Luggage rant

NellyPS wrote:It was a poor rant, considering my anger levels at the moment (few and far between but when they come, look out).

Thanks for advising anyway.

Was this an unconscious displacement activity?
When your real anger was at the tax man - who, however, is too powerful to attack :D

Tony_H wrote:
Easyjet and Ryanair I've never used for ski holidays, but they appear to be more stringent so be careful.

I fly with EJ every season. I always stick to the latest luggage requirements for the hold otherwise they WILL batter you in charges and be careful if you are 2g under in the UK you might be 1lb over in GVA. Be careful

With regard to hand luggage, as I have posted somewhere else, EJ allow you to take any weight in handluggage as long as you can put it in the overhead locker yourself and that it is the correct size. I have always put my boots in my boot bag along with sunnies, goggles and used that as hand luggage. Never had a problem.

Many people moan about EJ and the charges. I dont think they are over the odds. The seats are more comfy and more legroom than you ever get on a Thomas cook scheduled flight.

Dont knock 'em :D

Just an update regarding Thomson/Crystal baggage allowance from this season they are putting a weight allowance for ski carriage which is 15kg each person.

so you have a ski carriage of 15kg each charge £35
Hold allowance 20kg
Hand baggage 5kg

There has been a massize forum on this on their website which has made them change the allowance from this season as they said their previous allowances werent working.

I guess I remain surprised each year that airlines seemed to ignore each others competitive advantages.

The Easyjet position is very clear. At least, for the most part, which I will come to. The main hold baggage restriction is 20kgm, but I rarely exceed 15kgms, including boots and painting gear. The hand baggage weight is, for practical purposes, huge. Between the two, there should be no practical restrictions.

Yes, Eastjet do offer comfortable seating, even for a big guy, (steady now), and they are rarely late. I too use them several times a year.

TonyH has reminded us on a regular basis that a ski bag, containing also, ski clothing, et al, is allowed by BA as the main hold baggage. I have always been impressed by this, and I wondered if the acceptance by BA is tacit, or with stated approval?

Hence, a few weeks ago, I messaged Easyjet, and asked them if a ski bag could be treated as hold baggage? They initially referred me to their Ts & Cs. When I persisted, they seemed to put my message into a cupboard, so that it could not be seen by others, but of course, no answer.

That will not affect my usage of Easyjet, I have always had a very good service from them; just think they could be a tad more customer friendly, and I will be telling them so.

On the issue of weighing skis, they ought to be weighed so that the the take off weight can be calculated.

Dave Mac wrote:

On the issue of weighing skis, they ought to be weighed so that the the take off weight can be calculated.

Dave, I know for a fact that baggage weight is carefully calculated and passed to the pilot. He then decides to use the airline (yes, it varies from carrier to carrier) average weight per person, per hand baggage, and for the NUMBER of ski bags packed in, and then calculated take off weight as an overall guesstimate.

One just hopes that these are always slightly over the actual weight so that we don't see planes not able to get off the ground, although I believe in the UK this has not actually happened yet!



Interesting that TUI have set a ski bag limit of 15kg, bearing in mind that on this very forum last year we had a very detailed and open discussion about this same issue. This came after I booked with Crystal and became confused regarding the limit, if any, on ski bags. One document told me 6kg, another 12kg, another a max of 23kg, and another actually said there is NO limit!

I queried this was TUI direct, who did pretty much what Easyjet have done with Dave Mac, and tried to skirt round it without giving a direct answer. However, various TUI staff posted on another forum about this, and confirmed that as of last season there was NO weight limit providing the ski bag was able to meet the H&S criteria, ie max 23kg.
Personally, I believe this was too high, and suggested on 3 separate forums that they should consider a weight limit per ski bag of 15kg, as this would comfortably encompass a pair of skis and poles inside a reasonable sized padded bag, along with a few other items of padding around the skis. My ski bag has weighed in at as much as 18kg before, but that was packing it with all sorts, so I believe 15kg is totally fair and acceptable. It seems they agreed, maybe I like to think because of a very frank discussion that I had on a Crystal forum, and have seen sense to make it a uniform charge and weight limit.
Any lower limits than 15kg and you are going to struggle to get skis and poles into a bag at all, which defeats the object. It will be interesting to see whether they now choose to weigh each and every ski bag checked in, as this COULD lead to longer check in times, missed or delayed flights, and typically some short tempered British travellers at 4am in Gatwick for instance!!!!
I note Eassyjet set a weight limit of 12kg per ski bag.......I wonder how the guys with the rigid ski bags manage with that?

