Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners) - Excess Baggage Ideas?

My husband is flying business class to Russia(mileage ticket) on Lufthansa in February to attend his grandfather's 100th birthday party. I am wondering if anyone knows of a way to take one extra bag without paying the $155 Lufthansa charges. He needs to bring all kinds of supplies (Ensure, adult diapers, medicines, etc.) which they don't sell in Russia so the extra bag would really help tremendously. I would really appreciate any suggestions on this.

tell your hubby to fly first class and all problems are solved.

The charges for the extra luggage depends upon start and finish points. Where are you starting? I sorta presume USA, since you are quoting $, and 155CDN is cheap for a bag.

What is a mileage ticket?

Is the ticket straight through USA-Russia, or is there a stopover in Europe, and a second ticket?(big problem lower limits)

Where did you get the $155 quote?

How does it help to fly first class? Is there extra baggage allowed for first class?

We got the ticket using our United Airlines miles - that is what I was calling a mileage ticket. The $155 is what they quoted me in US $ for one extra bag. The ticket was bought together, but there is a stop and plane change in Frankfurt.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by timetotravel:
Is there extra baggage allowed for first class?</font>
Yes, but first class will cost him much more than the 155$......

Try to take as much as carry-on as possible, especially the heavy stuff. They probably won't weigh the carry on. And bring a laptop case as personal item, they can hold quite a bit of stuff. This will give you more weight to put into the checked baggage. And wear as much as you can. (I know somebody who boarded a transatlantic flight wearing ski boots!)

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LH FTL, HH Gold, SPG Gold

Call your local Lufthansa office and ask for the station manager (or his assistant). If you explain the problem to him he might help you and authorizes the extra baggage.

If you are travelling from the U.S. to Europe you are allowed to carry two pieces (each not heavier than 32kg). If you are travelling within Europe you can take 30kg husband is not breaking his yourney longer than 24 hours in Germany the U.S. to Europe rules apply.

[This message has been edited by Tirreg (edited Jan 13, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Tirreg:
Call your local Lufthansa office and ask for the station manager (or his assistant). If you explain the problem to him he might help you and authorizes the extra baggage.
</font>

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif Great advice here...if you can justify them as medical/basic needs supplies which will be given away in Russia, there's a possibility of an exception being made.

--Grog--

[This message has been edited by Grog (edited Jan 13, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by timetotravel:
the extra bag would really help tremendously.</font>

How much does he intend to take?

If you're coming from the US, he'll be allowed 2 bags of 32kg (70lbs) each. That's a lot of adult diapers, etc, so you may not need to pay any excess luggage (perhaps just get a bigger suitcase!)

If all else fails, you should send the additional piece of lugguage as passenger cargo - it will be on the same flight as you are, but you will need to get it to the airport's cargo terminal a few days before that flight leaves. Thus an additional trip to the airport, but normally it works out way cheaper than excess baggage checked in on the day of travel. Ask for the exact rate before deciding though.

The biggest problem is the Ensure vitamin milkshakes for seniors which weigh a ton. The last time I went I filled a suitcase with them and barely could carry it. Unfortunately, we both work, so we cannot visit often. Because of this, we try to bring as much as possible of the things that one cannot purchase over there.

One Lufthansa operator told me that if you have Gold status on any allied carrier, that you are allowed to bring one extra bag (32kg) at no extra charge. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, what is the fastest way to attain status?


Thank you everyone for the excellent suggestions! I will post as soon as I figure out what we will do.

If:
* you start in North America and
* your status is StarGold (Premier Executiv or 1K with UA) and
* your stop in Germany is &lt; 24 hours and
* you check-in your luggage right away in North America through to Moskwa
* (it doesn't matter if the ticket is eco, business or first, award or not)

then your check-in luggage allowance on LH flights is: three pieces (each one not over 32kg).

I hope that you are aware of possible import restrictions (and duties to be paid) at immigration in Russia.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by timetotravel:
One Lufthansa operator told me that if you have Gold status on any allied carrier, that you are allowed to bring one extra bag (32kg) at no extra charge. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, what is the fastest way to attain status?</font>

Paying the charges for additional baggage should be (much) cheaper than obtaining *G status just to get an additional 32kg for free ?!

Thank you Rudi for the confirmation on the policy. And yes, are all too aware of the import duties. This is for personal use, not enough to be considered commercial, so it should not be a problem.

Maybe I'm missing something, but asusming that you can get driven to/picked up at both ends and can live with a more trimmed down set of change clothes, you can get a lot of other stuff in the suitcases.

Remember, you are permitted 64kg (170lbs). Squeeze some clothes into the carry-on and line the suitcases with the remaining clothes and you should have about 150lbs with of 'space'. That's quite a lot, isn't it?

When checking in, the two pieces is religiously applied at LH.

