BA to charge £240 for extra bag

[Pete]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6341129.stm

British Airways is planning to add up to £240 to the cost of a return long-haul flight if passengers want to check in an extra bag.

Travellers on shorter international trips will face a bill of £120 and those on domestic journeys, £60.

Got to ask... do you think VS will follow suit?

Pete

If I were running VS I'd take a look very closely and see what the impact on revenue, market perception and cost is. Then of course I'd jump in and follow suit. Doesn't mean I support it, but VS's baggage policy is looking increasingly generous compared to say BA, AA and some others. I'd guess that the bean counters will demand a revision sometime soon [:(]

[Nottingham Nick]

Wow.. that is a lot of money for an extra bag. [n]

I certainly hope VS don't follow suit. We often seem to have an extra bag, when we come back from the USA. [:w][:I]

Nick

This does not apply to BA flights travelling / connecting to or from the US, Canada, Caribbean, Nigeria, Brazil and Mexico.

You can still bring back at least two bags after your New York shopping trips!

Let's hope VA does not follow BA's silliness.

[HighFlyer]

I think that £240 for an extra bag is ludicrously high, and I seriously hope that VS do not follow suit. Personally, i rarely travel with more than one case anyway, though baggage allowance for Au's is very generous, especially if you travel in Upper. I would really hope they dont change that.

Thanks,
Sarah

[fozzyo]

£240 for an extra bag? On a very lucky day that could well end up being the same price as a return ticket to NY in Econ (pre taxes, charges, surcharges, fuel etc).

Will be interested to see how they work out the extra charge - class, destination, Exec Club level etc.

You can make it £90 each way by 'pre-booking' your over weight bag - This was announced a LONG time ago.

But yes, I agree, VS will watch closely and will most likely follow suit as long a BA don't loose a lot of customs. Does seem that VS are run by accountants at the moment and the prospect of that will make $ signs come up in their eyes!

You can fairly simply get round it by taking extra bags.

Paul

Apart from the atlantic 2 pieces rule*, Think Y is 1 bag, WT+ 2 bags and J/F 3 bags free but only up to 23kgs per bag.

CE 2 bags ET 1 Bag Dom 1 bag all at 23kgs.

They will accept 32kgs per bag until 30th September.

*World Traveller customers travelling / connecting to or from the US, Canada, Caribbean, Nigeria, Brazil and Mexico will continue to be allowed two checked bags in line with the local government regulations.

[mcmbenjamin]

Easy BA? Was there merger?

Keep on banging those nails in the coffin BA! Does seem very bad timing for BA! [^]

Fingers crossed that VS doesn't follow suit! [V]

Dominic

[Nottingham Nick]

As V-Monkey (and others) have said above, the regulations don't apply to flights to the US. I think the key paragraph in the report is:

BA said that flights to America, Canada, the Caribbean, Nigeria, Brazil and Mexico would be exempt from the new charges to bring policy "in line with the local government regulations".

My reading of that is that, they would charge the full amount on these routes, but the 'local government regulations' prevent them from doing so. I may be misinterpreting the spin though. [?][:?]

At least this should mean that VS can't follow suit.

Nick

They do say 1 item of sports equip though can i take my golf clubs to Dallas then?

It used to be the case that excess baggage was charged based on weight on these other routes. Each kilo cost (IIRC) 1% of the unrestricted one-way first class fare to that destination. A friend who is a school teacher in africa was billed £200 for her case being nearly 30kg - it was full of school books!
This way, if you know you're going to be lugging stuff, then you can plan appropriately. ANd if you're still only taking within your 23kg allowance, then you just make sure you have 1 case that will hold it all.
I can see this being a problem for people like my parents, who are elderly, and prefer to have 2 smaller lighter cases than one large heavy one.

Oh dearwhat have BA bean counters been taking? I wouldn't mind betting that this has been implemented to allow them to absorb the new APD without impacting profits.

