Drop your airport luggage weighting system experience

[iPwnz]

I was looking at weighting scale products online when I came across a review which talked about airline weighting system not being accurate and I wanted to narrate my experiences.

The first incident occurred many years ago in my first flight journey (via IndiGo).
It was during when permitted luggage weight per person for domestic was 25kg and penalty for excess baggage was 150rs/kg IIRC.
Before my departure I carefully checked the weight of my luggage and made sure it was under 25kg. However on reaching the check-in counter the weighing system put it at around 2-3 kg extra meaning that I had to pay 300-400rs penalty. That was the first time it happened and this went on for a few more times via several airlines IndiGo, Jet, Kingfisher ? (I've never used SpiceJet). The maximum allowed luggage weight is now 15kg on private airlines and 25kg on Air India and the penalty has also increased to 350rs/kg last I remembered.

And when your excess baggage exceed the maximum weight allowed by, say 5-10kg the airlines will lower the penalty and you will not be charged for 2-3kg. I know this for sure because I used to carry a lot of books and home-made foods and sometimes I pay the penalty and at other times I don't (when excess baggage is ~<1.5kg or when I negotiated well).
Funny thing is I've also travelled in Air India a bunch of times and I've never faced such issues. Not saying Air India flights were not without any problems because there were some, like the overhead AC not working in the middle of summer!, armrest of the seats coming off (yes really) and broken plate-rest. I just find it interesting I've never had any problem with the weighting scale in a govt-run airline when supposedly-better private ones let me down.

My family's most recently used airline is Air Asia and the weight exceeded what I thought.

Now I'm going to explain the boldened part. If airlines are so paranoid about excess weight and very much want to impose penalty why don't they just charge the full penalty fee? I mean it's nice that they are "considerate" and reduce the maximum penalty but I cannot help but think that they are trying to extract as much money as they can aka by hook or crook without arousing serious suspicions. Airlines have also been fined for using shady (for them it's business) tactics.

So if any of you guys travel by flight, check the weight of your luggage using some 2-3 different scales (electronic preferably) at home and then see how much the airline weighing system show. Don't do just one scale. Measure it with as many scales and note down the results.
I very much would like to be proven wrong here. Record the weight and post your records. Don't write anything about the weight based on your assumptions. We need numeral facts.

That's all.

 

[mach9]

I was looking at weighting scale products online when I came across a review which talked about airline weighting system not being accurate and I wanted to narrate my experiences.

The first incident occurred many years ago in my first flight journey (via IndiGo).
It was during when permitted luggage weight per person for domestic was 25kg and penalty for excess baggage was 150rs/kg IIRC.
Before my departure I carefully checked the weight of my luggage and made sure it was under 25kg. However on reaching the check-in counter the weighing system put it at around 2-3 kg extra meaning that I had to pay 300-400rs penalty. That was the first time it happened and this went on for a few more times via several airlines IndiGo, Jet, Kingfisher ? (I've never used SpiceJet). The maximum allowed luggage weight is now 15kg on private airlines and 25kg on Air India and the penalty has also increased to 350rs/kg last I remembered.

And when your excess baggage exceed the maximum weight allowed by, say 5-10kg the airlines will lower the penalty and you will not be charged for 2-3kg. I know this for sure because I used to carry a lot of books and home-made foods and sometimes I pay the penalty and at other times I don't (when excess baggage is ~<1.5kg or when I negotiated well).
Funny thing is I've also travelled in Air India a bunch of times and I've never faced such issues. Not saying Air India flights were not without any problems because there were some, like the overhead AC not working in the middle of summer!, armrest of the seats coming off (yes really) and broken plate-rest. I just find it interesting I've never had any problem with the weighting scale in a govt-run airline when supposedly-better private ones let me down.

My family's most recently used airline is Air Asia and the weight exceeded what I thought.

Now I'm going to explain the boldened part. If airlines are so paranoid about excess weight and very much want to impose penalty why don't they just charge the full penalty fee? I mean it's nice that they are "considerate" and reduce the maximum penalty but I cannot help but think that they are trying to extract as much money as they can aka by hook or crook without arousing serious suspicions. Airlines have also been fined for using shady (for them it's business) tactics.

So if any of you guys travel by flight, check the weight of your luggage using some 2-3 different scales (electronic preferably) at home and then see how much the airline weighing system show. Don't do just one scale. Measure it with as many scales and note down the results.
I very much would like to be proven wrong here. Record the weight and post your records. Don't write anything about the weight based on your assumptions. We need numeral facts.

That's all.

