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Do Comair check bag weight at the gate?

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Old Oct 19, 2017, 1:42 am
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by iahphx
It looks like I'll be buying a ticket on Kulula from JNB to CPT. I saw the ridiculous 7 kg rule. Is there online check-in that would alleviate the need to go to a check-in counter (where my bag would likely be weighed)? I assume if I get to the gate, I'll be OK with a standard rollerboard. Worse comes to worse, they just check it for free, right?

Hmmm - as things stand we have a flight back from CPT to JNB next month on a Kulula code, in Y. Might have to look a that as we're bringing the nipper and therefore not travelling particularly light.
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 1:55 am
  #17  
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Originally Posted by iahphx
I saw the ridiculous 7 kg rule.
What's "ridiculous" about it? A 7-kg weight limit is very commonly found all around the world.

However, as already noted Kulula is a low-fare airline largely unconnected to BA, and is likely to apply an low-fare airline approach to these rules.

I think that all Kulula fares include one 20-kg bag, so you have practically nothing to lose by checking the bag rather than playing roulette with what happens at the gate.
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 1:56 am
  #18  
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Originally Posted by Pascoe
... as things stand we have a flight back from CPT to JNB next month on a Kulula code, in Y.
You're either on a Kulula flight or you're not. The concept of a Kulula code on some other Comair flight no longer exists.

And if you're on a Kulula flight, there is only Y.

Last edited by Globaliser; Oct 19, 2017 at 2:31 am
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 2:20 am
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Originally Posted by Globaliser
You're either on a Kulula flight or you're not. The concept of a Kulula code on some other flight no longer exists.
This is not true.

I flew from Nairobi to Johannesburg about a month ago, the flight had a MN2764 code but was operated by Kenya Airways. For some reason it was cheaper than using KQ itself.
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 2:32 am
  #20  
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Originally Posted by simons1
I flew from Nairobi to Johannesburg about a month ago, the flight had a MN2764 code but was operated by Kenya Airways.
Sorry, I meant other Comair (ie "British Airways"-branded) flights - post now edited to make that clear.
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 4:02 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by iahphx
It looks like I'll be buying a ticket on Kulula from JNB to CPT. I saw the ridiculous 7 kg rule. Is there online check-in that would alleviate the need to go to a check-in counter (where my bag would likely be weighed)? I assume if I get to the gate, I'll be OK with a standard rollerboard. Worse comes to worse, they just check it for free, right?
Ignore the doomsayers - I have taken maybe a dozen Kulula internals in the last year, with a standard roller and briefcase, never been weighed. I think on one occasion (might have been Mango) it was a rammed flight and they were trying to gate-check rollers but I just picked mine up and carried it and that seems to make it invisible

That's using online checkin with a home printed or mobile BP, so avoiding checkin desks... they might give you grief.
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 8:59 pm
  #22  
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Originally Posted by FrancisA
Kulula is a low-cost airline whose only link to BA is common ownership through Comair.

They operate like a LCC and are highly likely to enforce their rules and charge those who are over the limit.

I would work on the assumption that you need to check in the case and pay in advance. If you get to the gate with it, they would be within their rights to levy a substantial charge or refuse to take the case.

JNB-CPT is the busiest route in South Africa. Many flights are totally full. Turning up with extremely oversized luggage is therefore not likely to go unnoticed. Add to this the fact that the LCC model depends on the payment of extra fees for items like luggage, and the likelihood of getting away with it recedes into the distance.
In case you don't know, you get a free checked bag on Kulula. So there is no cost involved. The worst that happens is they make you check your bag.

Originally Posted by Stewie Mac
Ignore the doomsayers - I have taken maybe a dozen Kulula internals in the last year, with a standard roller and briefcase, never been weighed. I think on one occasion (might have been Mango) it was a rammed flight and they were trying to gate-check rollers but I just picked mine up and carried it and that seems to make it invisible

That's using online checkin with a home printed or mobile BP, so avoiding checkin desks... they might give you grief.
Yes, years of experience with many different foreign carriers has informed me of the benefit of not presenting myself at a ticket counter (where there are scales!) if I believe I might be violating some ultra-low weight carry-on bag rule. That's why I love online check-in. I personally have never had a bag weighed at a gate.

