baggage fees and luggage express

[Willie T]

I asked this on another board and did'nt get a response, so will try here.

How does it work with luggage express now with the additional baggage fees by the airlines? Last year we paid $15.00 per suitcase.

 

If anyone has done this lately, could you tell me how it works now? Thanks

[kitty9]

The first thing is you have to find out if your ship will accept shipped bags. Many of the main stream lines will not. If your cruise line does accept, you contact the shipping company and ask for quotes. I contacted Luggage Express and Luggage Free and got quotes from both for shipping two bags, under 50lbs. It was VERY expensive. Now, this was shipping to Europe, but I was quoted over $1500 for one way shipping from my home to Denmark---that quote was for one company, the other company wanted over $2200. For shipping from home to FLL, it was quoted as $279 per bag, one way. So as you can see, paying the airline isn't all that bad.

 

If you decide to ship, the company will send you all the information you need to fill out for shipping. A few days before they pick up your bags, they send all the luggage tags you put on your bags for shipping. They tell you what day/time your bags will be picked up at your house. For international shipping, you must fill out an exact content form for each bag, so clearing foreign Customs is easier.

[adorethesea]

I asked this on another board and did'nt get a response, so will try here.

How does it work with luggage express now with the additional baggage fees by the airlines? Last year we paid $15.00 per suitcase.

 

If anyone has done this lately, could you tell me how it works now? Thanks

 

Well hello Willie T! For starters....it was $15 per person, not per bag!! Silly girl!! :p

 

I did a search for the info, couldn't really see and I am just as curious as you! I bet we just pay for the bag fee when we pay the Luggage Express fee??

 

Anyways, I sent an email to Carnival and will let you know what they say!

[Willie T]

Thanks kitty9 for an answer. But I meant the service on the ship where you set your bags out the night before debark. and pick them up at your home airport. I should have been clearer.

Thanks DD for checking into that. Let me know.

[fdmdj83]

We just got off the Destiny yesterday, (Sat. Oct 11). We used luggage express and it was very easy. We had to fill out a form and turn it in by midnight, Thursday, oct 9. The cost was $20 per person. The form asks for your air information and how many pieces of luggage you are checking in. You fill out one form per person. On Friday, by 8pm we had our boarding passes and our luggage tags delivered to our cabin. Besides the airline luggage tags, we also were given blue luggage tags from Carnival. Also, a letter came with the boarding passes and luggage tags, stating where we were to meet on the ship before we got off Sat morning.

 

At first we felt everything sat morning was a bit disorderly, only because we weren't sure what to expect. Carnival called the Self Assist people from the first two floors..(we were deck 7).then someone came and got all of us from our designated area and we were literally walked to the gangway and were able to check out, bypassing all the other self-assist guests. It all went very quick...and the best part was our luggage was at our destination....for us it was money well spent and we didn't have to lug our luggage off the ship. Carnival said that out of 2,900 guests, approx 1,000 would self-assist. This was worth it since we had an early flight scheduled.

[Willie T]

Thank you. I have done this before, so sorta know the routine. I think I should have worded my question different. If you pay the $20.00 pp for luggage express, is there any additional fees to cover the airlines baggage fee? Sounds confusing I know. Last year there were no extra fees on our airline for bags, this year, same airline, there is a 20 or 25 dollar fee per bag. Luggage Express covers that? (Am I digging a deeper, confusing hole?)

[fdmdj83]

sorry, I should have been more specifc also....since my husband is an advantage customer (thru the airlines) we did not have to pay an extra luggage fee....but the Purser's desk on the cruise told us if there were any fees as such, the airline would be taking care of that fee, not them. I'm not sure how they would have charged the fee, since we were not checking in luggage at the airport...also....the luggage express is offered only for US flights, not international flights

[pms4104]

Thank you. I have done this before, so sorta know the routine. I think I should have worded my question different. If you pay the $20.00 pp for luggage express, is there any additional fees to cover the airlines baggage fee? Sounds confusing I know. Last year there were no extra fees on our airline for bags, this year, same airline, there is a 20 or 25 dollar fee per bag. Luggage Express covers that? (Am I digging a deeper, confusing hole?)

While I understand your question, I do not have an answer. I cannot imagine the airlines and/or the bag service company absorbing the checked bag fees for which other airline passengers are liable. This is a revenue stream the airlines can ill afford to lose.

 

But ... what a nightmare it could be to assess checked bag fees to those participating in the shipboard program. There are those who bought tickets before any checked bag fees were introduced; those who are elite passengers and exempt from any bag fees; those who should be liable for a fee for a second but not a first checked bag.

 

Because of the logisitics, I envision that when the airlines recognize the lost revenue stream, either the shipboard program will come to an end or the fees will rise to well above the current level. No one is going to eat these fees forever, certainly not the bag service company and surely not the airlines.

[Lookingforfacts]

Any applicable airline charge is in addition to the fee charged by the vendor.