Couple of points at play here but just wondering why didn't you carry your own personal scale and demonstrate to the airlines that it is what it is. Just curious because obviously if you had the suspicion, you sure had the opportunity to prove it.

Also this is assuming that your comparison involved using a hanging scale when you measured it at home and not putting the bag on a personal weighing scale that you stand on to measure your weight.

Secondly, airlines mostly empower their frontline staff with certain flexibilities when it comes to deciding the excess baggage considerations. Again, not as a policy (mostly) but more as an operational empowerment. There is a fine limit though as the effect of weight variations on aircraft load and trim can be significant, more so on narrow-body aircraft rather than widebody... But still, flight operations will build in tolerances for these within the weight limits that they work with. In all cases, for flights to certain countries and as per IATA norms too, heavy bags are mandated to be handled separately due to strict labour laws for places where manual labour is involved in handling bags physically. What might just appear a no big deal for a case where a bag weighing 33kg actually is accepted with or without a charge, and you might get away with a lenient check in staff, you should expect your bag has a high possibility of being mishandled due to defined weight limits being exceeded and detected automatically by some airports with automated baggage handling systems

That's the reason you've faced stringent applications with some airlines while some don't enforce strictly.

 

[iPwnz]

I use portable-metal hanging scale and electronic scale.
Also the small hand-scales have metal/battery in them so you cannot carry items like scales in your hand baggage. They will tell you to put that in the cargo luggage or they will take it away. And doesn't it seem "over silly" to do it like you said? The possibility of you ending up as a nuisance and creating trouble for fellow passengers is high. And you know how paranoid people get in the check-ins at airport. That is why I said negotiation helps. Also unless you are an undercover-reporter you will not be able to do this live or record it. At least I don't think so. So I'm saying to measure it at home and compare the weight in the airport. Not difficult to do that.

 

[nRiTeCh]

How cheap. Now we have to carry own weighting scales. Tomorrow own seats and seat belts too.

 

[vivek.krishnan]

I use portable-metal hanging scale and electronic scale.
Also the small hand-scales have metal/battery in them so you cannot carry items like scales in your hand baggage. They will tell you to put that in the cargo luggage or they will take it away. And doesn't it seem "over silly" to do it like you said? The possibility of you ending up as a nuisance and creating trouble for fellow passengers is high. And you know how paranoid people get in the check-ins at airport. That is why I said negotiation helps. Also unless you are an undercover-reporter you will not be able to do this live or record it. At least I don't think so. So I'm saying to measure it at home and compare the weight in the airport. Not difficult to do that.

I think @mach9 works in the aviation industry, not sure if he is now in the skies or in ground ops.

Secondly, in my case, my scales in the office (had to carry some equipment) turned out to be faulty as well, but on the upper side. However, as I had prebooked the luggage, not a big issue.

How cheap. Now we have to carry own weighting scales. Tomorrow own seats and seat belts too.

Why yes, next oxygen masks and parachute too. Later they may ask you to carry your own oxygen as well.

 

[mach9]

I use portable-metal hanging scale and electronic scale.
Also the small hand-scales have metal/battery in them so you cannot carry items like scales in your hand baggage. They will tell you to put that in the cargo luggage or they will take it away. And doesn't it seem "over silly" to do it like you said? The possibility of you ending up as a nuisance and creating trouble for fellow passengers is high. And you know how paranoid people get in the check-ins at airport. That is why I said negotiation helps. Also unless you are an undercover-reporter you will not be able to do this live or record it. At least I don't think so. So I'm saying to measure it at home and compare the weight in the airport. Not difficult to do that.

Well trust me, while I suggested that you could do it though it might sound absurd, in my experience over the years i flight ops, people (mostly students) have done it at check in.. not necessarily using electronic hanging scales.. but the normal mechanical spring loaded as well.

And you're a bit wrong when it comes to metal or batteries being required to be checked in. Normal batteries and the ones used in scales are either button or pencil batteries that are not a big deal to be taken on board in the cabin. Laptop mice use them and there's no issue with carrying them in cabin. In fact, batteries are a much greater hazard when checked into the cargo hold and is actually not recommended. More so if lithium based. They're classified as dangerous goods and there are a whole list of operational guidelines and regulations around transportation of batteries which I won't get in to

Most airlines will let you check your own baggage weight at a separate counter if you insist on verifying it so you don't hold up other passengers. Especially foreign airlines. They're more considerate and patient if you're a student who needs to be careful of the weights, so trust me, what I asked casually is not absurd. Domestic airlines will yeah they're not particularly flag bearers for customer services and you could risk being viewed as a pain in the ass but obviously negotiating helps. Many passengers I've seen in my days, mostly the students, if they carried they're own scales would just adjust what they needed and if they had to leave stuff behind they'd go and return it with their families outside the entry gate and return to check in. We were always patient.

