Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Charging a checked baggage fee when not checking in the luggage sounds like grounds for a charge dispute. But if the airline checked in the bag but let it go into the passenger cabin, isn't it still considered a checked-in bag under the relevant Montreal Convention and/or contract of carriage? If so, the grounds for disputing the checked baggage fee would seem to be weaker, but there is that saying: "nothing ventured, nothing gained".
Sounds like Norwegian is getting real desperate to shake down its customers for money and doesn't care if it starts alienating customers by engaging in more desperate measures to grab cash.
I do what I can to avoid flying Norwegian long-haul, but I do a lot of Norwegian short-haul flights and have never had them do this kind of thing at the departure gates.
Thank you for sharing your experience about the charging baggage related fees at that departure gate area.
This.
The bag was checked in and paid for. Where the carrier chooses to place the bag is irrelevant and had, for example, the bag been lost or danaged somehow, it would have carried Montreal Convention protections. Unless OP was the last person in line and the gate was closing, all he needed to do was step out of line and toss a few things and then get back in line.
There is no valid chargeback here as OP attempted to board with an "illegal" bag and was caught. The fact that this may not have occurred in the past is irrelevant.
Card issuers tend to stay out of petty air carrier issues such as this and if Norwegian responds that the bag was charged because it was overweight, that will end it. On the other hand, Norwegian may fail to respond and if it does, OP may get lucky.
Indeed this is all part of the conduct of a cash-starved operation. It is not looking to build long-term goodwill because there is not likely a long-term. Rather, it needs the cash to pay for fuel today.
Part of all of this is that card issuers have raised the chargeback holdback rates on Norwegian as a result of its precarious situation. This make it even more cash-starved.