Do we have no recourse with airline scales?

[Centrals]

Just make sure you know your airline's rules (and whether they are enforced). A number of low-cost carriers in Europe and Asia weigh carry-on bags. Heavy or oversize carry-ons are not allowed. And the "personal item" needs to be able to fit under the seat.

Cebu Pacific used to weight the hand carry at the entrance to the plane. It was so funny to see those passenger's faces when the ground crew put a tag on the bags and sent them to cargo hold.
Pity 5J has stopped such a good practice.

 

[lermontov]

find an empty duty free bag and chuck your heavy regs in it - duty free isn't weighed and is accepted as an extra bag without fee

 

[DandyDon]

It has only happened once to me. Luckily I had a portable luggage scale of my own so I could weigh my bag in front of them. I guess they didn't feel like arguing with me because they took the bag.

I only tried that once, and it did not work, but I shall try next time.

If you can afford to pack so many things in the bag then surely you can afford to pay for the excess!!!
Bunch of cheap Charlie.

You like to spend other people's money, huh?

As far as the scales at an airport being off, that is super strange. Industrial scales don't drift much If you see what you saw, take pics and send it to weights and measures. Be sure to get the cert sticker.

Yeah, that was wild that they were so under. I didn't argue since it was to my benefit.

find an empty duty free bag and chuck your heavy regs in it - duty free isn't weighed and is accepted as an extra bag without fee

Not going to happen.

 

[Centrals]

You like to spend other people's money, huh?

?
Could you elaborate more please?
I used to do that when I was being paid to do a job! Now I am living on my investment in the form of interest(time deposit), saving and stock dividend

 

[Jafo19D]

Airlines charge for baggage weight, so their scales must be certified. Look and you will see a cert sticker, usually about wasit high, near the display

Invest in a better scale, mine is a cheap Amazon one, just getting back from Florida, one bag 50 exact and the other 49.2. My hand scale measured 49.4 and 48.8.

As far as the scales at an airport being off, that is super strange. Industrial scales don't drift much If you see what you saw, take pics and send it to weights and measures. Be sure to get the cert sticker.

The purpose of the scale isn’t just about charging you , it’s to calculate how much fuel the aircraft needs.

 

[brsnow]

The purpose of the scale isn’t just about charging you , it’s to calculate how much fuel the aircraft needs.

Even more the reason they would keep an accurate scale.

 

[tridacna]

The purpose of the scale isn’t just about charging you , it’s to calculate how much fuel the aircraft needs.

Au contraire. It’s for both. Airlines make up to 3% of their revenue from these insidious fees.

 

[DandyDon]

The purpose of the scale isn’t just about charging you , it’s to calculate how much fuel the aircraft needs.

If that were true, then they would weigh but not charge. The airlines always looking for ways to change more. I bought the cheapest ticket possible with the most restrictions and no advance seat assignments so they also punished me by assigning the worst seats possible at the last minute. I usually ended up with a whole row to myself tho. I really didn't care, I can sleep in any seat, but I thought that was funny.

 

[WouterB]

The other frustrating part is the variation in enforcement. I agree, you just have to undershoot a bit. I have commonly had a bag weigh in at 51lbs and the ticket agent didn't bat an eye. On the other hand, my buddy and I once had two bags. One was 51lbs and the other was 48lbs. They told me I'd have to move something from the heavier bag to the lighter bag to avoid the excess fee. I did it, but then asked them if they realized that both bags were going on the same plane. SMH...

Bit late for a quote reply, but anyway, those per item weightlimits are not for the weight of the plane, but to keep it manageble for the people who handle the luggage to put it on the airplane, the handlers.

 

[DandyDon]

those per item weightlimits are not for the weight of the plane, but to keep it manageble for the people who handle the luggage to put it on the airplane, the handlers.

Nah, as long as it's under 70#, the airline is happy to charge you for extra weight and put a Heavy sticker on the bag. It's about the money.