Dave Noble

When it comes to rules , it is either within the rules or it is not - there is no spirit

There is nothing contrarian about pointing out that the websie does not say it is one piece of luggage - it clearly states that it is 3 pieces and also , when it comes to airline treatment, that it only states that the items will either be treated as 1 or multiple - the airline agent treated it as multiple

Can you provide substantiation that the agent was incorrect?

rossmacd

Yes, it does get quite tedious, especially when the world is so black and white

SWISSBOBBY

What happened on the outbound flight?
Where did the trip start?
I assume the VCE checkin was on the return flight?

benjai

Yes we do that with boxes all the time with no problems and I've never even considered that they could be treated treated separately. We visit family in asia and always pack things into small boxes measuring around 40x30x15 cm, then tape 4-5 of them together, rather than using one massive box.

If two bags are designed to be strapped together then I don't see why not. Isn't there a weight restriction anyway that stops people taking the pee?

simons1

Meanwhile back in the real world human judgement comes into play. Which is probably why the OP is saying this is 6th time unlucky.

Prospero

We do this too. Provided the individual parts are securely attached and the overall weight is within limits then it is checked in as a single item

Tiger_lily

We have 2 DaKine split roller bags which hold 150l together. There is no way that we can cram all of our stuff in and stay within the weight limit for a single bag.

So they get split up and treated as 4 bags. To be honest the sole purpose of clipping them together is to enable them to be manhandled by us.

That bag, if it’s within oversize and weight limits should be a single bag. If not, then it’s more than one.

adrianlondon

I once cycled to Heathrow, checked in my bike without issue and then tried to check in my two small panniers as one item. This was back in the day when bikes didn't count against one'\s luggage entitlement, and I was flying Y with no status (well, maybe blue). I thought I was being clever by walking away, putting both panniers in a parcel-taped bin liner and got it checked in.

The bin liner must have split in transit as I arrived at my destination, bike was fine, but no panniers. My pedals were in one of them! Luckily I didn't need my bike immediately so left it at the airport and collected it when my panniers arrived a day later. I learnt two things. One, I'm occasionally not as smart as I think I am and, two, BA did an amazing job getting the panniers to me despite the fact they must have been entangled in some baggage handling facility with no name or labels on either of them.

HarryKUK

I have security wrapped two bags into one with BA after being told I would have to pay for the second piece. The same agent checked in the combined bags and said it was fine. It was under the weight limit.

LTN Phobia

I suspect it would have been treated as one bag if it had been security wrapped.

I, to be honest, wouldn't check clip-together bags as one, because of the number of times my suitcase belts have come undone. They could easily end up separating and one without the bag tag could go astray.