baggage fees

[simonspear]

I don't think it would be possible to carry on a big amphibico housing. a good idea with small housings What happens if you get caught and you're told you can't carry it on??? Go home?

I'm from the uk travelling to south africa.

BA used to have a free sports baggage allowance of 23kg, but now they charge £40 I think. Check your camera housing in as your main luggage allowance, check your normal luggage (BCD, Regs etc, plus some clothes at the bottom) as your sports allowance and remember that there is no weight restriction on hand luggage on BA as long as your bag fits the dimensions on their website. We almost always fly BA whenever we can ex UK.

I was on a charter flight last week that gave me 20kg luggage allowance and 5kg hand luggage allowance. It was stupid as I had to wear many different layers and put literally everything into my pockets to get through check in then transferred it all to plastic bags once I was through the security checks.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Simon

 

[aquaspider]

Don't forget that many feeder airlines have more strict weight policies which can add to your costs. In the Philippines, my wife and I were each weighed along with all baggage! We had to pay extra more than once, even with our lightweight gear.

 

[aquaspider]

I was not too clear in my previous post: The reason for weighing passengers along with all luggage is to make sure the plane is not overloaded, which is a concern with smaller planes. Since we are both light weight and don't carry things we don't use, the extra charges incurred seemed to be rather arbitrary. If you have heavy equipment cases and lots of extra stuff, you are a prime candidate for extra charges regardless of the total weight.

 

[rfkissling3]

Can't think of a reason they would not let you bring your housing on a plane. Your bag might be too big for their rules, but I don't think they would care about the housing itself. I do know someone has brought a Gates EX1 housing on the plane with them. I brought my Gates FX7 on the plane to Indonesia.

Usually there are other heavy items such as baterries, chargers, ports, housing ballast, etc., that could be put into a carry on. The weight adds up fast. Just a suggestion.

I was just excoriated by Turkish Airlines. Gate security alerted someone about the weight of my hand luggage. I was 16kg over. It is a small bag(easily fits in the overhead) but heavy. They charged 12Euros/kg!!!!! It ended up costing me more than the flight (from Berlin to Tel Aviv. Red Sea! ) Paying something… ok, but that is thievery. Especially since this happened on the Second leg of the trip (in Istanbul) and I had no other choice. I am done with Turkish Airways. First and last time. I have travelled all over the world with that bag. This one takes the cake.

 

[Joneill]

I was just excoriated by Turkish Airlines. Gate security alerted someone about the weight of my hand luggage. I was 16kg over. It is a small bag(easily fits in the overhead) but heavy. They charged 12Euros/kg!!!!! It ended up costing me more than the flight (from Berlin to Tel Aviv. Red Sea! ) Paying something… ok, but that is thievery. Especially since this happened on the Second leg of the trip (in Istanbul) and I had no other choice. I am done with Turkish Airways. First and last time. I have travelled all over the world with that bag. This one takes the cake.

So a single carry-on bag was 35 POUNDS overweight and you have an issue with the airline??? Did you not review the baggage policy in advance? Regardless of what they charged you, being 35 lb overweight on a bag and not expecting issues is completely unreasonable, in my opinion.

 

[rfkissling3]

So a single carry-on bag was 35 POUNDS overweight and you have an issue with the airline??? Did you not review the baggage policy in advance? Regardless of what they charged you, being 35 lb overweight on a bag and not expecting issues is completely unreasonable, in my opinion.

I guess the simplest response is 1. I do this all the time with airlines all over the world. Most understand that because it is fragile and expensive it cannot be checked. Have you ever seen the way baggage is thrown and in certain places it just never makes it? If it was enormous or unable to compactly fit in the bin, you would have a point. Perhaps since total weight = fuel cost maybe we should have to stand on the scale with our luggage? Seems unfair to charge for camera equipment and not body weight.

 

[Joneill]

Perhaps since total weight = fuel cost maybe we should have to stand on the scale with our luggage? Seems unfair to charge for camera equipment and not body weight

I don’t disagree but don’t see that ever happening.

