AIR FRANCE- 2nd baggage fee starting NOV 1
 

I just received and email from Air France that starting Nov.1st, there will be a $50 fee for a SECOND checked baggage going and 5o euro on return.

I prefer to think of this as an encouragement for people to pack more sensibly rather than as a punishment. :)

KLM too of course :(. 20% reduction if you book-in and pay for your baggage online.

Kerouac it cuts down on the shopping possibilities on US trips :(.

...or try to cram more into their carry-ons. I took an Air France flight last week from Paris to Amsterdam and carried 50 lbs of carry-on luggage with me. (Not trying to save money - trying to simplify travel/not risk a lost bag.) Plenty of room for my bags on the Airbus, though! Boeing planes I was on on this same trip had far less overhead bin space...

Yep, another good reason to pack lightly. It's not that hard to do and now you have extra incentives to do it.

((H))

I wish they's also clamp down on oversized lugguge squeezed into the overhead bins.

They have sometimes weighed my carry-on on full flights. I don't remember what the limit was (something like 10 or 12kg), but I was well under it.

I have to go to Cairo on Alitalia (another Air France-KLM subsidiary) in a couple of days, and I will be taking only carry-on baggage again, because the trip is only for 5 days.

I got worried when I saw the e-mail notice until I read the press release. It applies to flights ticketed after November 1 rather than flights taken after that date, so I should be OK when I fly back from Paris November 20 with my gym bag full of dirty laundry. I always take an empty gym bag so I can make room in my suitcase for purchases. Sometimes I need the space, sometimes I don't. Depends on a bunch of things including the state of the dollar.

I am a light packer but heavy shopper. I do exactly what Nikki does....a $50 charge to check that duffel might make mailing dirty laundry back an better option!

cigalechanta I agree! people seem to carry more and more stuff onto planes and cram it into the overhead lockers. I've even had someone remove my small camera bag from a locker so they could fit their three(!) bags in. I was not a happy passenger.

As far as I'm concerned they can start weighing and measuring carry-on on all flights where they charge for an extra checked bag at the same time as they start charging.

I blame Delta for this of course. ;)

Yes, I have often travelled with an extra empty bag to fill on the return flight, depending on where I'm going. I may have to rethink Air France flights in the future.

I'm appalled

Not surprising. I think we can assume that everyone else falls in line by the end of the year. I suspect we will be down to 1 bag for trans-Pacific flights soon, as well. As I've noted on other threads, this is actually closer to the normal Air France policy, which is 20kg for a trip from Paris to Hong Kong, for instance.

Note that Air France is waiving the second bag charge for SkyTeam Elite members. So all you Delta Medallions can still check 2 bags for free.

kerouac.. good luck with Alitaia.. 5 kg carry-on!!!!. A friend just came back with them and they are cracking down, too.

I laugh at the notion of switching to another airline. This will be the norm. Get used to it. If you want to avoid the charges, then you should concentrate on making elite status. There will not be any airlines left offering 2 free bags when all is said and done. Lufthansa is the only major carrier left and they won't hold out much longer.

I've found that it's easier to just pack lighter. Another option is to mail stuff back, I've done this on many of my trips and I just pack everything in a big box, take it to the post office, and mail it using the cheapest option. It makes it easier to travel, too, if you are going from city to city by train and don't want to carry things you buy.

Another option is to try to get elite status with your preferred airline -- that's something that I've been trying to do for the past three years and have not achieved because I haven't been "loyal" to *A. There's a slight irony in this -- who would be loyal to an airline if that airline constantly comes up with ways to rip off their customer?
;-)

It doesn't necessarily encourage more sensible packing-- with the new rules, if I want to check in my little 19" bag plus a tote bag (of whatever didn't fit on the way back), I'd have to pay extra, while someone who starts out with one enormous 27" suitcase would get to check that for free.

Maybe I'll just go back to my big 24" suitcase again.

re <<Kerouac it cuts down on the shopping possibilities on US trips>>

But Hetismij you get the better deal-- you only have to pay $50 going back that direction, while we'd to pay 50 euros which is nearly $75 now.

True Fifi, but I have to find a lot of bargains to make it worth while :).