Wanted to pass on something I learned about checking bags on USAir. While checking our bags before our spring break trip to Ft. Myers, we learned that USAir now charges a $25 fee if your bag weights over 50 lbs. We weren't close to that, but the man in front of us had a bag that weighed 53.9 pounds, and he had to pay the $25 for those extra 3 pounds!

Also wanted to complain, er, tell about abaggage problem we had. When we got to Ft. Myers, we and most of the people on the plane were still waiting for our luggage when the last bag call went out. We all looked around at each other, and the USAir person said that if this many people were waiting, she bet Phila. forgot to put a cartload of bags on the plane. She said it happens all the time. Then they made an announcement for everyone missing bags to go the baggage claim office where there was one poor man working. About 30 people lined up, and each claim took about 5 mins. to process. I'm sure the people in the back of line waited over an hour. When it was my turn, I told him that we were missing all 3 bags, and he was surprised. Everyone else seemed to be only missing one. Great. USAir had no idea where our bags were, but said if they were sitting in Phila. they would be placed on the next flight. (At this time it was 12:30pm and the next flight out was 1pm). I was given an 800 # to call, but told to wait about 2 hours b/c it takes time for info to get uploaded.

When we did call at 3pm, USAir still had no info on our bags. We envisioned them flying to CA or worse. Luckily, the first night of our vacation was a nearby hotel. Usually, we fly in somewhere and take off, and what a nightmare it would have been with absolutely no luggage. My husband suggested we go down to the airport at the scheduled landing time of the 1pm flight to see if our bags were on the plane. And - they were, but they were the last 3 out! My husband said he heard the last bag call out, and our small duffel came out. A minute later came our small bag, and finally the big one. Whew.

What is so infuriating is that obviously a whole cartload of bags was left behind in Phila. (A USAir person told my husband that 55 bags did not get on the plane!) How hard would it have been to make one lousy phone call to the Ft. Myers baggage office to say, hey, we have a cartload of bags here, tell everyone they are going on the 1pm flight. Then when we originally lined up, they could tell everyone where their bags were. And if they did, in fact, get on the 1pm flight, why did the 800# not know this at 3pm?!

We took a shuttle service to the airport and they warned us not to call for pick up until we had our luggage. He said that they are thinking of charging an excess fee for USAir passengers b/c on countless times they have been called to come to the airport for pick up and the people still do not have their bags yet. Sigh.

Thanks for the warning! I'm sorry for your experiences. A real bummer, but glad things turned out OK in the end.

This is why I travel light and carry everything onto the plane with me. Even 50 lbs is too heavy for me to heft over my head into the overhead bin. I usually leave the kitchen sink at home!

Thanks again for the warning! Yes, Philly Airport is a ZOO!

You can substitute "American" or "Southwest" or any other airline name in the "USAirways" places in Karens story and it still reads true. I think every airline has "misplaced" my luggage at least once. Delta has done it a few times, in fact.

Yep, I have had this happen quite often, and while it can be very annoying, it's just part of air travel, and I try not to get too upset about it. Handling enormous volumes of luggage will never be an error-free process; at least your bags were never lost!
As for the weight thing, I have no sympathy--there's a limit, and if you're over it, you pay. This policy has been in effect for at least a year now on all the major carriers.

One time on Delta my bags arrived BEFORE I did! That's what I get for checking in early! Luckily I spotted them while wandering around the baggage claim area.

So sorry Karen that you had such an experience. Those of us who travel alot have been there a time or 2.

Not to make excuses but the guy that had to pay extra may have been part of the reason your bags didn't arrive. The airlines are regulated very strictly about how much weight they are allowed to carry. By setting a charge, the try encourage people to pack light.

Because I often travel from a small airport which is ONLY USAirways, that the late check-ins often do not arrive at the same time as their luggage. When the airline has reached the weight limit - thats it, all bags must wait for the next flight.

