This might not come across as news if
you are a frequent traveler, but for a newbie traveler or flyer, it is
important to know what Excess Baggage Allowance is.
Excess Baggage Allowance is what you pay
for luggage that exceeds the limits for weight, size, or number of
pieces allowed by a particular carrier. Excess baggage requires payment
of additional freight and may be sent separately as cargo and not as
accompanied baggage.
Depending on your route, your baggage
allowance may be calculated by piece or weight. For instance, passengers
flying from the Lagos Airport to Dubai on an Economy Cabin have a
standard baggage allowance of 30kg, with the excess per kilogram as $30
(plus applicable taxes).
A lot of Nigerian travelers run into
problems at the airport when returning home from their foreign trips
because they could not afford to pay for excess luggage – Nigerian women
in particular love good things and they can “shop to the death” when
travelling.
Their bags are stuffed with designer
clothes, shoes, sun glasses they bought from major shops in London,
Paris and Dubai and they are left with just their return tickets back to
Nigeria.
Therefore, we’ve tried to put together a few tips to help you avoid or at least reduce any charges you may incur.
Whenever you book a flight, part of the
ticketing conditions should indicate the checked in luggage allowance.
If you know in advance that you will exceed your allowance, you should
contact the airline as paying charges in advance will almost always
reduce your excess costs. You should also be aware that more and more
airlines will restrict the number of items you can check in. If an
airline has a limit of one piece and 30kg per person, you need to be
aware that you may well be charged if you try to check in 2 pieces at
15kg each.
The first thing you need to do is to
check your luggage allowance with the airline. This information is
usually on their website or you can call them to find out. Many
passengers don’t even read the rules that apply to their tickets. Set
this as a standard from today, always read the rules of your airline
tickets. Spending about 5 minutes to go through the rules can save you a
lot of time and money at the airport.
You should also check the hand luggage
allowance as some airlines will strictly enforce the weight of this too.
If it is over the allowed weight, you will have to repack items into
your checked in baggage and this could put you over your allowance.
One of the best items you can purchase
is a portable set of luggage scales. They are cheap and lightweight
which means you can take them with you. We have often heard people say
they weigh the suitcases by getting on the bathroom scales to weigh
themselves and then re-weighing themselves holding the suitcase. That
method is all very well when you are at home but how about on your
return trip? One of the tricks some airlines use to trap passengers into
paying excess charges is to allow them carry slightly over their
allowance on their outbound flights, but on the return flight strictly
enforce baggage rules.
Another rule you need to be aware of
that some airlines enforce is the maximum weight of a single item.
Often, this is set at 23kg so you also need to check the airlines rules
and take this into consideration when packing. If an airline has a 15kg
limit and you are traveling with your spouse, it is unlikely they will
accept a single suitcase weighing 30kg. However, when travelling as a
family of more than three or in a group, you should be able to take
advantage of the joint allowance. Usually, there is nothing wrong with
spreading the allowance between all members of the travelling party.
Also, note that children are also usually entitled to the same luggage allowance as adults.
Because of the economic crunch in Europe
and other parts of the world and most importantly, competition amongst
the airlines which sometimes is not healthy, luggage rules are never
enforced consistently. The airlines are suffering financially and often
they will use any excuse to get more money out of passengers. This is
why it is important you know the luggage allowances and stay within
them. If you don’t, you have no-one else but yourself to blame if you
get charged.
Frequent travelers most especially
should try to get scales for home use. If you have weighed your luggage
at home and the scales at the airport check-in show a big difference
that will cost you money, you should re-pack your items and reweigh your
luggage to double check.
Having to pay excess baggage charges can
be expensive and could ruin your holiday. It is easy enough to avoid
these charges: you just need to get your information from the airline
and plan ahead.
