I know that the 51-70 lb. overweight fee is waved for Medallions and domestic passengers in BE/First, can I presume that this waiver also applies to oversize checked baggage that is in the 62-80" category?

My wife has a new bag that adds up to 70" and I want to make sure she won't get hit by the $80 fees. And how often do they really charge for a bag that is within weight but just a few inches over the 62" cutoff?

Only one segment of her trip will be on a CRJ, any special problems there for the bigger bag?

the way to ensure you won't get hit by a fee is to check in at the curb and hand the skycap a fiver.

The oversized fee is NOT waived for elite flyers. However, in my experience as one who frequently travels with a very large piece of luggage, an oversized piece is much less frequently detected and flagged than an overweight piece. And as the other poster noted, the easiest way around all of this is the appropriate gratuity to the Skycap at the curb (unless, of course, you're flying internationally).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Robert Leach:
The oversized fee is NOT waived for elite flyers. </font>

Okay...but is the fee waived for pax traveling in paid F/BE?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Kwaj boy:
Okay...but is the fee waived for pax traveling in paid F/BE?</font>

I am not sure. My hunch is, no.

No, it is not. Nor has it ever been on any airline in any class for any elite level. If the offending dimensions are slightly off, you'll get away with it. If its a glaring size difference, they are going to catch it and you are gonna pay (just as you always would) part of it has to do with non-standard dimensions and container size.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hfly:
No, it is not. Nor has it ever been on any airline in any class for any elite level. If the offending dimensions are slightly off, you'll get away with it. If its a glaring size difference, they are going to catch it and you are gonna pay (just as you always would) part of it has to do with non-standard dimensions and container size.</font>

NOT TRUE...Continental waives the 51-70 lb overweight fee for its OnePass elite members (silver, gold and platinum).

Yes Kwaj boy that is correct and DL was the first to do so for its elites.


The question however is about OVERSIZE BAGGAGE not OVERWEIGHT baggage. Hence why i RFERRED TO DIMENSIONS not WEIGHT.

Just an update for anyone who might be interested. Out of three separate domestic counter checkins over the past few weeks, all three times my wife's nearly 70" bag never even warranted a second glance, much less any talk of a fee.

And thanks to everyone who responded to my question.

Well, what happens if you find your luggage tagged with red labels that read "HEAVY". Is there any way that they can charge me for overweight after completion of travel?

in my experience, no. those tags are put on there by the first person to have a hernia so that the next person to carry it will know to lift at the knees.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by empee3:
Well, what happens if you find your luggage tagged with red labels that read "HEAVY". Is there any way that they can charge me for overweight after completion of travel?</font>

I travel with the same bag every week with the same clothes, manuals, books etc. I've been careful on how I place my bag on the scales at the checkin counters. I know it runs 48-50 lbs on most trips. One trip recently, my bag was tagged with the red "HEAVY" tag but the agent wrote 49 lbs on the tag.

KE offers additional weight for elite flyers with SkyPass program. Don't think you'd want to make the switch just for that though.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by empee3:
Well, what happens if you find your luggage tagged with red labels that read "HEAVY". Is there any way that they can charge me for overweight after completion of travel?</font>

No, they won't charge you after the fact. I think this is something to prevent worker compensation injuries by identifying the bag as a heavy one to ramp personnel.

However, I always remove it at the end of the trip so as not to raise the antennae of the next Skycap who checks me in.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by DJMikeyT:
KE offers additional weight for elite flyers with SkyPass program. Don't think you'd want to make the switch just for that though.</font>

I'll tell you a funny story about KE. Just when the carry on rules started getting strictly enforced I flew through LAX to SEL. My bag was pink tagged for the connector, it was defintely oversized. Once on board KE a flight attendant looked at my bag and said "That's a very big bag" I thought - here we go again. Then the agent said: "looks very heavy too, please let me get it for you"

Just flew to Portland this weekend to do some camping and hiking, and I packed very heavy. I flew out on NW and back on DL. I intended on checking two pieces and carrying on a book bag.

When I checked in at the airport for my outbound NW flight (gold elite, paid K, flew F), the agent noted that one bag weighed 75 pounds. She then generously suggested that "since you are flying in F (or a gold elite, I can't remember which), you are allowed to check three pieces. If you can take at least 5 lbs. out of that bag and put it into one of our plastic bags, I won't have to charge you." Needless to say, I did, she didn't, and I was pleasantly surprised.

When I checked in at the airport for the return DL flight (GM, 40K miles for an award F ticket), I had re-balanced the bags so the heavy one was exactly 70 lbs. The agent insisted on charging me $25. I politely asked if that applied since I was a GM flying in first. He said yes, and did.

After 5 years of exclusive Delta flying, I made the switch to Northwest (the gutting of Skymiles, of course). I now only fly Delta when there is no other choice AND when I can burn miles. Experiences like the one above only help make me feel good about my decision.

/s/ basicdude

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You do not talk to agents effectively. Try asking them to actually look in their system or consult a supervisor.

There are a lot of reasons to leave an airline, ONE idiot check-in agent is not.

I flew tons of segments last month. Between the three of us we had 7-8 pieces on most segments, half of them in the 60-70lb range. Being PM in F and B/E the weights and numbers of bags was not even MENTIONED once, exactly as I would have suspected it to be.