Thai Air Baggage Allowance + Eight hour stop over in Bangkok airport

[orcachilds]

Hello

I'm travelling to the Phillipines in August on Thai Airways

I have seen on their website that the baggage allowance is 20kg in the hold and one bag only of 7kg carry on :shocked2:

Does anyone know if they are very strict on their baggage policy
I have all my dive gear to take + camera + laptop
I can't do it all with 20kg + 7kg

I also have an eight hour stop over in Bangkok, is there anything I can do while I'm there
or, do I just find a comfy chair and sit with my laptop ... which I may not be taking because of the restricted baggage allowance

Thanks

Orca

 

[ayeshacantrell]

You could try calling them before you go to wangle an extra 10 kilos. I always try this and it does work sometimes - its worth a call atleast. Its better to try and pre-arrange then causing a scene at the airport. Try telling them you are a travelling freelance journalist too ...(lol) Further most airlines do have a one off charge for sports gear sometimes this includes scuba gear and sometimes not ...find out how much to travel with a surf board and then go from there....again easier to do before you leave - atleast you know where you stand.

I know its always nice to take your own gear but if there is no extra charge at your destination for using some of the DC gear then you could consider leaving a few bits at home.....

In my experience there seems no hard and fast rule for who is strict and who not ....we always have alot of gear like you .....we arrive very early and try and be one of the first to check in - this does seem to help. Smile very nicely .....but your hand luggage allowance seems more at the mercy of the ground and airport staff rather than the airline itself.

 

[orcachilds]

I just got a reply from them and they said ...

20kg hold
7kg carry on
+ lap top bag ... this is not on their website

They said additional cost 46 pounds per kg :shocked2:

I did tell them about the dive gear + camera
but, they gave no reply to this ... just the standard response

My next plan is to tell them I'll give them some images to 'enhance' their website

I always try that .... I'm only 53Kg myself and I should be given a little additional allowance to compensate for me weighing so little compared to other passengers
But, no airline has ever fallen for that one

 

[jkaterenchuk]

If your taking a flight inside PI then that is really the place you should be worried about extra fees for baggage.

My advise for the Thai flight is to print out the website details. You can always try the trick of packing the small heavy items in your carry on bag but chances are you will still get caught since they seem to do hand search of every carry on bag (on international flights) as you enter the boarding waiting area. Sometimes they have weighed mine and sometime not. You might get lucky.

John

 

[super7]

Asian Diver, a dive maganzine published in Singapore used to have this "VIP club" programme,
where they gave their subscribers a luggage tag earning extra 10kilos allowance with local airlines, for an annual membership fee.

It's been some years since I terminated the subscription and dropping out of the VIP club, so I don't know whether this programme still exists, nor do I remember if TG was participating.
If the programme is still up and running, you might want to subscribe and get enrolled.

Kaza

 

[iztok]

I traveled on Thai PEK-BKK-HKT then HKT-BKK-FRA. Granted I am Star Alliance Gold and my wife and I were traveling First Class so each of us had plenty of bags on our trip not including her mobility scooter (she has disability). I did have 3 70lbs bags myself.

 

[super7]

I traveled on Thai PEK-BKK-HKT then HKT-BKK-FRA. Granted I am Star Alliance Gold and my wife and I were traveling First Class so each of us had plenty of bags on our trip not including her mobility scooter (she has disability). I did have 3 70lbs bags myself.

The issue here is how to get all the gear the op wants to bring onto his flight without paying the excessive excess luggage fee. If the op already is an elite member or traveling in first/business class, there won't be an issue in the first place.

That said, for F class Star Alliance allows 40kg, with extra 20kg for Star Alliance Gold.
Since you were traveling with your wife, the total allowance should be 100kg, approx 220lbs. If the three 70lbs bags were all you had, they weren't doing you any favors; simply allowing you what you payed for. In case your wife had other luggage, then you were given priority handling because you were flying first class. Cost wise, personnel expenses, fuel costs and aircraft expenses for each flight are said to be payed by fully paying first and buisness class passengers, while sales in economy makes for the profit. To keep a fully paying F class passenger happy, I'll bet any carrier will bend rules as long as no regulations or laws are evaded/broken.
As for the mobility scooter, I think they aren't include in the weight restriction.

 

[DevonDiver]

20kg + 7KG + Laptop..... that's the standard for Asia regional flights. Most of the airlines are very strict about excess baggage....especially as they can make huge amounts of money charging for that excess! Normally they allow a variation of 1-2 kgs over, to account for the scales being inaccurate etc. If they don't...then simply dispute the weight and demand to see details of when their baggage scales were last calibrated etc.

My best advice is to choose and pack your equipment more efficiently. I've travelled and worked all over Asia for the last 3-4 years and can easily make my recreational diving kit, camera and other items fit within the allowance. I've struggled more when also carrying technical diving kit, manuals etc - but still got by without expensive excess baggage charges.

As others have mentioned, airports rarely weigh your hand carry bags. So I always place the heavy items in there - regulators, batteries, metal clips, reels, bolts etc. Once, on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu I actually managed to fit 17kg of diving equipment into a day-sack that I carried as hand-luggage

Consider how much clothing you need to take from home. The great benefit of places like Thailand or the Philippines is that you can buy t-shirts, polos, shorts etc for a couple of $'s each. I never take spare clothes when I travel - I just buy what I need when I arrive....

For me, an 8 HOUR lay-over is plenty of time to go and explore. Bangkok airport has a left luggage service - so you can securely leave your heavy bags there at a small cost. Jump in a taxi and head down into Bangkok to explore, eat, drink etc.....

 

[orcachilds]

Thanks to you all

I have four flights, two on Thai and two on Continental

Now that I know the laptop is 'in addition' it makes things easier because some of my camera lens and strobe stuff will go in a large laptop bag with my small laptop ;o)

Three times I've taken my regs as carry on and three times I've been given the third degree to the point that I though they were going to strip search me

The weight of my carry on bag has been questioned before but I've always got away with it

My trip is just over two weeks, but clothes are not the problem all I take is a few vests, sarong, two dresses, lots of bikinis, PJs, fleece
I wear whatever I can and then take it off on the plane, even the jacket of my wetsuit

The problem is: wing weighs 6kg [ali plate], hold bag weighs 4kg
so that's 10g gone already
by the time I add all my wet suit layers [or drysuit] + regs [I already have Myflex] + chargers + fins it's up to 20kg
still, need mask, SMB, flip flops, moisturiser [proper stuff you don't buy from the airport] etc
I've trimmed back on everything else, and am coming in at 23kg hold bag

So, if I get stopped I'll just take my undies out an put them in my carry on bag

 

[orcachilds]

So, what you're saying is Thai will be strict
Take ask little as possible or accept the additional charges