British Airways drastic baggage allowance change!!!

[buddy-boo]

Hi all

I booked my flight to the Philippines with British Airways. They were always number one to fly with in terms of baggage allowance and diving gear. They gave 23kg+ 23kg free for sports equipment!! That's fantastic!
I was shocked to discover (after booking my flight) that now they only allow 23kg. And that's it. Not even a kilo free for diving gear!!!

If your bag is heavier than 23kg and lighter than 32kg you have to pay extra £40.

Have any of you flew with them after 7th October (apparently that's when the rules changed). How flexible are they at the desk? If you have lets say 3-5 kilo extra will they be kind enough to let is pass for free?

It's two of us and we will be in the Phil for 4 months so we were so happy to have combined baggage allowance of 92kg. Now it's only 46-ridiculous.

Hope to hear some of your experiences with BA. Or other airlines, relatively inexpensive, more diver friendly flying from London; so maybe we still can change the airline. Cheers.

 

[victor]

I expect you are in the same basis as before, it depends on who you have at the desk.
Most of the staff seem to be ok as long as the the plane is not full.

Something you may want to consider is to ship (Fedex, UPS, consolidator) some of your stuff in advance. Clothes, flip flops, fins, wetsuits, etc make up a significant amount of the weight but can be safely courieried for very little money in advance.

Since you will be there for 4 months it should be possible to ship in advance.

 

[buddy-boo]

hmmm....I have a feeling with the courier it will be much more expensive, they charge per kilo and according to the luggage size.
also seems a bit risky if it DEPENDS who there is at the desk.. wouldn't want to leave half of my stuff at the airport. I guess I will just have to pay in advance for the excess.

I just thought I will let people know in case they book without checking (I should have checked, silly me!) I just never thought that BA would have a cheek to do it so drastically. Appalling!!

 

[Jersey]

Buddy - based on lagging performance, I would be hard pressed to cite a major US carrier who does not charge for bags. Southwest appears to be the one exception. Unless your status in their club is Premier or above and/or you are flying first class, your bags pay almost as much as you! Of course if you are flying first class, you are paying in other ways... Never flown BA, always flew Virgin to Heathrow. And be careful - Delta banged us a couple years back, when we still had 2 bags free, for weight. Collectively the bags were well under limit, but one bag (due to a last minute save a dive kit) was 3 lbs over. They demanded $80. We asked to remove the offending item and transfer it to another bag. Sure if we wanted to get out of line and go to the end. That would have meant either us or our bags missing our flight. We paid. Good luck!

 

[victor]

hmmm....I have a feeling with the courier it will be much more expensive, they charge per kilo and according to the luggage size.

A quick online quote was £60 + £15 insurance.
Ship summer clothes, wetsuits etc in advance, get the hotel or dive ops to collect. Then if it gets lost claim on insurance and buy everything you need there.

 

[girellator]

This is really a good idea !!Thank you

 

[buddy-boo]

Thanks victor! That doesn't seem too bad... I'll investigate further once I know the weight

 

[Scared Silly]

And be careful - Delta banged us a couple years back, when we still had 2 bags free, for weight. Collectively the bags were well under limit, but one bag (due to a last minute save a dive kit) was 3 lbs over. They demanded $80. We asked to remove the offending item and transfer it to another bag. Sure if we wanted to get out of line and go to the end. That would have meant either us or our bags missing our flight. We paid. Good luck!

Had this event happen in HNL. When they demanded the fees I asked if they had a box which they do. So I paid $15 for it and transfered gear from one bag to the box. Then I asked for tape. Then after it was all ready I asked for some to carry it over to TSA for me. Oh and I did this while in line making every behind wait. The GA knew I was pissed as I had already had a run in with the dumbass HI ag inspector. She then asked me why I was mad - which then allowed me rip her a new one for making demands rather than offering options.