Baggage Restrictions on British Airways

[sandyoftheseas]

I will be flying from the US to Spain on British Airways later this month for my Med. cruise. This is my first time flying with BA so I decided to check their baggage restrictions so I wouldn't be caught off guard at the airport. I was surprised to see the comparatively stringent weight requirements for carry-on bags. According to the BA web site, they only allow ONE carry-on bag (with no allowance for purse, camera bag, laptop, etc.) of 13 lbs or less in the economy (World Traveller) class. Can anyone tell me how strictly this weight limit is enforced?

[Globaliser]

I was surprised to see the comparatively stringent weight requirements for carry-on bags. According to the BA web site, they only allow ONE carry-on bag (with no allowance for purse, camera bag, laptop, etc.) of 13 lbs or less in the economy (World Traveller) class. Can anyone tell me how strictly this weight limit is enforced?

Actually, you'll find that cabin baggage restrictions are typically at this level or thereabouts on major airlines outside the US.

 

Usually on BA you can get away with something that is a little over the limit if it doesn't look big (ie nowhere near the size limit) and it doesn't look heavy. In my experience, a couple of small bags that are each obviously nowhere near the size or weight limits and which don't transgress the weight limit in total will not cause a problem, either.

 

However, there are times when every piece of cabin baggage is weighed and the limit is strictly enforced - for a recent report, see this post.

 

The intention of the limit is to make sure that there is plenty of space for everyone's cabin baggage - which there is on BA flights as a result of the policy - and the philosophy is that you should check everything which is neither valuable nor absolutely needed on board. The free checked baggage allowance on BA is still 2 pieces each of 32 kg (= 70 lbs), if you're flying from the US to Spain on flights that are all written on a single ticket.

[dkingdom]

4 of us just returned Fri. evening from our Med cruise. We flew BA from LAX to London and onto Rome and returned the same way and we had no problems whatsoever. I was also worried so we really watched what we packed into our carry-ons. No one ever checked. Then when we returned, my carry-ons were packed to the max and weighed a ton and I even had bought a mask in Venice and brought it in an extra bag so it wouldn't get crushed and still no one ever checked. Our flights were filled too. I think that as long as you keep your bags within their measurements you should be fine. If the bag looks too big then they might check it. By the way. besides my purse and 2 bags I had a camera around my neck and so did my husband. I took a really big purse and had it filled as well. We saw others with bigger bags than we had and they still had no problem.

 

Also BA is still having a catering strike. We had no problems with our flight to London or from London but on our flight to Rome they only gave out drinks. We found out later that we could have gotten a voucher at the airport to get something before our flight but no one ever told us. On our flight from Rome to London we were given a box lunch before we boarded the plane. So I would check just in case so you know if you need to grab something or not.

[Globaliser]

Also BA is still having a catering strike. We had no problems with our flight to London or from London but on our flight to Rome they only gave out drinks. We found out later that we could have gotten a voucher at the airport to get something before our flight but no one ever told us. On our flight from Rome to London we were given a box lunch before we boarded the plane. So I would check just in case so you know if you need to grab something or not.

Although the caterering contractor has reportedly reached an agreement with their workforce to settle the dispute, it may be a couple of weeks yet before full catering is resumed. For anyone who's flying on BA shortly, it would be as well to keep an eye on the news at http://www.ba.com - they have a prominent link on the front page to the current situation. As things stand today (3 October 2005):-

Longhaul (FIRST, Club World, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller):

Longhaul catering has returned to normal with the exception of some special meals.

 

Kosher and Muslim meals are available in all travel classes on all longhaul flights.

 

European flights:

The following flights have a full meal service: London Heathrow (LHR) to/from Moscow (DME), Athens (ATH), Istanbul (IST), Kiev (KBP), Larnaca (LCA), St Petersburg (LED), Bucharest (OTP), Sofia (SOF) and Tripoli (TIP).

 

Currently the only catering available on-board our other European flights is tea, coffee and biscuits.

 

If you are flying on one of these other services from London Heathrow in Club Europe you should collect your premium deli-box from the Terraces lounge.

 

In addition all customers on flights with no onboard catering are entitled to a refreshment voucher. Customers can collect these vouchers from check-in, customer service desks, Fast Bag Drop or in the lounge.

 

Flights within the UK (Domestic):

Before 10am:

For flights departing Heathrow before 10am, hot bacon rolls will be available in the lounge for eligible customers (Full fare ticket holders plus Gold & Silver Executive Club members).

 

For flights to Heathrow before 10am, hot paninis will be served onboard.

 

After 10am:

For flights at other times of day the only catering available on-board is tea, coffee and biscuits.