As for going to pick-up your bags, for future reference: The airline will deliver them to you which is more conveneint than a smart alec bus driver. I mean how rude of him. His job is to shuttle you to the airport it's none of his business why you are going there!~

You want to know why the call wasn't made, take a financially troubled airline, toss in low employee morale due to the constant strain of layoffs/salary givebacks/and an increased workload and then recognize that your backage handlers may or may not even work for the airline. In fact, they may not have even told anyone the bags weren't on the plane becuase telling them guarantees they'll be in trouble, not telling anyone and ignoring it until the next flight may just mean that other people in Philadelphia won't even be aware of it until their shift change.

As stated, you can substitute just about any airline. Every airline has these kind of horror stories. (I should know, I worked at airlines while in college!) The fact is, we've got an airline system in this country that we as consumers have demanded. Consumers want low prices and even with lousy service, they'll still choose price as their main motivation.

I've heard that Air Canada is the worst of all the airlines for losing luggage. And last minute flight cancellations and reschedulings.

I've paid that "excessive bag weight" fee and was annoyed. Between 2 people we only checked 2 pieces of luggage. But one was a little heavy. We could have checked in 4 bags with a lot more weight (but each under 50#) and that would have been fine. Grrr.

Yes, I do know the word is spelled baggage. Call it temporary brain freeze.

Ever since one of our bags was lost, we always take a change of clothes in a carry one.

My poor husband had to attend a welcome cocktail party at a resort in his travel clothes!

After this incident, I am more likely to put an extra piece of underwear or two in our carry-on bags. But traveling with kids and all the stuff to keep them occupied, there's not a lot of extra room in those carry-on bags!

I guess we were due for an incident of lost airline luggage. My husband is a FF and USAir has lost his baggage only 2 times and each time he got it within the same day. Most of his business trips are just for a few days at a time and he rarely checks luggage. But one time he left for the airport and forgot his bag! How frustrating must that have been - to be down at the airport and to have your plane leave within the hour and not have anything with you! Since then, he leaves his bag right in front of the garage door the night before!

I thought the extra weight surcharge was a new thing, I guess b/c we've never had the occasion to be aware of it before. I don't think it's a bad idea.

There is an occasional variation on the 50lb limit.

When flying back home from Key West on Delta this winter, I was concerned about one of the cases weighing over 50lb. I had it weighed as soon as we got to the airport, and it was 56lb.

However, Delta (Comair, I believe,) only allows you to check one suitcase flying out of EYW. Because of that restriction, that case can weigh up to 70lb.

Fortunately, that one-checked-case wasn't a problem for us. And, indeed, we could have distributed 6lb elsewhere, if it had been needed.

So, if you're flying open-jaw (not returning from the same airport where you arrived,) and coming back from a smaller airport, you might want to check things out beforehand.

On the weight thing: it doesn't appear to be a universal thing.

I flew Jetblue last Christmas - east coast to west coast and the weight limit was 75 lbs per bag and limit two checked-in bags per passenger. PLUS, we could have one carryon PLUS a computer (which didn't count as the carryon). That's a lot of luggage allowance per passenger!

Regarding overweight baggage- I'm sorry but I have no sympathy for that man you mentioned. The USAirways website clearly stated the weight limit for checked & carryon luggage.

I just flew USAirways last week and had to bring tons of stuff. I checked their website beforehand, and weighed each one of my suitcases to make sure they were both less than 50lbs.

Just an interesting observation: I did curbside check-in, and I didn't think they weighed my bags. I wonder if the curbside agents are a bit "looser" than the regular ticket agents.

My first experience with paying for an overweight piece of luggage was around 1986, so it certainly is not a new policy. My husband is a musician and has had to travel aroud the world with his equipment. Sometime using curbside check-in and slipping a $10 bill would save us the extra charges for over-weigth and extra pieces. Other times no one even seemed to care. I flew just in Feb with a bag that I knew was over the weight limit, and was prepared to pay, but the porter at curbside just chucked it in the pile for inspection and moved on. Inside the bags always go on the scale and we have never been exempt from extra charges when checking-in at the counter.