ryandelmundo

I hope this long post doesn't scare people off.

Post Objective: I want to get a good handle on people's experiences with the Asia discount airlines and bagges fees.

So like any good budget traveler I carry what I need on my back. I don't like checking my bags, for so many reasons (no waiting after, can't lose what you have, etc). Of course I haaaate baggage fees and consider them offensive to a travel strategy I developed even before anyone had baggage fees.

My gear: I have a small Eagle Creek backpacker-style backpack and then a smaller laptop daypack for the front. Total weight is probably 20kg, depending.

Living in Asia I've been flying the discount airlines here and have yet to pay a baggage fee. In the past three years I've flown Air Asia, Tiger, Lion, Srijawaya. Lion/Sri both still allow a checked bag.
Summary:
Tiger: Tiger claims to be strict but has never looked funny at my stuff. Air Asia has usually never said a thing but weighed one of my bags before my previous flight (ex-SGN) two weeks ago and gave me a tag for my bag. When I boarded w two bags and only one tag they didn't say anything.

Details:
Experience flying Tiger

SIN-SGN: A recent trip with Tiger was a bit worrisome though. They claim to only allow 7kg carry-on. They didn't check when I checked-in SIN (and I even asked, are my bags OK? They said yes). They didn't check when I boarded, tho they approached me and said, the plane is full and we need to check your bag. This was BS, the overhead bins were half empty. Looking online I saw a few stories of folks getting hit with big fees, but since they fly the real airport instead of the LCC I wonder if the real airport has different regulations. By taking my bag and "checking it" were they trying to scare me for next time? I expected it to be held when I arrived and primed for a fee but it didn't happen. Weird!

SGN-SIN/SIN-KRV: I resolved the previous trip to to be my last Tiger trip. Until I had to fly to Thailand from Vietnam and it worked out the best. This time, no weighing either out of SGN. Same thing out of SIN.

Experience flying Air Asia

When I checked into my flight SGN-BKK the guy asked to weigh my bag. I had two bags and just pulled one off and they weighed it. Didn't ask about the other one. Then asked me if I had any of these things in it (flamables, knives, the usual). Then gave my bag a tag to show it had been weighed. When I boarded with two bags and only one with the tag nothing was said.

I fly Air Asia a lot and this was the first time I was weighed. One of the reasons I fly them is they never care that I bring aboard my backpack and my personal/laptop bag. So the weighing was a surprise. In Bangkok and Bali, I do online check-in and get my boarding pass from the kiosk so I never even talk with an agent. So perhaps I avoid it all.

But by doing this weighing and tagging maybe they just want to scare folks in line to pay the fees?

What's Going On?

So what's really happening? Anyone know? I asked some Tiger flight attendants and they knew nothing about a 7kg carry-on limit. It's easy to find stories of RyanAir charging for everything under the sun, so we know we can't mess with them. Tiger has a few stories but not really that many. I never looked for Air Asia stories as I never had a problem.

Tiger talks tough, and you can find instances where they did charge people. Now they seem not to. Are there airport/country regulations that don't allow them to?

It seems like they are engaged in "show" checking to scare people into paying the fees. If they wanted to be strict I would have been nailed, or does my stuff just look too light/small?

Curious other people's experiences. I'll try to summarize with a wrap-up post.

Thanks
Ryan

dogloverjb

1st time I flew Tiger was last month. They scared me with their website. We each had 1 carry-on bag and they said nothing. They were large enough to be overweight, although I think they just made it.

I've been on Air Asia alot. Had overweight hand luggage lots of times. They only asked once to weigh a bag and that time it was under. I have had them charge me extra for my checked bag twice. Once it was over and they let me go.

I think all you can do is pack sparingly and try to stick to the limits in case they stop you. But in general it doesn't seem that hand luggage weight restrictions are adhered to in Asia.

Sjoerd

I hope ALL airlines will soon make people check-in all big bags. 20 kg in the cabin is a safety hazard and most times you will be bothering other passengers who bring normal carry-on quantities into the cabin.

walkingtall

Never mind the luggage , I wouldn't fly lion for any reason, cheap isn't everything, Garuda , citilink or air Asia are much better options in Indonesia

sfx

20kg as one cabin bag?

That comes crashing out the overhead bin and you've killed someone.

ryandelmundo

Nice way to add your $.02 :P

Agreed 20kg is a big bag!

My total baggage is 12kg main / 8 kg laptop bag.

I flew Air Asia today and again the red tag for "cabin approved" or something was in display. I did online check-in and then used a kiosk so never got one. Didn't have a problem.