 

At London Heathrow refreshment vouchers for use in the terminal are available for customers to collect prior to boarding from check-in, customer service desks, Fast Bag Drop or in the lounge (normal lounge usage applies).

 

For flights to Heathrow, a deli-bag or a refreshment voucher (varies by airport) is available in the terminal to collect and use prior to boarding.

One of the ironies of the current situation is that some BA shorthaul passengers are finding that having a £5 (or equivalent) voucher to spend in the airport before boarding gets them food that they prefer to what would normally be served onboard. Especially as they can choose what they want - some are choosing to spend the entire voucher on chocolates and similar, particularly if it's not really meal time.

 

It doesn't work very well, though, for those (like me) who often arrive at the airport only just in time to get on board.

 

dkingdom: If you weren't offered a voucher when you checked in and there was no food on board, you might want to lodge a complaint if you have the energy to write a letter. BA are acutely sensitive to the disappointment caused by the current problems and you may be offered some compensation. Even if you aren't, writing a letter to try wouldn't hurt.

[Goldryder]

The BA website (US version) regarding baggage...

 

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagcabin/public/en_us

 

Its a bit confusing but as Globaliser says, its pretty much what you get with non US carriers.

 

I am flying with a BA partner carrier and had a query about limits, so I rang them and got the limit increased, no harm in trying that if you wanted to.

[dkingdom]

(dkingdom: If you weren't offered a voucher when you checked in and there was no food on board, you might want to lodge a complaint if you have the energy to write a letter. BA are acutely sensitive to the disappointment caused by the current problems and you may be offered some compensation. Even if you aren't, writing a letter to try wouldn't hurt.)

 

Thank you for your recommendation. I might do that however I was very pleased with our service and food our on our flight. We didn't have to check-in between flights because we had a connecting flight and I think that is where the problem was. I still think we should have been informed somehow though. When we arrived at Heathrow we didn't want to exchange money and we thought we would still get fed onboard. Our flight was in the evening and we didn't arrive in Rome until after 9:00 p.m. By the time our driver picked us up and we arrived at our hotel it was almost midnight so you can imagine by that time how hungry we were!

[dkingdom]

 

Thank you for your recommendation. I might do that however I was very pleased with our service and food our on our flight. We didn't have to check-in between flights because we had a connecting flight and I think that is where the problem was. I still think we should have been informed somehow though. When we arrived at Heathrow we didn't want to exchange money and we thought we would still get fed onboard. Our flight was in the evening and we didn't arrive in Rome until after 9:00 p.m. By the time our driver picked us up and we arrived at our hotel it was almost midnight so you can imagine by that time how hungry we were!

[dkingdom]

Sorry for the double post. Trying to figure out the Quote function.

[dbh62ark]

No guarantees that things will be the same for your flights, but I can tell you that I heard numerous complaints from passengers on my August 27 sailing who flew British Airways in late August of this year and went to a LOT of trouble to comply with the 13-pound carry-on limit and were dismayed that their efforts were just wasted. They said that the weight and size of carry-ons were not checked (they had bought special carry-ons and had not taken a lot of things that they felt like they needed) or enforced and that passengers were dragging on lots of very heavy items like suitcases over the 21" carry-on limit applied by other carriers, hanging bags, etc. that obviously weighed 4 or 5 times the 13 pound max.

 

But the one thing that I've learned in our travels is that you can always count on change, so I would have a back-up plan like a small carry-on inside a larger carry-on that you can slip into your checked bag so that you can adapt quickly at the airport if for some reason your airline decides to enforce the rules made by the airline when you fly.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

[Globaliser]

... I heard numerous complaints from passengers on my August 27 sailing who flew British Airways in late August of this year and went to a LOT of trouble to comply with the 13-pound carry-on limit and were dismayed that their efforts were just wasted. They said that the weight and size of carry-ons were not checked (they had bought special carry-ons and had not taken a lot of things that they felt like they needed) or enforced and that passengers were dragging on lots of very heavy items like suitcases over the 21" carry-on limit applied by other carriers, hanging bags, etc. that obviously weighed 4 or 5 times the 13 pound max.

Of course, some of these passengers may have been travelling in premium classes, where the cabin baggage allowance is much more generous because of the extra space in those cabins.

 

Also, in London some of the gates have oversize cabin baggage trap points that are beyond the gate reader - so people who present boarding passes and are allowed through towards the aircraft may still get their oversize baggage taken off them before they reach the aircraft.

