just that. Very restrictive. Enough to seriously consider alternatives. To pay 96 GBP for going a couple of kgs over is totally unacceptable.

I think they will lose some business especially as most economy passengers will feel inconvenienced. Time will tell. I will only start to worry if any airline I fly with decides to follow suit and apply the same tight restrictions as BA. If I keep status with QF then I have nothing to worry about. I can't see BA remaining on the kangaroo route much longer anyway. I will most likely have a KBP-LHR flight next year but I will worry about that one if and when it happens.

 

[vt]

The difficulty would be in judging how heavy my luggage will be at home. Or at a hotel for that matter. I usually do not know the weight of my bag until checkin. If the leeway is removed, as JohnK said, I would not be pleased with a GBP120 fine on a couple of kilos.

Several trips ago to HKG, my wife and I went with 15kgs check and returned with 65KG :shock:. The heat surely inflates everything.

But that is BA's right.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I don't want to repeat old arguments about BA's planned changes. It is clear not everyone agrees.

However, I do think that if the current mess continues through September that BA will delay implementing the old new rules.

BAA cannot cope now with baggage and BA has been reporting many thousands of bags are not making flights (even with cancelling a significant proportion of flights). I am sure, given a choice, they would rather get operations back to some semblance of normality over a little extra revenue with the changes. This implies a possible delay to the implementation.

Of course it is possible (indeed I hope it happens) that the current mess gets sorted out quickly and the old new checked baggage rules get implemented 1 October as planned.