But there have been cases where we have been strict to the kilo for passengers we knew were up to no good, especially some who tended to be traveling to trade heavy places like the Grand Canaries.

Staff will usually take into consideration your hand baggage if any when they're considering your request to lower or waive excess check in baggage weight. Again depends from staff to staff and airline to airline. If you get a staff in a bad mood at a good airline you could still be charged.. lol.

You don't need to be any under cover reporter or anything. Yes you might spend more time dealing with the supervisors on duty but it's fine.

Btw again, I merely asked if you tried it or not to prove that airport scales are faulty. Not all are, most are calibrated from time to time by airport operators who in today's age are extremely conscious of passenger ratings and customer experience. Scales are not maintained by airlines. Counter allocations can be fixed or dynamic for airlines to check in passengers so the scales and their calibration are always the airport's property.

If you ever find an issue or have a feeling it's not right, you can and are fully within your rights to have it cross-checked at another check-in in counter scale. You can even escalate your issue to the airport terminal manager who works for the airport operator and not airlines.

@nRiTeCh I wasn't suggesting by any means that one behaves cheap or that passengers should carry their own scales everytime etc. I merely asked because the OP seemed to have noticed this issue with multiple trips and more often than not found he was excess on weight with the bags than what he checked himself.

 

[vyral_143]

While travelling, we weigh bags on a weighing scale at home. This scale is similar to one found in groccery shops. Weight measurements between scale at home and airport are nearly same.

Coming to some extra weight allowance, normally 1-1.5Kg is not a big deal in my experience - again this is from international flights. This also depends on how early or late you are checking in at airport. I recollect my cabin bag along with my backpack being weighted last year by Cathay Pacific, when we were almost last passengers checking in our luggage. Counter staff was accommodative and patient while we juggled around our luggage. Before and after that instance I have flown with them multiple times but this dint repeat as we were never that late checking in.

 

[mach9]

While travelling, we weigh bags on a weighing scale at home. This scale is similar to one found in groccery shops. Weight measurements between scale at home and airport are nearly same.

Coming to some extra weight allowance, normally 1-1.5Kg is not a big deal in my experience - again this is from international flights. This also depends on how early or late you are checking in at airport. I recollect my cabin bag along with my backpack being weighted last year by Cathay Pacific, when we were almost last passengers checking in our luggage. Counter staff was accommodative and patient while we juggled around our luggage. Before and after that instance I have flown with them multiple times but this dint repeat as we were never that late checking in.

That's exactly how most airline's handle check in baggage acceptance, though not many will actually weigh the cabin baggage unless
1. The aircraft is being dispatched with actual weights being recorded in the system and not assumed weights.
2. The station is conducting a regular or ad hoc weight verification exercise to validate known passenger baggage weight trends. This is usually done in sync with Ops. For example: the months of July to September when student traffic picks up ex India, the number of bags and the average weight per bag also increases.
3. The station is running under pressure for ancillary revenue targets or just other financial budget constraints and is looking to cut down on leeway given for excess baggage revenue collection.
4. Station audits.

You can usually get away with a few excess kilos up to 2/3 kgs or 5kgs if you're lucky in some instances moreso of you're traveling light with in cabin baggage. Back when I did flight ops the usual weight assumed for cabin baggage per pax at my airline was 7kg .. later revised to 8/10. Avg check in baggage weight was assumed at 20kgs.. adjusted accordingly based on daily trend monitoring througho the year.

Airline's will also be more accommodative based on number of people traveling, frequent flyer status, special needs, age of the passengers and medical conditions if any.

Again LCC/ULCC are more aggressive in penalising excess baggage rather than regular full service carriers.

AI is just an exception to everything. Expect anything when you fly with them, if you fly with them. Because you're just a brave person then

 

[iPwnz]

I forget to mention that the services of the airline staff too differ in different branches. For example when I came from Delhi I could carry two hand baggages with me. I called one my laptop bag (not those dedicated laptop bags, it's a Wildcraft Blaze if you are curious) and the other normal portable Swiss bag. However I couldn't always do the same thing at other airports. So it really depends on the staff at the check-in counter. Some are very helpful, others not so much. For students, I suggest you to carry your college/University ID cards. They work better for negotiation.