 

[GF99/99]

I was just excoriated by Turkish Airlines. Gate security alerted someone about the weight of my hand luggage. I was 16kg over. It is a small bag(easily fits in the overhead) but heavy. They charged 12Euros/kg!!!!! It ended up costing me more than the flight (from Berlin to Tel Aviv. Red Sea! ) Paying something… ok, but that is thievery. Especially since this happened on the Second leg of the trip (in Istanbul) and I had no other choice. I am done with Turkish Airways. First and last time. I have travelled all over the world with that bag. This one takes the cake.

Why did you not just check your diving equipment. Turkish Airlines gives you 1 free checked bag of diving equipment on top of your regular checked bag. https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/any-questions/sports-equipment/diving/ I think the Maldives is the only flight the charge additional and it is only 30 euro.

I fly Turkish airlines all the time and have never had a problem.

do any of you guys have any tips for getting round the extortionate baggage fees set by airlines??

my housing and case weighs 22kg. my clothing and scuba kit weighs 20kg

i have found one airline (el al) which allows 20kg checked baggage and 20kg of sports baggage. i rang them up to check this as the website isnt very clear and it turns out you cant use the sports baggage allowance for u/w cameras..urrrgh.

so, i was thinking could i just check in the camera as my 20kg to do what i like with... then when i see it disappearing down the belt into the hold i place on my sports baggage case loaded with my clothes covered by my wetsuit, fins, bcd, regs etc etc ..

at least this way if they check i'll only have to pay excess on my clothes as scuba is excepted rather than a 22kg camera and case if they wont except it...

(they allow one mask, one bc, fins, set of regs, one wetsuit and a cylinder)

Rebreather diver her so I travel with way more than 42kg sometimes. Really the only trick I can give you is pack as much of the heavy stuff as you can in your carry and hope you don't get caught. Pre-Corona I use to average between 50-70 flights a year and 99% of the time I have never had a problem.

Also depending on where your going research the airlines baggage policies, as mentioned above Turkish is great.

My best tip is just stick with one airline alliance and try and get status with them. Personally I think Star Alliance is the best as they have the most variety of airlines and flights around the world. For example I am Premier 1K with United Airlines so any Star Alliance airline I get 2 free checked bags 23kg each and on United I get 3 free checked bags 32kg each. Also the loop hole that I use a lot is just make sure your first flight is a Star Alliance airlines and your second (or third, or fourth) flight is not you can still check your 2 bags free because your checking in on a Star Alliance flight and they will be checked to your final destination no charge assuming all your flights are on one PNR.

Last tip is check business class tickets, especially on Turkish Airlines. Depending on the route and time of the year you can get crazy good deals on business class tickets. If your in Asia Singapore airlines also depending on the route and time of the year will offer you business class auction style upgrades and sometime you can upgrade for not much at all.
I fly business class a lot with several different airlines and they never question your baggage. I have put 34kg pelican cases up on the check-in conveyor belt and they just tag it and wait for me to chuck my next one on. Also I can say on almost every flight I watch at least a couple passengers board with 3-4 carry on bags usually full size wheelie bag plus full size bag on top of it, with a full size large tote/purse bag on there shoulder and duty free bags in there hands I have never seen them get questions about the quantity/weight of carry on bags.

 

[rfkissling3]

I do check my scuba gear. My scuba gear, my clothes, and a few extra camera pieces all get checked and are right around 20kg. It is the camera gear that becomes a problem. It is too fragile and valuable to check. The housing, the strobes, the strobe batteries, and all the gizmos all go in a small, soft sided cooler that I carry on. It is within the dimensions of a carry on, but it is really heavy. I have yet to solve this problem: the gear is to heavy to "legally" carry on and too fragile and expensive to check. As I mentioned before, for what the bag cost, I could have bought a second ticket, strapped the carry on into the seat and had an extra checked bag. I expected to pay something, but 12Euro per kilo seems like an awful lot compared to what I have seen prior.

As the above poster says, it really amounts to doing what you need to and hoping you dont get caught. I am a 1K United, and a Star Alliance Gold ( to which Turkish is a partner...there was much back and forth about this at the airport in Istanbul whether or not this made my heavy carry on ok) In the end, I got forced to pay it because what was I going to do? Leave it in Istanbul? I still think I will avoid Turkish. You can shear a sheep many times, but you can only skin him once.