All the more reason to fly wonderful VS* [8D]

*Providing that they don't follow suit and keep their generous baggage alowance as it is

I wouldn't mind betting that this has been implemented to allow them to absorb the new APD without impacting profits.

This has been on the cards a lot longer than the new APD it was supposed to be implemented last summer but was put back to this Feb because of the cabin baggage fiasco.The original trade-off being the unlimited weight of your carry-on as long as it fits the gauge.I have wasted a fortune on cases and carry-on in the last 12 months[:(!]

I don't think I have _ever_ felt the need to take mor ethan one bag on any flight anywhere ever. Why do people need to take so much with them? or spread it across so many bags? It only creates hassle with packing the darn things, carrying them into and out of airports, in and out of cars, waiting at carousels for longer etc etc etc. Just make do with one bag or, even better, make do with a carryon. It's not that difficult...

Chris

Originally posted by cshore
even better, make do with a carryon. It's not that difficult...

Chris

What? For a 2 or 3 week stay? Don't think so[n]

Interestingly infants (by which I assume up to 2 years old) are allowed to check 1 bag, 1 car seat and 1 buggy. However a child of age 2 would only be allowed 1 bag - seems a bit inflexible to me.

From experience it is difficult to travel with a family with only one bag each. When you consider push chairs and car seats it's virtually impossible.

Phil FM

Give us £240 and we will lose your bag and thousands of others at heathrow
PS we did not impose the new APD are we not a wonderful airline???

don't think I have _ever_ felt the need to take more than one bag on any flight anywhere ever.

Thats why the inflexible 23kg limit is going to be such a pig,Mrs and I usually only take 1 checked case between us, but it's always over 23kgs.Our samsonites weigh a ton empty.

Originally posted by cshore
I don't think I have _ever_ felt the need to take mor ethan one bag on any flight anywhere ever. Why do people need to take so much with them? or spread it across so many bags? It only creates hassle with packing the darn things, carrying them into and out of airports, in and out of cars, waiting at carousels for longer etc etc etc. Just make do with one bag or, even better, make do with a carryon. It's not that difficult...

Chris

Have you never been to NY shopping????? [:?] I took one full bag out with my, had to buy another suit case there, and had 2 carry on bags! Not easy when the exchange rate is sooo good!![y]

I have never been able to pack lightly! [:#]Thank god for the UC allowance! [^][^]

I could easily see VS following suit, or at least reassessing their excess baggage policy. Did anyone see that episode of "Airport" where a band had £25,000 worth of excess baggage?!?[:0]

VS.

Originally posted by cshore
I don't think I have _ever_ felt the need to take mor ethan one bag on any flight anywhere ever. Why do people need to take so much with them? or spread it across so many bags? It only creates hassle with packing the darn things, carrying them into and out of airports, in and out of cars, waiting at carousels for longer etc etc etc. Just make do with one bag or, even better, make do with a carryon. It's not that difficult...

[y]I'm with you on that. I managed to move countries with two suitcases and a carry on bag.

I find it amazing to see what kinds of paraphenalia some people take away with them...

That said 240 GBP for one extra bag is verging on ridiculous. I guess they've got to raise the revenue to pay all that extra APD somehow

For that sort of price, you could probably use that service that sends your bag on for you - sorry, can't remember the name of it. Hard on the heels of the APD kerfuffle - and the almost-strikes, doesn't it seem that this sort of announcement is tantamount to BA pressing the self-destruct button? Who in their right minds is gonna be paying that sort of money to take an extra bag -on top of everything else????

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the world is going totally mad????[:0]

£240 for an extra bag both ways is more than some seats to NYC cost....not exactly encouraging me to fly BA.
I normally, for long haul, have my laptop as hand luggage and a bag + case for the hold.

I end up buying things when I go somewhere which do take up a bit more room and cameras etc come with me which go in my hold luggage - these can easily help fill a bag if in proper camera cases/bags.