BUT

no one really is very particular about the 32 KG limit. I have checked in for indians and we had to carry the bag together with another person. The thing was HUGE and weighed atleast 50 KG. Nor were the max dimensions of the bag really enforced.

Many anecdotes on how the two piece concept are enforced exist and I'm sure you can open an endless thread. Whenever I had to move in the past I always flew routes where only 20-30 KG plus status bonus were allowed. We had to beg and plead to have an extra 10 KG, while US passengers checked in at the same counter with pieces that weighed 32 KG each. The agent will explain you each KG costs them extra fuel etc etc... which strangely doesn't apply when the route has piece concept baggage allowance.

Regards Oliver

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LondonElite:
Maybe I'm missing something, but asusming that you can get driven to/picked up at both ends and can live with a more trimmed down set of change clothes, you can get a lot of other stuff in the suitcases.
</font>

The problem with taking minimal clothing is that it is very cold where he is going (anywhere from -20 to -40 Celcius), so he does need some warm clothing. We also buy all the clothing for the extended family (about 12 people) since people don't make enough to pay for anything except necesseties there. We always bring as much as we can for our relatives, and with his grandfather being weak now, we need to bring even more.

It was somewhat comical the last time we went. His grandfather had just suffered a stroke (not the funny part), and he for the first time, at age 99, had trouble walking. We wanted to bring a walker for him, but it was too big to fit in any suitcase, even when folded down. So my husband hobbled his way to the check-in using the walker, and they had to allow him to bring it on board. The worst part was that once he pretended to need it, he had to do it for the entire trip. He would hobble to the bathroom and all through the terminal in Frankfurt, just in case anyone who was on our original flight saw him. We normally would not take advantage of privelages meant for handicapped people, but there was no other way we could think of to get this very necessary walker to his grandfather (they are just not sold in Russia).

That's quite amusing!

I think you could probably get away with 40kgs each, as mentioned above, particularly as you are in C. If you get stuck with a bit of extra baggage costs (probably unlikely) well, that's life I guess.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LondonElite:
I think you could probably get away with 40kgs each, as mentioned above, particularly as you are in C. If you get stuck with a bit of extra baggage costs (probably unlikely) well, that's life I guess.</font>

I don't think you want to try that. I have not seen much leniency in overweight bags and the fee for excess weight is very high compared to an extra bag.It is based on the price of a full fare ticket.

Whatever the extra bag fee is, I think it is the same for all airlines, so you might call another airline to confirm the $155.

I often had to fly with much more than the 20kgs allowed for a non status mere Y pax intra european. I always managed to charm my way through. Best result I ever had was 60kgs - but this was tough ... which was my main reason to go for FTL.
My general experience is that around 20% over is within a margin that is considered ok, i.e. you can show up with 24kg without any explanation. (In C intra european that would amount to 36kg if I am not completely mistaken.) After that negotiation begins. If you're really unlucky, you're going to pay for every single kg above. So in the end, it comes down to your attitude towards risk. If you want to play safe why not try to get a quote from FedEx&Co.?

Unfortunately, Fed Ex, UPS and DHL all charge $120-$150 for a letter. The $155 for the extra bag is MUCH cheaper. I was just trying to see if I could figure a way around that. OK, maybe I was being cheap, but we just spend so much helping the relatives that I am always trying to figure out how to maximize value on our spendings.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Jensens:
I often had to fly with much more than the 20kgs allowed for a non status mere Y pax intra european. I always managed to charm my way through. Best result I ever had was 60kgs - but this was tough ... which was my main reason to go for FTL.
My general experience is that around 20% over is within a margin that is considered ok, i.e. you can show up with 24kg without any explanation. (In C intra european that would amount to 36kg if I am not completely mistaken.) After that negotiation begins. If you're really unlucky, you're going to pay for every single kg above. So in the end, it comes down to your attitude towards risk. If you want to play safe why not try to get a quote from FedEx&Co.?</font>

I did not go into the long of it, but out of Italian airports that do not have airline gate staff (FLR, BLQ, VCE, etc) the weight thing seems to be quite relaxed. I frequently haul merchandise out of these places. 4 or 6 or 8 extra boxes, each weighing 31.5kg, and 4 feet by 1 1/2' x 1 1/2'. I pay for them. usually around €70. They have never been weighed.

At IAD, MIA, ORD, & LHR, MUC,FRA, CDG, and all those, where LH or UA staff is running the show, I get stopped for being over by 2 lbs.(never been stopped for 1 lb over).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Jensens:
I often had to fly with much more than the 20kgs allowed for a non status mere Y pax intra european. I always managed to charm my way through. Best result I ever had was 60kgs - but this was tough ... which was my main reason to go for FTL.</font>

Best result was flying C from LHR to HAM in Jan 2003 at the beginning of a relocation - absolutely amazed to get away with 75kg of luggage (six pieces plus a clothes rail!) without a murmur of complaint despite no status.

Plane was pretty empty, which may well have helped.