Just received this info in an e-mail from BA, may be of interest to some…
“We’re making a few changes to our hand baggage and checked baggage allowances.
The new baggage policy is easy to follow and will reduce airport queues, making your journey quicker and hassle-free. The policy changes include hand, checked and excess baggage allowances and will be phased in over the next five months. I’ve included a quick guide below, and a link to the complete policy if you’d like to read more.
HAND BAGGAGE
From 5 July 2006, all customers will be able to take one standard-sized bag (maximum size of 56cm x 45cm x 25cm), plus one briefcase, laptop bag or equivalent into the cabin as hand baggage. You must be able to lift your hand baggage into the overhead locker unaided and the briefcase or laptop computer bag or equivalent must fit under the seat in front of you.
CHECKED BAGGAGE
From 11 October, we will be making changes to the number of bags that you can check in. This will vary according to your class of travel and route. The maximum weight per bag will be reduced to 23kgs to comply with health and safety recommendations.
EXCESS BAGGAGE
Excess baggage charges will also be standardised from 11 October. A fixed fee, dependent on the journey length, will be charged for each bag in excess of the free checked baggage allowance. In the majority of cases the new charges will be less than those currently levied and a further 20% discount will be available by pre-paying on line at ba.com”
By: lukeylad - 14th June 2006 at 15:55
Well thats a pain in the jacobs ive jsut done an essay on realting to bagguage wieghts!!
By: cloud_9 - 14th June 2006 at 15:45
HAND BAGGAGE:
From 5 July 2006, all customers will be able to take one standard-sized bag (maximum size of 56cm x 45cm x 25cm), plus one briefcase, laptop bag or equivalent into the cabin as hand baggage. You must be able to lift your hand baggage into the overhead locker unaided and the briefcase or laptop computer bag or equivalent must fit under the seat in front of you.
Good. At least that should prevent those passengers from taking bags with wheels on board, they are too big and bulky to be taken onboard and so people should be forced to check them in!
CHECKED BAGGAGE
From 11 October, we will be making changes to the number of bags that you can check in. This will vary according to your class of travel and route. The maximum weight per bag will be reduced to 23kgs to comply with health and safety recommendations.
I thought the h&s recommendations were that no bag weighing over 32kgs would be accepted…has this or is this being reduced? If so, I think this could cause even more problems for passengers and delays at check-in rather than reducing them!
EXCESS BAGGAGE
Excess baggage charges will also be standardised from 11 October. A fixed fee, dependent on the journey length, will be charged for each bag in excess of the free checked baggage allowance. In the majority of cases the new charges will be less than those currently levied and a further 20% discount will be available by pre-paying on line at ba.com”[/I]
I don’t agree, it would be much better to charge per kg imho because some people might not be over by much, yet they will still have to pay the same charge as someone who has even more than you!
For example (if the charge was £10 for a 2 hour flight!)
Person A is travelling 5kgs over the allocated weight limit would still have to pay £10, as well as Person B who might be travelling 8kgs over the weight limit, just doesn’t make economical sense!
And secondly, if a passenger (sorry, customer!), argues that he/she should not have to pay for excess, then at least you can say that for every extra kg that is taken onboard, more fuel is needed to transport the additional weight, so therefore it makes sense to charge you because it is your additional weight!
However, if you are clever (like me!), you will try to loose as much weight from your bag from the stuff that you do not bring back (i.e sun cream, tolietries, books, etc…), so therefore you won’t pay as much excess on the return journey as you do on the outbound.
Then again, I have never been charged for excess on any flight as I like to travel light. I managed to fly LHR-SFO, LAX-LHR on 12-15kgs for one week! When quizzed by the check-in agent who asked me “Your travelling light, aren’t you?”, I responded “The less you take = the less to forget/loose!” (I have a bit of a habit of forgetting/loosing things…lol!). 😀
So for all those that book online, do you they expect you to ‘pre-weigh’ your luggage on your bathroom scales to see if they are overweight?
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June 13, 2006 at 10:22 pm