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Need help with metric system conversion please!

Need help with metric system conversion please!

Old Aug 8th, 2005, 08:56 AM
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Need help with metric system conversion please!

As described by a European airline, checked luggage maximum dimensions are 203 cm. Can anyone tell me what this converts to in terms of length x width x depth in incehs (or feet)?
Thank you for helping me through my ignorance.

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Old Aug 8th, 2005, 09:02 AM
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go to www.onlineconversion.com and type in your information in the appropriate section
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Old Aug 8th, 2005, 09:13 AM
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Multiply the cms by .4 (.3937 to be exact) and the answer is about 80".
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Old Aug 8th, 2005, 09:30 AM
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I believe that what they mean with 203 cm or 80 inch, is that Length+Width+Depth should be less than that amount. In that way they give you more flexibility to other shapes than the standard L x W x D.

Example:

A large suitcase, say 40" x 25" x 15" fits in, but imagine you want to take a very long but narrow piece, say 70" x 5" x 5", this would also be allowed, because both have L+D+W=80"
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Old Aug 8th, 2005, 09:33 AM
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Conversions: go to google, type <b>203 cm in inches</b> and hit Search.
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Old Aug 8th, 2005, 09:41 AM
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Thank you all. Now I've got it! And I especially appreciate no one slamming me for not knowing this on my own. Thanks!!
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Old Aug 8th, 2005, 09:42 AM
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It's 80 inches. And the original measurement was probably in inches to begin with, since it's very unlikely that a native user of the metric system would choose 203 cm rather than 200 cm even.
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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 06:32 AM
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It's the Maximum 20kg (40 lbs) of TOTAL checked luggage per person that has me very worried considering we'll be there 3 1/2 weeks including a land trip as well as a cruise (formal nights)! That is very unrealistic for people on an extended vacation. It may work for those flying within Europe on a long weekend but not traveling from the USA to Europe for close to a month.
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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 06:34 AM
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Hi T,

20 kg is 44 lbs.

Does that help?

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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 06:48 AM
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If you have a kg or 2 more and you check in well in advance, they normally won't make any problems or let you pay extra. On top of that you can usually have about 7 kg of carry-on luggage. That adds up to almost 30kg!
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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 07:04 AM
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I suggest you first figure out just how much you will have to take, then contact the airline and find out what their policies and fees are for excess baggage.
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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 07:53 AM
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I have looked into this and Helvetic Airlines (Zurich to Rome) has strict requirements of total 20kg per person and 5 kg carry on. The overweight charge is 5 Euro for every 1 kg. overweight. They are a discount airline and according to their email response to me, strictly enforce this weight restriction. My overweight charge may eat up any savings had I flown with Alitalia or Swiss instead.
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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 09:02 AM
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You would travel with more than 55 pounds? How do you carry it? Or hesitate to pay 25 euro, to go up to 66 pounds?

Lots of steel-toed hiking boots?

Three and a half weeks doesn't require any more clothes than ten days. Do you really want to be carrying around three weeks of dirty laundry at the end?
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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 09:20 AM
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I once traveled for three months in Europe with a small suitcase (not more than 22 inches). I never looked poorly dressed or yearned for more clothes. I just brought with me quality travel clothes that were well coordinated. I have to admit, I never wore these clothes again. I was sick and tired of them.
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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 09:24 AM
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This is tricky because we need different clothes for a 2 week cruise than we do for our 2 weeks on land. There are formal nights on our cruise which means tuxedo, dress shoes, gowns. There are also informal nights which require a sportscoat. If it was all land, it would cut our clothing requirements considerably. Also the climate will be much cooler in Northern Europe than it will be when we hit the Med.

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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 09:37 AM
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I can't imagine packing a black tie ensemble and not having enough weight left from 77 lbs. for everything I could possibly use in a month. You <i>are</i> planning to launder once a week, aren't you?

20 kg in the suitcase
5 kg in the carryon
10 kg on me (sport coat, sweater, trench coat, and camera gear)
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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 11:56 AM
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Some cruises will allow you to ship your stuff ahead so you don't have to tote around your cruisewear thru the rest of your vacation.
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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 12:36 PM
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LOL...yes, we will do laundry once a week. One person in this family insist on a different pair of shoes with each outfit. That's all about to change!
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Old Aug 9th, 2005, 01:43 PM
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One of the raps on the European discount airlines is they allow little luggage, and charge quite a bit for excess baggage.

You might look at using another airline. Or put some of your stuff in a box and use one of the courier services (FedEx, UPS, DHS (I think)) to send it ahead.
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Old Aug 10th, 2005, 05:25 AM
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Clevelandbrown, I think you mean DHL
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