Airlines cracking down on overweight luggage

[wirki]

I just got back on Monday from DW and they are cracking down. There is a sign up as you check in. I have to say I was a little worried. I was fine, yet the friend we were with had to take things out of his bag to make it under 50 lbs. They did not even give him the option of paying more. I guess this will help me not to over pack like I usually do.

Debbie

 

[Tinkaroo]

Here's the my contention with this....I am a female, of average weight, don't work out regularly, etc. If I can lift my 50+ lb. bag with no problem, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE BURLY MEN??????

Good grief!!!!!

 

[aubriee]

Oh great. I just got a huge suitcase. I guess I will make sure it only weighs 45 pounds when we leave. And take the mickey carpet bag to for other things plus stuff we buy.

I can't take the big one back and I got it dirt cheap too! Oh boy I will have to be careful packing.

Are you sure you can't take it back. The same thing happened to me in January. I had bought a REALLY BIG suitcase on clearance at Burlington Coat Factory. About a month after I bought it, I finally read the weight and size limits for my airlines and decided I better measure my suitcase. Sure enough it was too big. I still had my receipt, so I took it back, explained the problem to Burlington, and they said no problem. When I went to the back of the store to look at luggage again, the customer service rep followed me with the big suitcase and explained it to the saleslady working back there. The saleslady laughed and said that's why they had them on clearance to begin with, because people kept bringing them back. Anyway she found me two smaller suitcases (on clearance) exactly like my BIG one (navy and olive green), so they would be easy to spot on the luggage carousel. When I checked in at the airport a few days later, the rep told me both my bags were close to the limit and I'd better be careful what I bought on my trip or coming back I'd be over the weight limit. I just stuffed all our souveniers into my son's bag, which was way below the limit. If I had stuffed everything into that BIG bag, I had originally, I would hate to see how much over the weight limit I would have been.

When I go back next week, thankfully I will need only shorts and t-shirts, so plan to get by with only one of those bags and a small carry on. I'll be weighing both bags before I leave the house.

 

[weregoingtodw]

Here's the my contention with this....I am a female, of average weight, don't work out regularly, etc. If I can lift my 50+ lb. bag with no problem, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE BURLY MEN??????

Good grief!!!!!

When's the last time that you flew where you only saw MEN working?

I think hefting your ONE 50+ lb. bag around the airport to and from the ticket counter isn't quite the same thing as lifting it over & over, all day, every day.

 

[Lewisc]

Some of the European charter, discount airlines have limits as low as around 33 pounds combined for all of your luggage including your carry-ons. Even the ones that don't combine the limits with your carryon still have a maximum weight for carryon luggage.

Be careful, some of the older bags weight 15-20 pounds empty.

Airline (tv show) showed a family in which each member checked 3 70 pound boxes on SW. It was a way to save on moving expenses.

 

[cruiseonmagic]

You know, I was thinking about this whole issue after I got home tonight. Something here doesn't make sense from the airlines perspective. We usually take one big bag that ends up weighing about 70 pounds or so. Now we will have to take three smaller bags (which we will load up as much as we can) so they dont weigh more than 50 lbs each.

Lets see... 1 bag @ 70lbs vs 3 bags @ 50lbs each=150lbs. The airlines are saving fuel how???

Am I missing something here? Wouldn't it make more sense to have a total baggage weight limit per person compared to per bag?

Lets see...your one 70 lb bag worked for you. Now that it can't be over 50 lbs, instead of taking 2 lighter bags, you are going to lug 3 bags with an extra 80 lbs of junk? Why would you take 80 lbs of stuff that you didn't need in the first place?

 

[Mickey_Maniac]

Lets see...your one 70 lb bag worked for you. Now that it can't be over 50 lbs, instead of taking 2 lighter bags, you are going to lug 3 bags with an extra 80 lbs of junk? Why would you take 80 lbs of stuff that you didn't need in the first place?

I dont think we will do it on purpose, but as the saying goes, "stuff expands to fill all available space". We will most likely end up overpacking, but wont think as much about it because we have the space available to us.

I guess I'll just have to keep a watch on what DW and DD are bringing to see if we can keep it to two bags... Of course, I never overpack

 

[winniedapooh]

Oh i know who made that rule the same person who said the NEW TUNNEL would NEVER LEAK.

Fran99999

 

[bytheblood]

What is sad is my larger suitcase weighs 8 pounds - EMPTY!!!!

 

[mbb]

for overweight, or extra luggage...

I just wish they would FIND OUR BAGS!!

Yep, missing since January 23.

We'll be bidding on that set of luggage LOL!

 

[bavaria]

Oh how times have changed....

I am looking at a Lufthansa ticket from 1964, and baggage allowance was ONE 44lb checked luggage (vs two 50lb bags most airlines allow now)

Carryone was limited to one coat, one footrug, 'reasonable' amount of reading material, one lady's pocketbook, and one SMALL camera.

Plus the cost of the flight in 1964 dollars was $778 (1964 fee) Munich - North America

Makes you think, doesn't it? Haven't we become spoilt over the years??

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Northwest agent in DTW told me to pack you jeans in your carry-on. She said they weight on average 3 lbs each. Thats alot of weight if you bring 3 pairs of jean shorts to WDW!!

 

[chris1gill]

These issues have actually surfaced over the last 18-20 months... When we went on our Australia trip in Dec. '03, the size requirements on AA were in effect.... The first suitcase we bought, we brought it home, looked at the linear inches listed on the AA site & realized it was too big... back it went, we bought the next smallest size, which is right AT the linear inch allowance... At that time we were allowed a 70lb bag since it was international... looks like that has changed....

I recently bought some great Eagle Creek backpacks that are right AT the carryon allowance as far as size... we have three of them which we can pack to 15 pounds... that gives the four of us 45 pounds of luggage in our carryons for the next trip... We have ten airports to clear, so I don't want to have to check a thing....

The whole weight/size thing is mind boggling, but I guess I realize that somebody has to lift these oversize bags all day long... it's in the airlines best interest to try to keep those people healthy....

 

[Charleneluvsdisney]

I just had this happen to me in March - I was asked to remove 4 lbs. of stuff at the check-in counter . I was able to remove enough, but from now on I will learn to pack lighter! This was on a Southwest flight.