Hi Olwen,
this practice of charging for luggage came into practice a good few months ago now. As was correctly stated most budget airlines impose a charge per bag/suitcase checked in.

As Shirley says it is common place now to pay for checked in luggage often goverened by number of pieces as well as weight.

just a few minutes ago i was checking a hol for sept,not a bad price and when i scrolled down it said it was £19 per suitcase checked in and £9.50 for the use of check in.with a few other bits and bobs it soon pushes up the overall cost.

regards;percy123

Well I certainly knew that the budget airlines charges extra for baggage, but until now hadn't realised that the traditional holiday companies had started doing it too. I have just been looking at booking flights, and found that FC/Thomsons will be charging for baggage, unless I book before 4th March, and Monarch have already started doing so I have yet to go further into the booking process to find out exactly how much they are going to charge me to take hold baggage.

Now i hope i dont get mauled for this but isnt this what people asked for? People complained that they didnt take much baggage with them so they should have the choice to pay or not, ditto inflight meals etc. Now we have a mix and match choice we still arent happy.

More on topic if you are moving stuff overseas i would avoid using baggage allowance and look in to freight carriers. Not as complicated as you might think, or costly

I was looking for a holiday in October with Thomas Cook and they are also charging for suitcases.

Are you sure Thomas Cook are charging for suit case cos we've not been charged on a package holiday in October to Turkey,they even gave us extra allowance,20kg checked in and 5kg hand luggage.T.

Now i hope i dont get mauled for this but isnt this what people asked for? People complained that they didnt take much baggage with them so they should have the choice to pay or not, ditto inflight meals etc. Now we have a mix and match choice we still arent happy.

I think though the main problem is the prices are the same but now you have to pay for baggage too!
So if a price before was £100 then we'd hope a new price without luggage would be £80 but instead we are getting a price of £100 + £14 each way for your luggage!!!
If you think, for a family of 5 that'd be £140 just for luggage!!!

Thos Cook packages (standard flight seats) have 15kg checked in luggage included in the holiday price. Extra 5kg costs £15.00. Seat only have 5kg hand luggage and checked in luggage is extra.. The price depends on whether you book it at the point of booking or add it on later and on the distance of the flight and seats booked.

I'm not sure that's quite correct Sunaddict. Thomas Cook include 15Kg on seat only and you can pay an additional premium to up the allowance to 20Kg. We are in a similar position to Olwyn in that we are purchasing a property and have extra stuff to take out with us on our trips this year.

At the momment cazholly is right.

But from 2nd March for all NEW flight only bookings sunaddict is right hand luggage only and £8 each way for 20kg in the hold shorthaul and £15 each way long haul.

This will only apply to TC flight only bookings with the packages staying the same 15kg hold luggage as standard then a charge to upgrade to 20kg.

Hope that made sense.

J

Sorry I wasn't aware that TC were going to start charging for baggage on seat only bookings!

We have recently booked flights with them for April and October with 15Kg included. Glad we booked them when we did then

At Malaga last night Thomson weighed hand luggage and cases together.

First time I have had that happen. We were well under weight but a couple from out hotel were charged excess on hand luggage. The cases were underweight but were not given the option of transferring things over.

We all have our own point of view but much of this is really our own fault. Each time you fill in that questionnaire then you drive these changes forward. So called free child places do not exist. The ticket prices are inflated to take it into account.

In business I was never averse to adopting someone else's bright idea. When you think about it that is all they have done. I read a while back a suggestion that the ticket price charged should be based on the weight of the passenger - you might have thought it funny when you put that down - I doubt most people will when they find the TOs and airlines adopt that policy.

As a personal thing I avoid filling them in where possible, but when I do I stick to the facts.

fwh

So would it be wrong of me to point to a 'large' person and say they've got 200lbs on me!!!

Hi Guys,

Eureka - an airline who don't charge you to take a suitcase of holiday good old ONUR AIR Hip Hip Hooray
Could I suggest first point of call anyone wanting to pay the advertised price go to http://www.goldtrail.co.uk who are the official site for their flights - I have used them in the past only 1 minor problem no in flight entertainment so take your I Pod and Cross word puzzle with you. Drinks and Snacks offered where relatively cheap and good quality

Our hand luggage was weighed with our cases on a Thomsons flight out of Malaga , June 2008. Not sure if this is only happening at this airport. We are flying with Thomsons this summer so we will be extra careful.

Hi Everyone,
Its not just Thomas Cook whoc implemented this absurd charge in the last 2 weeks. Thomson have been doing it since last year through Thomson airlines - one would never have called them a cut price airline when fares start from £270 + to Dalaman!! Bring on Onur Air, anyone looking to book a flight to Dalaman check them out. Goldtrail (no I know they have just featured on Watchdog) sell these flights - choose your own accomodation and there are no baggage charges plus a generous allowance of 21 kilo's. They fly out of Birmmingham, East Midlands and Manchester

I have said before here on HT - You get what you ask for.

Consider just two changes in recent times. Pre booked seats and extra leg room. These come from customer surveys. The TOs/Airlines have responded by introducing charges for these, and very profitable it is.

Baggage is just another item on the wish list of (some) passengers. The response is what you are now getting.

Next time you fill in one of these forms read the question in full - when asked if you would be willing to pay a small extra charge for that service say NO!

Your version of a small charge and that of the TOs/Airlines are not the same.

fwh

I completely disagree - with the exception of tourists who own a property in their chosen destination all travelers even the holidaymaker who travel light take some kind of hold luggage with them and this is obviously a blatant attempt by airlines to justify these ridiculous charges which only got to feather their nests.

On the subject of extra leg room - these seats are always over subscribed thats not out of choice thats our of necessity. I am only 5 foot tall and cannot possible maneuver between two rows due to disability.
On some planes you need to be a contortionist - were doe's health and safety come into the lay out of some of these planes talk about pile them high!!!