Originally Posted by Globaliser
What's "ridiculous" about it? A 7-kg weight limit is very commonly found all around the world.
7 kg is not common. It's not unheard of, but not common. Most EMPTY rollerboards come close to this. It's a ridiculous hassle. It would be like requiring pax not to wear more than 2 kg of clothing -- which would get interesting.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 1:27 am
  #23  
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Originally Posted by iahphx
7 kg is not common. It's not unheard of, but not common.
Perhaps you think that the following airlines, picked at random, are small and insignificant parts of the industry?

7 kg allowance (usually plus a second "personal item", the same as Kulula allows)

CX: https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...n/baggage.html

EK: https://www.emirates.com/uk/english/...age-rules.aspx

EY: http://www.etihad.com/en-gb/before-y...on/allowances/

QF: https://www.qantas.com/gb/en/travel-...age-allowances

QR: https://www.qatarairways.com/en/baggage/allowance.html

SQ: http://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/gb...cabin-baggage/

A startlingly generous 8 kg allowance:-

LH: http://www.lufthansa.com/uk/en/Carry-on-baggage

SA: https://www.flysaa.com/manage-fly/baggage/hand-baggage
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 9:38 am
  #24  
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Originally Posted by Globaliser
I guess you can publish any weight restriction you want for any inexplicable reason. SQ's is pretty funny because I just bought at ticket on their low-fare subsidiary, Scoot, and they promise a 10 kg carry-on bag allowance. This must make Singapore the only airline in the world which has a more generous bag allowance on their low fare subsidiary than their mainline operation. FWIW, no one has ever questioned my bag weight on SQ.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 10:08 am
  #25  
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Originally Posted by iahphx
I guess you can publish any weight restriction you want for any inexplicable reason.
Is "inexplicable" yet another euphemism for "I don't like it", now that "ridiculous" doesn't work because 7 kg is in fact a very common restriction around the world?
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 10:17 am
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Originally Posted by Globaliser
Is "inexplicable" yet another euphemism for "I don't like it", now that "ridiculous" doesn't work because 7 kg is in fact a very common restriction around the world?
Not only that, some airport/security actually enforce this regardless of airline. BNE international comes to mind for me.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 8:35 am
  #27  
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Originally Posted by Globaliser
Is "inexplicable" yet another euphemism for "I don't like it", now that "ridiculous" doesn't work because 7 kg is in fact a very common restriction around the world?
7 kg is non-sensical because the on-board bins have obviously been designed to hold bags that normally weigh more than 7 kg. Millions of Americans use these bins every day with baggage above that weight, as do many millions around the world. So, yes, having a 7 kg bag weigh for carry on luggage is as inexplicable as building a super-highway and having a speed limit of 50 kph. Is it safer? Maybe. Is it a huge stupid PITA? Absolutely.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 11:17 am
  #28  
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But globaliser wasn't responding to 'nonsensical' or 'pita' but 'not common' - he was showing that 7kg is indeed a common limit for hand luggage (which is certainly is). It may also be a nonsensical and pita limit, and ignored by Kulula (the point of this thread) but it certainly *is* common.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 2:45 pm
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by iahphx
7 kg is non-sensical because the on-board bins have obviously been designed to hold bags that normally weigh more than 7 kg. Millions of Americans use these bins every day with baggage above that weight, as do many millions around the world. So, yes, having a 7 kg bag weigh for carry on luggage is as inexplicable as building a super-highway and having a speed limit of 50 kph. Is it safer? Maybe. Is it a huge stupid PITA? Absolutely.
Whether 7kg is right is open to debate, however Globaliser is pointing out that your observation that it is 'not common' is inaccurate.

Why not just acknowledge that rather than try and obfuscate?
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 2:52 pm
  #30  
 
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Regardless , pretty sure ACSA enforces the rule as well that all cabin bags need to be under 7kg's as I'm nearly certain they set that rule.
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