B(sh)itish Airways & £240 charge for extra bag!!

Well, there goes me ever even remotely looking to fly with BA again! - since I haven't flown them after my last terrible experience with them in 96 to NYC, I recently have thought about flying with them again - until I read this today

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/08022007/344/ba-charges-240-extra-bag.html

reading into the article they're also going to reduce the max weight - down from the current 32KG to a ridiculously low 23KG!

I just hope other airlines do not follow ...

Dennis! West London & Slough UK!

They used to be our airline of choice.  Now we are stuck flying Virgin, which I hate. 

fortunately this doesn't apply to flights to/from the US, but I agree, it's ridiculous.  I've loved my experiences flying on BA but they are getting way too expensive for me.

Thanks for the heads up Dennis. Even though this new policy doesn't affect the long haul flights I am still fuming about the weight reduction for checked baggage on, down from 70 to 50 lbs. We we go to the states I need every pound I can get.

I just logged onto BA and sent them an email stating my dissapointment and letting them now that they are no longer our preferred airline. I hope enough people write to them and maybe they will change their policies (doubtful but worth a shot).

That's probably their way of making up for the tax they are being kind enough to swallow the cost of!

Vicky

Next week when I have a bit of spare time I intend to switch my AmEx from BA to Virgin for this very reason. And then I intend to write BA a letter telling them that. I think it's ridiculous. I can (sort of) understand lowering the weight as I think it's to do with European regulations about baggage handlers but to then also start charging more for extra bags is just a slap in the face. IMHO they should actually have lowered the charge for an extra bag - that is if they had any appreciation for customer satisfaction. Which they have proven that they don't.... 

So how long do you think it will be for BA to charge people who are overweight?

Ryanair just charged me a whopping 900 Swedish kronor, which is about $125.00 for 12 kilos of overweight from Stockholm here to London.  That worked out to double the cost of my seat.  And if you think 23 kg is bad, you're only allowed 15 kg on Ryanair (not to mention being treated like cattle).

Read the press release and make your own judgements instead of some spun article.

Currently, more than 98 per cent of customers travel within their free luggage allowance. The majority of these customers check in no more than one item of luggage per person. For these customers, there is no change.

Apparently only 2% of BA passengers have extra luggage... fair enough.

British Airways has absolutely no intention of discriminating against passengers who cannot comfortably carry a 23kg bag. Where it is clear that a passenger cannot manage one bag, we will let them check in an additional bag (or more) provided the total weight is within the 23 kg limit.

Virgin already has a 23kg 2 checked bag limit and a 6 kg carry on limit with a £90 excess to the west coast. Not a huge difference from BA's 1 checked 22x18x10in and 1 carry on with an excess of £84 when booked in advance. £240 is just the price for two extra checked bags. United 2 checked at 23kg £85 excess and a 9" x 14" x 22" carry on.

They used to be our airline of choice.  Now we are stuck flying Virgin, which I hate. 

United does a longhaul west coast flight from the UK.

Ryanair just charged me a whopping 900 Swedish kronor, which is about $125.00 for 12 kilos of overweight from Stockholm here to London.  That worked out to double the cost of my seat.  And if you think 23 kg is bad, you're only allowed 15 kg on Ryanair (not to mention being treated like cattle).

yes, but you knew this when you bought your ticket.

I always factor in airport location, baggage etc when determining which airline to go with or whether that 1p fare is really "worth" it.