[pms4104]

Any applicable airline charge is in addition to the fee charged by the vendor.

So, if I understand your comment correctly, when the bag service contractor does a passenger's airline checkin and prints bag tags for same, the contractor is made aware by the airline of the appropriate checked bag fee that, then, is added to the passenger's service fee and, therefore, to that individual's shipboard account prior to disembarkation. Right?

 

I think the OP has posed this issue because no one with firsthand experience seems to have reported back on these boards as to how this has been handled these past couple of months. I've asked in the past and never got a straight answer ... some posters indicated they were not being assessed the airline checked bag fee when they used the onboard checkin/bag check service, so it was quite a better deal than checking in at the airport. No one here yet has admitted to having to pay the checked bag fee when using this service.

[fdmdj83]

When we used luggage express, I asked the pursers desk about the extra baggage fee, only because I knew that we should not be charged because of our exemption...they said that it was up to the airline to make that decision if they needed to charge us or not...it was not a matter that they, the cruiseline, looked into. Actually, when we flew out to MIO, our airline porter was going to charge us for our luggage, until I mentioned to him we were advantage customers. He did no checking on his part, but took our word...

[fdmdj83]

I also made it a point to state our baggage exemption info on the form we filled out and turned in at the purser's desk...I don't even know if the info was passed along to the airline, or if the form was sent to the airline...because the purser also mentioned that our request for luggage express could have been turned down from the airline because of our flight time being 11:30 ... we were docked at 7am..and had plenty of time.

[pms4104]

When we used luggage express, I asked the pursers desk about the extra baggage fee, only because I knew that we should not be charged because of our exemption...they said that it was up to the airline to make that decision if they needed to charge us or not...it was not a matter that they, the cruiseline, looked into. Actually, when we flew out to MIO, our airline porter was going to charge us for our luggage, until I mentioned to him we were advantage customers. He did no checking on his part, but took our word...

I understand that the cruiselines do not get involved in these fees ... however, they have contracted with a service that will handle passenger and baggage checkin. So, I would think that any checked bag fees become apparent when the bag service company handles checkin. At that point, it would be logical that the service would attach the checked bag fee to their service charge and that total then would be billed to passengers on their final statement of their onboard account. That is assuming the fee ends up on one's shipboard account. Otherwise, I would think the bag service contractor, if they are collecting their own fee at the pier, would also collect the appropriate checked bag fees. Like I said, no one with firsthand experience at checking bags for which a fee should apply has responded.

[fdmdj83]

I went thru my travel papers and found a copy of the form we filled out for luggage express. It asked for the number of checked bags per person, then it listed a baggage fee schedule per airline. For example, Bag #1 for American and NW and US Airways, $15.00/bag; Bag #2 was listed as $25/bag..then it goes on to say "By participating in this service, I agree to pay the applicable service fee of $20.00 per person plus additional fees as indicated by the airline baggage fee schedule above. then it goes on to say "Airline Baggage Fees will be applied to your Sail & Sign Account(Airline Rules Apply. If your Reservation Meets Your Criteria for Exemptions From Their Baggage Policy You will Not Be Charged. These fees are determined by the airlines, and not by Carnival."

[linkerbink]

I don't know which cruise line you are referring to, but I just got off the RCL Freedom of the Seas on Sunday (Miami) and we used the luggage valet program, which I assume is the type of program you are asking about. For us (sister and I) it was $20 per person. The only glitch we encountered was that we were exempt from the airlines' baggage fee because we booked prior to the date the fees were instituted. On the trip going to the ship the fee was waived. When we signed up for the program on the ship, our Sea Pass was charged $15 per person for our bags (1 bag each person) in addition to the valet program fee. I told the people at Guest Relations that it should be waived for us, but they said they must go by the fee list they are given by the airlines, and that I should take it up with the airlines at the airport.

 

We asked the ticket agent at Miami International to refund the fee, but they gave us some kind of line about it must be done by the same person who issued the boarding passes, which was the ship! So, we didn't push the issue...we were still basking the the cruiseing afterglow and didn't want to spoil the mood. We just ate the $30...no big deal after what we spent on the ship! I don't think this will be much of an issue soon as most people are now booking after the fees have been put in place. The only ones that it might affect are those premuim class flyers who are not charged for bags as part of their perks. If you fall into that category, you should probably ask your airline how to handle this if it comes up.

[Willie T]

Thank you all for replying. I think I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it. Sounds like every ones experiance was a little different.

[shopril]

We used the Luggage Express in Miami on the Valor last month. It worked very well for us since we had a late (after 5:00 pm) flight. Did not have to drag the bags around until noon.

We paid $20 per person (there were 2 of us) which was added to our Sign & Sail. Flew American and we checked 3 bags total. We were not charged anything extra even though the form listed the fees. We did pay $55.00 (OUCH) for our luggage on the way down.

Hope this helps and enjoy your cruise.