username

I was checking in for a flight on Friday. I was not sure if my bag was over 50 lbs. so I told the agent I needed to weigh it first when I got to that step on the kiosk. It turned out it was 52 lbs. However, the agent told me to not choose the option as it "screws up the weight and balance". I am 1K so no $ is involved. He went on to say that I am thin so it all comes out even.

I am curious how it screws up W&B (i.e. probably causes extra work?) I know 2 lbs most likely does not matter (ERJ145/737) but I wonder would there be situations where this matters?

Thanks.

Often1

Your post is unclear, but presuming that what the agent told you was to carry the box on, the answer is that carryons are included in the passenger's weight calculation and are not independently counted for w&b purposes.

Thus, a single weight per passenger, per standard bag, and per overweight bag.

W&B calculations are done on all commercial aircraft flights.

For what it is worth, I would never have asked to weigh the box. It was irrelevant and not overweight. As a 1K, your bag weight limits was 70 lbs. Even at 50 lbs., likely an agent would not have said or done anything. But, once you raise the issue, the agent is obligated to tag the box as "HEAVY" and the w&b is affected.

RobOnLI

I think you have misunderstood the OP. They never said or implied that they were carrying on the 52 lbs box. It was being checked.

The fact that the OP is 1K is actually not relevant for the discussion. The check-in kiosk asks how many bags you're checking and if any are "overweight" (in this case the check-in kiosk cares about 50 lbs). The OP was supposed to answer yes. Sure, fees for the overweight item would have been waived because of their status but the OPs question is about W&B.

OP - all flights are subject to W&B. All checked in bags are calculated in the W&B procedure so they know how much fuel to load, etc. Each passenger is assigned a default weight that is used in W&B calculations. Adults are x and children are y.

-RM

emcampbe

I always assumed the box was for purposes of what do you charge the pax (and theoretically doesn't matter, if the OPs bag was at 52 lb. and they are elite). I always check the box when my bag is over 50 lb. if that is specifically for W&B, I'd think checking it at 51lbs. would be worse then not - calculating a bag at 51lbs. as 70 surely isn't as accurate as saying it is 50.

I also thought they use the scale to input the exact weight of the bag for W&B purposes. Haven't examined tags in a while, so not sure about UA, but I'm almost certain I've seen weight print out on some airline bag tags.

Also, on the over vs. 50 and under, I'm pretty certain they are supposed to put a 'heavy' tag on anything greater than 50 lbs. - no matter if it's just 51 pounds. I'd guess this is to warn the tampers on what to expect when they lift the bag.

mapelle621

UA uses average checked bags weights when figuring out W&B. By law, a bag over 50 lbs has to be tagged and entered in the W&B system as heavy, otherwise the FAA could levy fines to the airline if caught due to safety of flight concerns.

For standard checked bags, the average weight in the system is 30 lbs, regardless where it actually is between 0 and 50. For "heavy bags" the system uses 60 lbs as the average, regardless if its 50.5 or 70 (and in some cases up to 100 such as large instruments and such). This is true regardless of allowance or destination.

So even in OP's estimate, 51 is actually closer to "70" (60 in the system) than it is to "50" (30 in the system). The 50 and 70 lbs are just upper limits.

tl;dr: bag 50.5 lbs or over needs to show as heavy.

LarryJ

It doesn't "screw up" the weight and balance. It is part of how the weight and balance system works. It also gets the 'heavy' tag so that the ramper will be prepared when they pick it up.

transportprof

The only damage claims for checked bags that I've ever filed with United were with bags tagged "Heavy". Coincidence?

gengar

Same issue as with how travelers say to avoid checking-in bags/boxes with "fragile" stickers/symbols on them.

txaggiemiles

This is a hilarious, yet completely logical, misunderstanding of "check the box"

chavala

Now I get how that was so misunderstood!

sbm12

Am I the only one worried that check-in agents are telling passengers to misrepresent baggage weight? Planes with improperly calculated W&B have crashed with casualties as a result. Yes, it is all based on averages, but those averages come from proper reporting of what's being loaded.

raehl311

I would not want to fly on a plane where they were not counting heavy bags as heavy for weight and balance purposes.

This is worth a note into United.

wrp96

No, you are not the only one.

This. Please write a note to United.

username

Sorry, I clarified the post...

I know when the bag is marked Heavy, the agent had to tag the bag with the weight. Maybe he didn't want to do that step? Or, it causes other extra work that is not worth it for 2 lbs.?

I too have my concerns and that is why I posted.

NikoLGA

As someone who always checks in with an agent, this makes me curious why you would even check in with a kiosk.

Go through all these steps and check boxes, say yes or no to additional miles, E+, Upgrades, all this and then tag it?

Unless if I'm just carrying on for a domestic and there is a long line (in which case I'd just use the app), I'd much rather go to the Premier counter, hand the agent my ID and the bag, and have him/her work for their pay by having them do everything.

Remember, Self Service kiosks aren't easier for you, it's easier for them.