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If you’re traveling as a group — if you’re traveling with your family, say, or with a group of friends — will airlines allow you to combine your respective baggage allowances? That is, if there are 4 of you, and each person is allowed 20 kg checked baggage each, can one person’s bag weigh more than 20 kg, for as long as the total baggage weight for all four does not exceed 80 kg?
A friend asked me this question yesterday. I always thought it was okay as long as the group had booked together, but I couldn’t find a definite answer in their airline’s website so I asked KLM directly (via Twitter). This was their answer:
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KLM
Unless there’s an “informal” way to do it, it looks like you can’t pool baggage allowances with KLM.
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So then I looked into the baggage policies of airlines that I’ll be flying with (or planning to fly with) in the next year.
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Cebu Pacific
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“Yes, as long as everyone in the group is booked under one record locator and they are all present at time of check-in.” Cebu Pacific website > Ask Ceb > Prepaid Baggage
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Air Asia
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“Checked baggage weight can only be shared with passengers in the same booking number.” Air Asia website > Travel information (dropdown) > Baggage info > Checked baggage
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Philippine Airlines
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“Please coordinate with the check-in counter and request to pool their [sic] baggage. Passengers should all be present during check in and should be ready for individual verification.” (Update as of 16 Apr 2015, 1340h)
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I couldn’t find the info I needed in PAL’s website, so I asked them on both Twitter and Facebook if they allow baggage allowance pooling. In response, they asked me for my “flight route, 6-letter reservation codes and ticket numbers that start with 211 or 079.” The rest of the conversation you can see above.
(Yes, they asked for flight details and then told me anyway to call the hotline. That pissed me off a bit — why should anyone have to call a Manila number, and pay long-distance charges in my case, to get the answer to a simple query? For that matter, why should anyone’s flight details matter in a simple question of policy? Anyway, it looks like it was all a roundabout way of saying they didn’t know the answer yet. Today, they got back to me with the answer from the “concerned office” and it still isn’t a plain yes or no — just to make arrangements with the staff at the check-in counter. If counter staff says no, there doesn’t seem to be a black-and-white policy for anyone to fall back on. Like I said, I have a fondness for PAL and an even greater fondness for PAL employees, but I swear to God, sometimes… It’s such a simple thing. Somebody from the “concerned office” please grow brass ones and make it a policy already.)
ANYWAY.
The answer to the question is: it depends on your airline. If you’re traveling in a group and planning to pool your baggage allowances, make sure to check first if your airline allows it.
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“Can you pool your baggage allowances if you’re traveling as a group?” was created by LSS for travel site Small-Town Girls, Midnight Trains. All rights reserved.
This was the question that we got when my sisters and niece visited last October 2014 here. That answer of PAL is incomplete. My sister was with her daughter and (I think) it is safe to assume that combining their luggage limit will be allowed since she’s below 18 years old. But we were right and wrong.
Right, because it was allowed to combine. Wrong, because there was a limit. They can only have a combined weight of 35 kg (if I can remember it correctly) E you can imagine the shock because per person has 30 kg baggage allowance. And secondly, we left the other luggage at home and gave them the bigger luggage instead. For the first time in our lives, we repacked the things and moved it to the other luggage that they got.
I don’t understand why it was limited to 35 kg e combined nga, or maybe I was left out somewhere? the ground staff did not even explained to my sisters. Basta she said they cannot check in more than 35 kg even combined. Period. I mean there should be information about it in their website, too.
Smh.
You’re right, first of all, the info should be in their website. And at the very least, if someone asks them about it, they should give a straightforward answer. (Ay ewan, naloka ako kanina sa answers ng Twitter/FB handler nila.)
Second, I think the ground staff got it wrong, based on the policies of other airlines — the weight of ONE bag cannot go over 35 kg (or 32 kg in some airlines) because of safety concerns for the people who will be lifting the bags. But 35 kg surely isn’t the limit for the TWO bags with combined baggage allowance. You’re right, what’s the point of allowing them to combine baggage allowances (30 + 30 = 60) if they set a limit of 35 for the combined weight?
Exactly! E di sana separate nalng sila ng dala. Tapos it’s too much hassle to go back and forth to double check/inquire because you know how long the queues could be kapag Philippine flights na usapan. I cannot barge in rin kasi i am not a passenger but in every angle you look at it kulang sila sa information and that flared me up.
E pano pa if sinagad namin yung weight ng luggage? it could have been worse. but seriously, they need to do something about their system and maybe, include some lessons on etiquette to some of their staffs because some can really be a bit rude and annoying. They may not say a thing but their faces are giving it away. You know what I mean. And that can really spoil a good vacation. A smile wont hurt esp umaga pa yun.
Oo, nakaka-bad trip talaga yun. Sa bagay, hindi lang naman PAL ang dapat nag-i-improve ng customer service, kahit Cebu Pac din. Pansin mo ba, yung mga puti pa ang better ang treatment sa ‘tin kesa sa sarili nating lahi, di ba? Although may exceptions, pero generally, at least sa experience ko, mas okay pa yung airport and plane staff sa Europe. And good point, siguro if late afternoon na, ma-fo-forgive yung ibang nakasimangot na, pero yung iba, umagang umaga, ang sungit na.
#rant haha!
ay oo totoo! Europe and other international airlines maayos talaga. They even do small talks. Even the staffs of CDG and specifically Air France, you will feel na you are taken care of kahit economy lang ticket mo hehehe. Ceb Pac hah! muntik nako mang away don dati and that was our flight to Coron. Maiinis ka kasi either walang tao or iwas-pusoy yung ibang attendant pag lalapit ka na. If you are brave enough to ask, then you will get “the face”. lol
I am trying to share this post thru my FB page but It is not showing. 🙁 I had to manually copy and paste the link in my timeline. Am I doing something wrong or FB Page can’t share talaga? Like only personal accounts lang?
Uy thank you! 🙂 I wasn’t able to link my FB page either. I eventually discovered that I can link the blog to Twitter, and then I can link Twitter to the FB page, so that when I publish a post, it publishes on Twitter, and that causes it to be published in the FB page as well. But it’s the sort of shortcut Twitter version that appears on FB, so if it’s really important, or I want to add a few thoughts and stuff, I manually copy-paste to FB.
not a prob! hehe ang dami pa tuloy segway. 😀 and sometimes I have personal/random thoughts posted in my twitter account kaya ayoko i-link. Oh well 😀 oks lang! hehe ang weird pa kasi if you have an fb page there are several steps to featured the liked page, pero wala ka makikita sa feed mo mismo. (kamot ulo)
Maraming salamat dito! Couldn’t also find a definite answer from PAL’s site about combining baggage and I couldn’t get a reply from twitter. At least I have an idea now.
Glad it helped a bit. It can be frustrating trying to get answers from them.