We had a friend leaving for Peru just after Thanksgiving. She got to the airport an hour before flight time, since the first leg of her trip was domestic. However, she had 32 lbs over the weight limit. She was not able to pay for the overage, and had to dump it at the airport. I assume the plane had all the over weight luggage it could carry. So I'm also assuming that if you plan to be over weight, you should probably check in VERY early, to make sure you can get your stuff on board.

Even if she had checked in at a more reasonable time, she would still have had to pay the excess-baggage charges.

I don't get the connection between not being able to pay and assuming the plane had no capacity for the bags.

Getting to the airport extra early just because of over weight bags is irrelevant.

Either you stay within the limits set by the airline when you purchase your ticket, or you pay for the excess.

Some airlines impose weight embargo for excess luggage, especially for S. American trips. One should therefore ask the airline before going to the airport if such an embargo exist, and if there's anything one could do. Like J62 says, going to the airport early doesn't mean they'll accept it.

She was more than willing to pay the excess, and in fact had expected to pay. The airline REFUSED to let her pay and told her she could not take ANY excess luggage at any price.

Right. But we are saying that going to the airport early doesn't mean they'll accept it.

OK, but I am assuming a plane has a weight capacity, and during the holidays lots of people might be trying to check excess baggage, it then seems logical to me that the early check-in has a better chance of getting all their luggage on board. Nothing is guarenteed, I know. This posting is probably more of a "heads up" for anyone expecting to be able to check excess luggage and pay for it.

Thanks for the heads up.

When you originally wrote "She was not able to pay for the overage" I mistook that to mean she did not have the ability to pay. Your later reply clarified that she was, in fact, willing and able to pay, but was not allowed.

Hard to say whether or not arriving earlier she would been allowed to pay. Bummer she had to dump the excess.

Aircraft do indeed have a maximum weight limit and that includes passengers and their luggage as well as fuel and any cargo. You do not know the total being carried as there may have been some heavy cargo aboard or the captain wished to fly with full fuel tanks.

The airline is obligated to carry the stated baggage of any passenger on board. Acceptance of overweight, even at an optional charge, is completely at the discretion of the captain. And note that sometimes they will even remove passengers from aircraft if it is overweight.

Barring any weight restrictions downline, it is a safety issue at the departure airport.

Maximum luggage allowance with no option for additional weight, paid or not, is not an uncommon policy, and arrriving earlier does not make a difference.

I wonder if there was a post office at the airport so the excess could've been mailed. In this case arriving early could've helped.

And I'm sorry for your friend. If on the airline's website there is a post about paying for the excess luggage, maybe she can make them pay?

I don't know what airline the OP is talking about, but check out this website on Continental's website about excess baggage embargo.

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US.../embargo.aspx?

They do not accept excess bags to Lima all year around.

And I always thought you just pay for excess... Maybe some day this will save me from a heart attack in the airport

We were in line behind a man flying to Europe and he had one bag to check. It was overweight. He opened his suitcase, pulled a second suitcase out of it (guess it was for souveniers), and put some of the stuff in it. Now he had 2 suitcases but both were not in excess weight so he proceeded on through with no problem.

On one hand, it makes sense. On the other hand, it still totaled the same weight. Oh my!

LvSun - There are two seperate issues here. One is total weight. The other is weight of individual pieces - which cannot exceed a certain amount due to labor/union rules or agreement for baggage handlers.

The two issues sometimes affect one another, sometimes not.

The real problem here is a lack of personal responsibility and self-control.

When will all this overweight luggage learn that the world can't keep accommodating it just because it can't get out of the closet sometimes, <i>do</i> something, push itself away from the dresser?

How would you like to be the satchel next to it -- crammed into a corner, unable to use the space it's entitled to?

I have no sympathy at all for luggage that refuses to exercise some good old-fashioned moderation. Put down the extra turtleneck once in a while, for Pete's sake.

Worktowander - don't forget all that ridiculous shopping the overweight luggage feels the need to do during it's vacation. I mean seriously, how many cast iron flying pigs does a rollaboard really need to bring home?!?

Worktowander, that was the funniest thing I've read in a long time.

I thought we were SUPPOSED to shop to keep the economy going.........

kleroux - that went out the window with the last election ;-)