Originally Posted by
PhlyingRPh
To get you started, I invite you to watch Philipino, Nigerian, Pakistani and Indian ex-pats standing in a check-in queue the next time you are at an airport. These groups are the experts bar none at pushing the former 70 lbs / 2 pc rules and not paying excess baggage charges.
Hahaha! I'm a Filipino-American currently living in Manila. I just had to laugh outloud when I read this. It is so true.
Pre-9/11 the joke among the Fil-Am community was that you could tell Filipinos from other Asians at the airport curb due to the fact that they were the ones with the big "balikbayan" boxes.
For Filipinos living abroad, coming home to the Philippines with boxes/bags full of "pasalubong" (gifts) to give out to friends and relatives was a sign that "you've made it in America". Perhaps that's why Northwest has a 70lb per bag limit to/from the Philippines instead of the regular 50lbs.
On a related note, I'll be guilty of flying with 2 70lb suitcases (okay 70 & 72 - they have never weighed bags at MNL (NAIA Terminal 1) in all my years flying) and a 35lb roll-on and my laptop. But this is due to the fact that my years living in MNL are coming to an end and am taking this opportunity to trans-ship my stuff back to NYC without using freight. Nominally I'm heading to NYC for my cousin's wedding though.
