1 reviews | Active since Jun 2016
Charged for heavy baggage while being underweight
<p>Useless!!! charged an additional R600 for a "heavy" bag despite my small child having no bags and my husband.... So we were actually almost 30kg underweight.... The point of having excess baggage charges is so that you minimize weight and save fuel...this is all about the money. Thanks for the stress. Remind me to fly with an airline that uses common sense rather than hiding behind random rules.</p>
Good Morning Hannah
Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us.
Historically the average cost that the airlines have to pay for handling baggage was included in every ticket, so effectively people with no baggage subsidized those with baggage. As ticket prices have risen with the fuel price and exchange rate we have had to find ways to keep cheap tickets in the market in order to try and stop the total market from shrinking. One way has been to stop the cross subsidization, so now customers bringing the extra baggage are the ones who pay for it. This was already app**** in the USA and EU about 5 years ago - South Africa is just slow to catch up, but I see that SAA and Mango are now also amending their policies to the same in order to keep competitive cheap fares in the market. Many carriers in the rest of the world have now gone one step further and charge for every piece of luggage, including cabin luggage.
The weight is not the only issue, as the handling companies charge the airlines for every piece handled, and we also pay for the number of staff required to load the aircraft, which is also affected by the number of pieces of luggage.
I know it is not good news, but it is one of the reasons why over the past 12 years the average Comair fare (BA + kulula) has only increased 14% while inflation has increased 98%. Our current policy imposes a fee for an additional bag. If any one item of baggage exceeds 20kgs, a heavy bag fee is imposed on it.
On kulula flights, each customer is allowed 1 bag at 20kg as free baggage allowance. Combined weight for families or customers travelling on the same booking is not considered as we have adopted the per piece concept which is a global standard. For all bags weighing more than 20kgs, customer are also charged a fee
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to respond.
Yours Sincerely,
Nazley – CR
Best regards,
Good Morning Hannah
Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us.
Historically the average cost that the airlines have to pay for handling baggage was included in every ticket, so effectively people with no baggage subsidized those with baggage. As ticket prices have risen with the fuel price and exchange rate we have had to find ways to keep cheap tickets in the market in order to try and stop the total market from shrinking. One way has been to stop the cross subsidization, so now customers bringing the extra baggage are the ones who pay for it. This was already app**** in the USA and EU about 5 years ago - South Africa is just slow to catch up, but I see that SAA and Mango are now also amending their policies to the same in order to keep competitive cheap fares in the market. Many carriers in the rest of the world have now gone one step further and charge for every piece of luggage, including cabin luggage.
The weight is not the only issue, as the handling companies charge the airlines for every piece handled, and we also pay for the number of staff required to load the aircraft, which is also affected by the number of pieces of luggage.
I know it is not good news, but it is one of the reasons why over the past 12 years the average Comair fare (BA + kulula) has only increased 14% while inflation has increased 98%. Our current policy imposes a fee for an additional bag. If any one item of baggage exceeds 20kgs, a heavy bag fee is imposed on it.
On kulula flights, each customer is allowed 1 bag at 20kg as free baggage allowance. Combined weight for families or customers travelling on the same booking is not considered as we have adopted the per piece concept which is a global standard. For all bags weighing more than 20kgs, customer are also charged a fee
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to respond.
Yours Sincerely,
Nazley – CR
Best regards,