Dealing with the 20kg baggage limit
 

Most of the LCCs in Europe have pretty strict baggage weight limits -- usually 20kg (44 pounds), above which the charges can range up to $3/pound or more.

I could easily live with this limit if it were just me and/or I was only going for a weekend or a few days. But I'm planning a trip with my wife and it'll be about two weeks or more.

Does anyone have any tricks they use because of this limitation? Frequent laundry stops? Mailing baggage ahead? Leaving some behind? Or am I just being paranoid about a problem that's not real?

Where in Europe are you going?

One alternative, of course, is to use the train.

For longer distances, well, LCCs aren't always the cheapest option.

Otherwise, I don't know: I don't think I've ever even come close to a 20kg limit.

Who are you flying with?

easyJet don't have a weight limit on hand luggage (small print is within reason) as long as the bag fits in their little cage thing that looks a standard sort of size, and you can lift the bag into the overhead lockers. From easyJet.com :

So get your travel space bags out, reduce the volume and put any excess in your carry-on. :)

I have always made my wife carry her own luggage.

On our honeymoon she brought the contents of a small apartment. Over the years she has learned to manage with carryon very well and the only time she checks luggage is when I'm not traveling with her as she is unable to place it in the overhead by herself.

We have our laundry done while traveling. The inconvenience for personal time used for this task IMO is a lot less then waiting for your luggage to arrive. (could be an hour could be a day or more)

Learn to pack light? Or pack an extra duffel bag within one of your luggage?

Looking at Easyjet, Skyeurope, and Virgin Express right now. Maybe Wizzair, too. I didn't know that about Easyjet: Thanks!

I'll probably take at least one train trip (AMS-Paris), but going from, say, FCO-AMS or BUD-FCO takes a long time on the train, and costs more than flying.

The LCCs are not alone in this. BA and many other European airlines allow 23 kg for economy short-haul, and Aeroflot only allows 20 kg. If you pack sensibly and limit yourself to one checked bag and one carry-on you should be able to fit under 20 kg, well under if you pack very sensibly.

It's not just Aeroflot that has a 20 kg limit, 20 kg is fairly much the norm in Europe. I was brought up with it and was surprised first time I went to North America and found they don't weigh baggage!

Avoid Ryanair - their baggage limit is 15 kg (plus 10 kg carry-on), and it's strictly enforced with stiff excess baggage charges for anyone who goes over the limit by as much as 1g.

Sometimes you get dinged, sometimes not. My last trip to LHR I got dinged on BA on the connection to Geneva, but not on the return (BA) coming back ten days later. It's brutally expensive, so I do anything I can to avoid the surcharge. I think that BA is much more forgiving if your international leg was also on BA. I carry a lot of mountain climbing gear with me, so the heavy stuff I put in my carry on backpack. Then I stuff as much as possible of the remaining heavy stuff in my carry on. Also, duffel bags can be almost five pounds lighter than rolling suitcases, so that's a little savings.

With or without the baggage limits, packing light is the only way to go unless if someone else is hauling your bags for you. I have seen carryon bag so heavy that the person had a difficult time lifting it. Of course, they expect some gentlemen to help. Usually some strong guys materialize to help. If these strong guys would stop helping, people would:

1. Learn to pack light, or
2. Check the stuff and pay the surcharge.

Besides, it is not just the airports. Train stations are full of stairs. Heavy bags and stairs just don’t mix.

Edited to include:

Helping someone really needs help is one thing. Helping someone who does not know how pack light is another.

It is only 15kg on the asian budget carriers. I'm bringing the largest carry-on bag that I can.

yeah, but they usually weigh your carry on as well...

There really aren't any tricks to getting around the checked baggage limits.

Either you pack light (perhaps get a lightweight duffle bag), pay the excess, store some luggage at a hotel (assuming you are returning to the city), buy a jacket that has lots of pockets, or ask your wife to wear really tight panty hose and baggy pants and stuff the excess around her legs :D