 

In any case, their efforts can't have been totally wasted - they must have had a much easier time of carrying their cabin baggage! ;)

[Bruin Steve]

When we did our British Isles/Norwegian Fjords cruise on Constellation back in July, we had one leg of our air travel (Madrid to Gatwick) on BA (The LAX to Madrid and Heathrow to LAX portions were on American)...

 

We were greatly concerned about the luggage restrictions as there is conflicting information on BA's own website. I tried to call BA directly to confirm that my reading (70 lbs.) was correct and they assured me that it was not--that we woould be held to 50 pounds per person plus that small carry-on...

 

Well, since we were doing a 7 night pre-cruise, a 14 night cruise (with formal and semi-formal nights) and a one night postcruise, there was NO WAY we could get anywhere near the 50 pound limit...

 

We decided to take our chances, packed however we would typically...and arrived at the airport armed with a printed copy of the BA webpage that seemed to allow the higher weight limit...

 

What we soon found (at least at the BA counter at the Madrid Airport) is that no one cared what our luggage weighed...They checked our overweight suitcases (2 each) without weighing them...and no one ever took any notice of our carry-ons...

 

Of course, that doesn't mean next time they won't!!!

[Globaliser]

We were greatly concerned about the luggage restrictions as there is conflicting information on BA's own website. I tried to call BA directly to confirm that my reading (70 lbs.) was correct and they assured me that it was not--that we woould be held to 50 pounds per person plus that small carry-on...

Bruin Steve: Can you give me the URL of the web pages that have the information about 50 lbs per person for North American flights? I can pass that on to people who can get it fixed. (It's definitely 70 lbs per piece, 2 pieces per person - and it includes European sectors that connect to/from North American flights on the same ticket!)

 

Many thanks!

[Goldryder]

Bruin Steve: Can you give me the URL of the web pages that have the information about 50 lbs per person for North American flights? I can pass that on to people who can get it fixed. (It's definitely 70 lbs per piece, 2 pieces per person - and it includes European sectors that connect to/from North American flights on the same ticket!)

 

Many thanks!

 

 

This is the US baggage limit..checked bags, not cabin..

 

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagchk/public/en_us

[dbh62ark]

Of course, some of these passengers may have been travelling in premium classes, where the cabin baggage allowance is much more generous because of the extra space in those cabins.

 

In any case, their efforts can't have been totally wasted - they must have had a much easier time of carrying their cabin baggage! ;)

No, they were in regular coach class. I asked because I travel some for work and am aware of the different restrictions for various class of travel with U.S. airlines. I agree that it's nice not to have to carry as much, but some of the passengers indicated that it was difficult to find a way to carry things that they really needed like medical supplies and other necessities due to the 13 pound limit. That's not an issue for me personally, but I understand that sometimes passengers who are older that I am have various medicines and other items that they need, so I sympathize with that situation. It was quite a burden for them to comply with the limits listed by BA, so they were very frustrated that they complied and then enforcement was nonexistent, so they could have traveled much more comfortably.

 

Donna

[Bruin Steve]

Bruin Steve: Can you give me the URL of the web pages that have the information about 50 lbs per person for North American flights? I can pass that on to people who can get it fixed. (It's definitely 70 lbs per piece, 2 pieces per person - and it includes European sectors that connect to/from North American flights on the same ticket!)

 

Many thanks!

They seem to have fixed the problem since July...I can no longer find the confusing information...It is very clear on the new page:

 

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagchk/public/en_us

[Globaliser]

They seem to have fixed the problem since July...I can no longer find the confusing information...It is very clear on the new page:

 

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagchk/public/en_us

Glad to hear that: Thanks for trying to find it, anyway!

[drwong]

The ticket agent may also be a factor as well. I've noticed that small-framed agents tend to enforce the 70-lb limit pretty enthisiastically, and forcing you to place your bags on the scales during the check-in process gives them all the information they need to find you in violation. Other airlines (e.g., KLM) will let you exceed the ceiling if you pay a penalty or if you're flying premium class, but with BA, it's the baggage handler unions at Heathrow and other UK airports that prevent their airlines from accepting anything heavier than 70 lbs.

 

I'd recommend following dbh62ark's advice to carry a softside piece of luggage with you - I pack one in the outside pocket of my suitcase just in case I'm forced to transfer items at the ticket counter due to a recently changed luggage policy.

[Globaliser]

Other airlines (e.g., KLM) will let you exceed the ceiling if you pay a penalty or if you're flying premium class, but with BA, it's the baggage handler unions at Heathrow and other UK airports that prevent their airlines from accepting anything heavier than 70 lbs.

Just to add that it's not only BA, or the UK. This is a restriction imposed by an increasing number of major airlines around the world for health and safety reasons, and I expect that it will become standard procedure for all airlines within a few years.