@com

ON a most recent flight from LHR to Malta, I had the most unfortunate experienceS with Air Malta. The reason for choosing Air Malta over BA was simply the schedule (unfortunately for BA, they have probably the worst time slots to/from Malta - leaving LHR at 0730hrs and departing Malta at 2130hrs, not allowing for any same day connections to or from any other destination).
On check-in, I was told that I was not allowed to carry my 'travelpro' rolling carry on bag - the same bag used by the majority of flight crews in the world. They then asked me to check it which put me 'overweight'. They then had the audacity to charge me 56 Pounds Sterling for an excess baggage fee!! (almost 40% of my original ticket price!!!). After a lot of complaining on my part, they agreed to lower the charge to only 28 Pounds. Once on the airplane, I was enjoying a nice DVD on my laptop when the cheif flight attendant informed me that it is airline policy that DVD's or CD's cannot be played on the airplane. They must be the only airline in the world where this occurs. ON BA, AC, ALaska, American, United and many others, they actually GIVE you a DVD player in some first classes and in most international airports you can rent DVD's and players for the express use on planes. I informed the attendant of this oppressive policy, particularly as the airline had no other entertainment on board the 3 hour flight....to no avail. This was policy - period.
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I have sent an email to the airline requesting a response and I will post it here - if anyone cares!
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Conclusion: I recommend that you do not fly Air Malta, unless you are ready for these oppressive and ridiculous policies.

Massimum

I have no idea howgood is Air Malta, but please be aware that some countries' regulations prohibits using digital players on board.
This means it might not be an airline decision but just a regulation they must enforce

Dambus

In "theory" many carriers ban the use of laser operated devices during flight - including CD/DVD players and by implication almost all laptops. In practice most are not that strict.

-- Dambus

WHBM

Just for the information of others, the BA service to Malta is from London Gatwick (LGW), not London Heathrow (LHR). The flight leaves at 0730 on Mondays only, returning to London at 1230, while on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday it leaves Gatwick at 1615, returning from Malta at 2130.

snorkmaster

Iberia is another carrier that does not permit CD use...so Air Malta is not alone.

And I don't think Air Malta is alone in forbidding rollaboards -- in recent international travels on non-US airlines, I've been advised that my rollaboard bag must be checked.

I'm not exactly defending Air Malta -- I'm just saying that their policies are hardly unique.

sjharte

Whenever flying in or to North America I am always surprised (and sometimes annoyed) at what North American paasengers believe it is their God given right to carry on board.

This side of the water airlines expect you to check in your luggage other than REAL hand luggae - if anything makes the cabin more comfortable and safer for your fellow passengers.

Just my view for what it is worth.

Stephen

KenF

Hate to break the habits of a lifetime, however in this case I think I have to agree with Steve ( - OK?)

If the rollaboard was sufficiently heavy to cause the baggage allowance to be exceeded by that much, then it probably was too heavy for cabin baggage. I bemoan the fact that many check-in agents discriminate against wheeled baggage purely on the gornds that they expect it to be too big/heavy, and, to quote Monty Python "It's folks like you wot cause unrest!". If the hand baggage was within a sensible weight range (say 7-9Kg) I may think differently.

Also I can confirm that many airlines still have an archaic ban on CD devices in flight, however stupid this appears. I recomend converting the DVD(s) you want to watch into DIVX format, then you don't need the drive active to watch them. I seem to remember Swiss(air) used to have a similar ban, not sure if it is still enforced.

Always worth doing a little bit of research on your chosen airline prior to check-in! The WWW is a wonderful tool for checking handbaggage restrictions, in-flight rules, checked baggage limits, and so on....

Cheers,

Ken.

britflyer1976

I have real trouble understanding your problem.

You were forced to check your luggage - fine - that has happened to me before, with a bag the right size but 8kg when 6kg was allowed.

But in your case you insist you were told to pay 56GBP luggage excess - any single bag weighing this much should never be in an overhead and you would be crazy not to accept this fact before you even try to check in. I can only assume that this means you already had hold luggage and this was added to that - but even then your hand luggage must have been extremely heavy.

leroy11

I believe that for a long time German regulations forbade the use of CD players on board - thus they were banned on LH.