Walkingtall, I avoided booking LionAir last week to get back to Jakarta. They're probably better than their reputation, but only because their rep is so bad. "Nobody died in our last crash" isn't a very good marketing slogan!

Anyone else with stories? The airlines websites sure like to scare you, and the airport had signs all over for Air Asia saying, "Only 7KG allowed" but in the end they don't check. Why not?

textibule

Damn! I fly Air Asia a lot and they always weigh me. Always.

(Which creates an unvirtuous circle: now, I theoretically automatically pre-pay the 15kg check-in baggage fee on any given flight. But then, last month I had forgotten somehow to follow my golden rule and got hit for a 50U$ 'fine' for an on-the-spot check-in bag fee. My bag weighed 11 kg. Less than yours. (Grrr))

ryandelmundo

Fine on the spot? How'd that work? At the gate during boarding? What airport? I've heard that KL is somewhat strict. I would have started putting all my clothing on!

I got one bag weighed at HCMC, and never had a second glance when doing kiosk checking in DPS/BKK/JKT.

captaincool

I've been flying Air Asia exclusively from KL with 4 RT flights in the last 2 months. Only once have I been weighed. The bag weighed ~10kg and they let it go without saying anything. I usually print it out when flying out of KL, but at the various destinations I always get my ticket at the airport.

On one of the flights I saw a girl with a massive 85L bag that looked 20+ kg. She was struggling to get it to fit in the overhead bin, so it attracted a flight attendant over to her. I was expecting a scolding and/or fine, but to my surprise she just told her to turn it the long way and helped put the bag up!

Most people seem to check their bags anyways so there's never been a lack of overhead space on any flight I've been on. Even the jam-packed SIN-KUL flights

Reality_Czech

I flew Tiger a few weeks ago from HKG. Hand baggage only.

Got my boarding pass and they asked me to weigh my bag. It was about 11kg. I had never considered how much it weighed. I was more concerned about dimensions. First time ever flying numerous LCCs around Asia and Europe that my hand baggage has been weighed.

I told the girl at check-in that the scales must be wrong. Admit, I was clutching at straws. She said I would have to remove some things and handed me the boarding pass. I said 'ok' and shuffled away. She did not challenge me any further. I was half expecting her to have updated my record and I would be stopped at the gate, but nothing happened.

In future, I will find somewhere safe to hide/store my hand baggage if flying with Tiger and just turn up at check-in with zero bags in hand. Once I have the boarding pass, I will just carry on as normal. Highly unlikely that any gate area will weigh bags. Wouldn't be too bothered if I have to pay a left luggage fee as I generally travel hand baggage only out of convenience rather than cost.

RustyC

With Air Asia and others of that ilk the idea is/was to put heavier but not necessarily bulkier things, like books, into the carry on (as long as there are no security issues with the items). But I've noticed they've gotten worse about that, with more people on the check-in desk demanding that you weigh the carry-on on top of the checked bag (so that they can do quick subtraction to enforce the 7kg official limit).

It's really about the money, especially when combined with a fee system that sets 15kg as the basic tier (charging for that) and additionally charges at 20, 25 and 30. If you're on a long trip internationally then that airline was probably at 20-23 included, and it's harder to pack for 15 than for 20kg, so it becomes a gotcha for many people.

And not to miss out, Spirit has been doing the same thing, i.e. charging for everything AND making the first tier only for 40 lb. rather than 50 lb, so that you not only have to pay, but pay again for what used to be standard.

textibule

>Fine on the spot? How'd that work? At the gate during boarding? What airport? I've >heard that KL is somewhat strict. I would have started putting all my clothing on!

Sorry been away. The airport was Phnom Penh. At checkin (no kiosk) the AA employee asked to weigh my bag. Since 11kg > the 7kg allowed, I was asked to pay 50U$ to checkin the bag, no discussion possible

ohliuw

With Asian cariers, I've only had my handbag checked once - it was at HKG on AirAsia flight to HKT. I am always more or less prepared for this, so I had put my shoes in the sleeved of my jacket

Never had issues on intra Thailand flights with AirAsia. I assume it's a cultural thing, so I don't think they will start enforcing it.

In Europe, however, it's such a PITA. They make you weigh AND measure you bag. And they do it both at check in and at the gate! The reason behind is that the employees get bonuses (e.g days off, et) when they charge certain number of folks.

RustyC

In my experience Air Asia has gotten stricter about the carry-on weights, especially at large airports or where they can try to make airport security the heavies. They're definitely more aware of it than they were a few years ago.

By western standards the charges for the bags aren't terrible, but they also play the game of having the first tier at 15kg rather than the industry standard 20kg. They're doing it all for money, not out of safety concerns.