What if my luggage is 1 kg overweight?

What if my luggage weighs 1kg over the allowed baggage weight?

You have all your belongings and items ready for your upcoming trip and are all set and prepared to go to the airport. You look down at your suitcase, and to your surprise, it is considerably heavier than it was when you initially packed it. A weigh-in as soon as you arrive at the airport brings you to the conclusion you fear you have 1 kg more than the permissible check-in luggage weight allowed by the airline. Uh oh. What does this translate to now if your luggage is just slightly above the allowed permissible weight?

Engine troubles and the dreaded extra luggage fees

Unlike carry-on luggage, you can be forced to pay extra luggage fees if your checked baggage exceeds the weight limit of the airline. The majority of Best Flight Deals have a progressive policy of charging for the excess weight of the luggage depending on how many kilograms it overshoots the acceptable limit. For example:

• 1 to 5 kg overweight an additional $50
  
• Overweight carrying 6 to 10 kg more – 100$ extra.
  
• A person who is 11+ kg overweight will cost $150 or more.

On domestic routes, multiple flights where being 1 kilogram over is as low as possible overweight category. Indeed, on international routes, as well as in low-cost and budget airlines, even 1 extra kilo can push you into a higher excess baggage tariff. In the same context, depending on the designated route, you will be charged as much as $100 for 1 kilogram over. Ouch!

Some airlines do not mind much for slight over and under carrying of weight. But do not invoke the complacency of the agents by saying that you will only take action if they do not cooperate. Most have standard guidelines on supplementary charges when bags are over a certain weight. Arriving slightly over the limit often costs a certain amount of money independent of the additional quantity involved.

Other than incurring the costs of checking an overweight suitcase, it can cause you a lot of uneasiness during the check-in process if the attendant flags it for a fee. Certain passengers even appeal to the defenders not to fine them because they are only one kilogram over the allowed weight. This tactic does not work with large carriers most of the time. You may even like to spend your time manning the check-in counter-protesting over an extra kilo of baggage while they refuse to budge on their baggage fees. This way, you will avoid the disappointment of having to pay the extra fee if your luggage is bulky.

Why the Weight Limits?

Before you blame the airlines for nitpicking a single extra kilo as to the weight limits of the checked baggage, do some research to know why it is so. First, commercial jets measure the total payload mass to an equivalent of many decimal points before each flight. Overloading also poses a risk to the flight's balance while also using up more fuel than necessary. Airlines thus have to adhere to the weight controls of the Total weights of the checked luggage to ensure the cargo is within set operation weights.

My suitcase could be 1 kg over the allowed limit. But that means if you take 200 passengers with luggage, there will be an extra 200+ kg over the limit unnecessarily pressuring the aircraft. In the case of small planes, even such an additional mass in the form of equipment may affect the requirements for engineering airplanes for takeoff and flight. As such, airlines are strict about the hard weight restriction of stowed baggage to avoid exceeding the general safety standards.

Theaggage restrictions also raise issues of fairness. Carnets with oversized luggage occupy more payload capacity and require more fuel to transport loads, making operating costs high. The decision to charge consumers a certain amount depending on the weight of the checked baggage is reasonable because it can assist the airline company in recovering the extra costs of carrying relatively heavier baggage. It ensures that people who are within the ‘free' weight allowance do not pay an extra fortune for those who have gone overboard.

This is a good message for travelers to weigh their baggage before leaving home in case they end up in a situation where they have to carry their luggage for some time.

It is not a joyful experience to be charged with shockingly high overweight baggage charges at the check-in point. Spare yourself of the hassle and take a few minutes of your time to measure pack weights at home to ensure that they do not violate the airline's posted regulation for the specific flight you wish to take.

Even better, check the weight of the bags on a scale one more time before closing it completely. On packing, it is not surprising that the suitcases add a few kilos that did not weigh that way before because clothes fold and things like books and toothpaste find their way into corners. If your bag is already heavy when you are at home, ensure that you unload some of the stuff to place it back at a tolerable level.

Any normal bathroom scales available on the market can be used when it comes to household usage. Use a button or a lever to set the weight of the scale back to zero or tare with the luggage that does not contain anything then place the luggage packed with all the items on top of the scale to get the reading. If your scale cannot be tared then include the weight of the suitcase in the overall equation because the weight of the empty suitcase should be deducted from the total weight if this is not possible refer to the manufacturer specifications of the unloaded case.

Many travel goods stores, packaging shippers, or even grocery stores with weighing scales provided in the produce section are also available for weighing packed luggage before check-in at the airport. What you are going to learn about the bags before you travel will help you avoid some punitive charges from the airline.

One thing to consider is the cost of shipping heavy items instead of small ones.

What should consumers do if they balance their luggage at home only to find them slightly over the allowable kilos for airline check-in, say a kg or more? This is the simplest solution since one can just move the items that were contributing to exceeding the limit to reduce the amount to within the acceptable limit. Clothes accessories like jewelry, shoes, books, and electronic gadgets always have weight and are not necessarily always part of the cabin in case of a flight.

For truly critical overweight equipment, consider shipping it independently to your desired location instead. This helps to eliminate problems with the weight of cargo while flying and also occupies the luggage space for lighter items that may be required on board. Most courier companies including FedEx and UPS do have special low-cost rates for this kind of forwarding services which are generally advertised as shipping of bags or travel essentials by passengers to themselves in advance of a trip.

If you plan to ship heavy gear instead of checking it, be sure to research things like be sure to research things like:

• Cost analysis: This is the comparison of the cost of overweight fees with that of the airlines.
  
• Reliability in the number of days taken to deliver goods to the intended destination
  
• Additional services such as C & D if passing through the country's borders
  
• As for packaging chemicals and materials, additional shipment requirements are determined by the size of the consignment.
  
• Insurance and tracking available

Oh, well just don't go overboard and end up unstitching bag after bag to shave a few grams to get under a weight limit and forget some essential item in the process! Store sensitive information in the same category as important identification, medications, personal electronics, and other personal belongings such as a spare set of clothes in carryons that you take with you. As for checked luggage, it is a fact that it does get delayed or even misrouted during transfers between airlines.

Weighing In

Traveling with overweight checked baggage means that you are charged extra fees which may undo the good offer you received from a budget airline or lose all the miles you earned. Like most aspects of travel, a bit of planning ahead always proves helpful. When zipping up the luggage, make sure it does not surpass the weight limits set by the airline and flight that you have booked. Take off things that make your bags heavy until the weighing machine confirms that you have gotten out the wrong side of overweighed luggage fees that await you at check-in.

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