At least TUI have had the decency to recognise this has been an issue for ski flights and done something about it, and issued a clear limit per passenger who books ski carriage. That will then give the pilot an amount to calculate based on the number of ski bags checked in, ie 15kg per bag, in order to get a more accurate weight calculation for take off. Bear in mind, they always carry more fuel than they need anyway in case of diverts.

As I said, I've never used Easyjet or Ryanair for a ski flight, but it seems to be majority opinion that they are also clear and fair in their setting out of weight limits, although I have to say NOT setting a weight limit for hand luggage does encourage people to take on far too much on board with them. I hate it when you cant pop your rucksack up top because there are about 150 million small suitcases stowed in the luggage compartment!
I believe Ryanair also charge considerably more than any other airline for ski carriage?

I'd like to think that the other tour ops and charter airlines will now follow suit and set the same cost and weight limits across the board, so that us skiers all know exactly whats allowed, rather than having to search high and low for written confirmation of what is permitted, as at the end of the day it is NOT the airline who (allegedly) incur the extra work for carrying skis, its the ground handling staff at the respective airport.

It does make for good discussion though.

I do wonder if anyone at any of the airlines actually reads any of these threads with the views of experienced and knowledgeable skiers?
Or the decision, as with so many things, is just made with whatever knowledge one or two poeple within the airline have?
I don't mind, really, what the luggage criteria are AS LONG AS THEY ARE CLEAR (says I shouting loud!).
That's my beef - a lack of transparency and then the will to follow through with the "rules".
I cannot see why it seems so difficult for clear and simple rules on luggage weight and size so that we would all know where we stand and what to expect at the check in - both ends of the flight!
Mind you there will and would always be those travellers who don't bother reading and then argue the toss at check in when told their bag is 6kg overweight and will cost $$$$ more!
Can't blame the check in staff for just letting things go through, less hassle, fewer arguments, less abuse, simple life!

We had the experience (Ryanair or Easyjet can't remember which) when trying to take out ski boots as hand luggage, where they checked us in OK but then changed their minds by the time we had reached the departure gate. They were taking the ski boot bags off everyone as we tried to board to put in the hold.

Apparently a ski boot is a dangerous weapon and cannot be allowed in the cabin!

I wouldn't have minded if we had known in advance that ski boots had to go in the hold but when the airline staff contradict each other, how are you supposed to get it right? These two sets of staff, check in and gate staff, were clearly not communicating with each other, as they were folowing different rules!

This is another reason why we now drive.

This confirms TUI's new policy this season, taken from the Crystal forum:


EMPLOYEE
Grace Mumford (Aviation Supervisor) 13 days ago
"Hi Nick

I can advise that we have indeed changed our policy for this season.

Passengers who book ski carriage now get an allowance of 15kgs. this will include skis and anything you can get in the bag. If this includes boots then that is fine- as long as it is under 15kgs.

If you are taking a coffin bag with everything in, then this bag has a maximum weight limit of 25kgs.

I hope that helps.

Thanks
Grace"


I have it also in writing on the same forum that:

Every Thomson Airways ski flight has the folllowing limits and charges:

Hold baggage (standard sizes): 20kg max included in cost

Ski/board bag: 15kg max but can include anything, not just skis. Cost £35 pre booked only.(They do state they will charge per set of skis/board but I cant see this being applied at check in provided you come inside the weight limit)

Coffin style board bags: 25kg max. Cost £35 pre booked as ski carriage only. You do NOT get another bag allowed if you use this option.

Hand luggage remains the same, max 5kg limit free of charge. The following applies, taken from Thomsons website:

Hand Baggage: You may take up to 5kg free hand baggage into the cabin with you. Each customer may take one item of hand baggage (maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm). Other bags such as handbags, laptop bags or laptop computers must be carried within the single item of cabin baggage."

At least we now know where we stand, and its crystal (pun intended) clear as to whats allowed. Personally, I think its plenty for a weeks skiing in Europe with your own skis.




Hope this is useful for people.