Travel from Gatwick, beware extra costs

[kazmus]

More a warning than AIBU but got caught out by excess baggage costs lately. Only a suitcase each and each one was just over 4kg over. Expected to pay something but not £10 per kilo so an extra £90! Funny thing was on the return journey (from Greece) we had lost the extra weight...didn't realise 2 paperbacks and a shampoo made that much difference! Don't get me started on the extremely obese woman who sailed through without extra charges and spilled over into half my seat:( (Prepares to be flamed by all amply proportioned travellers:) )AIBU to feel just a teeny bit agrieved?

[bubblecoral]

Smelly people also impose their presence on other people on planes, they warrant complaining about too.

Nobody said people with things that are unpleasant for others shouldn't fly, but those of us that have had to put up with someone so large or so smelly on a flight that it really is uncomfortable to be next to them, have every right to complain about it.

It doesn't make me brainless, it makes me someone that quite reasonably wants to be able to fly in comfort without having to restrict myself in the seat I paid for.

[ChippingIn]

I can diet - can you do anything to get a brain?

[Shakirasma]

No she doesn't! How rude are you op!

[BornInAfrica]

Does she? Where will it all end? I can't stand smelly people or old men who breathe through their noses or wriggling kids or skinny bony people who smell of cheap perfume and fast sex or any number of hideous human combinations - should none of them fly for that reason?

[bubblecoral]

Come off it ladies, surely you can admit that it's worthy of complaint when you are sitting next to someone huge on a tiny airplane seat and they can't help but impose ontt your seat and into your personal space.

No, OP didn't put it in a nice way. But she has a point...

[DontCallMePeanut]

Wow... I do love it when the OP's prove themselves, not only to be stupid, but to be complete bitches as well...

[BornInAfrica]

Is the OP a first time traveller then? Can't think of any other reason for being so thick as to not weigh your baggage whether it's Gatwick or Shitsville, USA - every traveller knows to weigh their baggage don't they?

[RockStockandTwoOpenBottles]

[bubblecoral]

A friend in the travel industry told me that Monarch have recently begun to get stricter on their already measly baggage allowances.

Get yourself certified as a scuba diver, most airlines give you an extra 5 kilos free when you produce a card that says you are a diver. I've used it before on a non diving holiday where I had no scuba gear with me and it's not been questioned!

Made me feel very guilty a few weeks ago when dh and I produced the cards and got allowed and extra 8 kilos between us for free, and there was a couple standing at the desk next to us with a baby that had just been whacked with a £70 charge for being 7 kilos over.

[MmeLindor.]

Gosh, aren't you a charmer.

YABU

[ratspeaker]

Wasn't calling you stupid, OP, but your last remark makes me rethink that

[GastonTheLadybird]

I love it when people say "ha! That was totally tongue in cheek" when they actually mean, "oh balls, I was totally wrong then".

[AmyStake]

No, we just can't understand how you could not weigh your suitcases before you go on holiday and then bitch about being charged for excess weight

[Glitterknickaz]

Four and a half kilos. So heavier than the average newborn....

[squeakytoy]

4.5kg each case is a considerable amount to be over...

[bellavita]

What a rude poster.

[plebshire]

I think you spelt 'head' and 'arse' wrong in the second sentence of that post.

[kazmus]

woah! tongue in cheek ladies...no need to call people stupid...it was with Monarch and there was an article in the Times apparently that this is a particular problem Gatwick. We had a case each, each case was 4.5 kg over so £90 charge. Sense of humour check or are all of you the fatties that weigh twice as much as anyone else anyway?

[ccpccp]

Open cases. Remove heavy stuff. Close cases. Smile sweetly at jobsworth checking you in.

What airline was it?

[LadyThumb]

We went to Lanzarote - suitcases under on outward journey. Overweight coming back although we had EXACTLY the same in them!

Seems they just charge what they like!

[nijinsky]

Edinburgh Airport can be very arsy strict. I've had to unpack all my clothes from one holdall they said was too big, buy another one in the airport exactly the same size and repack in front of everyone, including putting the original bag away (work that one out). I've paid excess baggage several times without complaint (although I'm personally tiny). Most recently I was commanded by airline attendant to put my waller, which he insisted on referring to as a handbag, into my hand luggage and zip it up. I tried to speak but was told "hurry please". Then he demanded my boarding pass and passport. "They're in my wallet, zipped up in my hand luggage"...

And the luggage carousels always take about 40 minutes to get loaded, and then break down...

[MmeBlueberry]

I don't think this is a gatwick issue. You have a baggage allowance, and you have to pay if you exceed it. You can pool your allowances as a group but there is still a maximum per bag. We always put our bags on the bathroom scales before travelling and have never come close to the maximum.

If you have hiking boots and a heavy winter coat, everyone knows tomwear thhese rather than pack them.

Don't blame others for you own stupidity.

[DontCallMePeanut]

It's the airline, not Gatwick. Like everyone else has said. Also, weigh your suitcase before you leave. I always leave a kilo or two, to allow for disrepencies. (Although, there should never be THAT much of a difference between two scales)

[tyler80]

The airport is responsible for the scales, the airline for the excess baggage charges.

[JaneBennet]

I always weigh my suitcases before leaving home and then add a couple of kilos to the total weight. I'm convinced that airline scales add 1/2 kilos per case.