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Baggage Limitations on Flights to Latin America
Question:
Another r.t.a.’er in the news? Looks an awful lot like surfguru’s posts of several weeks back, and the Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition has been known to get their travel story ideas from this newsgroup. June 12, 2000 Business Fare Airlines Limit Excess Baggage On Flights to Latin America By JANE COSTELLO WSJ.COM When David Gibson embarks on his return flight from Panama to Houston next week, he might have to leave his surfboard behind. Mr. Gibson, an environmental consultant from Houston, departed on June 3 for a two-week trip to Panama. As is often the case, Mr. Gibson brought his board along to catch a wave before catching a Continental Airlines flight back to Houston on June 17. But this time, he was surprised to discover that the surfboard might not be on board on the way home. Two weeks ago, Mr. Gibson learned that the airline imposed an excess baggage embargo on selected flights to Latin America this summer, and that passengers will be allowed to check two bags per flight. Period. After a series of phone calls, Mr. Gibson says he decided to go to the airport directly and speak to the customer-service agents responsible for loading baggage. Fortunately, the flight to Panama was scheduled to take place the day before the embargo was to take effect, so he was able to convince the airport personnel to throw in his board on top of the luggage. "I did a lot of begging," says Mr. Gibson, who also paid a $100 excess baggage fee — a $55 increase over the amount he paid on his last flight. "I was told I still might have to leave the board behind in Panama until there was room to load it on another flight." Continental has imposed an excess-baggage embargo through Aug. 31 on all of its flights to Latin and South America with the exception of flights to Mexico, Belize, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. The embargo to Lima, Peru, has no expiration date. "Our load factors are at their highest ever," says Continental spokeswoman, Karla Villalon. "In order to be able to accommodate all the regular baggage, we have to eliminate other people’s excess bags." Major Airlines Follow Suit Continental isn’t the only U.S. airline to impose limits on baggage to Latin America this summer. Delta will allow passengers only two checked pieces of luggage and one carry-on for flights to San Salvador, Guatemala and Lima and won’t allow any excess bags on those flights until Aug. 15. American Airlines has imposed a bag-and-box embargo on flights to the Caribbean, Latin America and Mexico until Sept. 5, and has announced a year-round embargo on checked boxes on flights between New York and the Caribbean and Latin America. The airline will limit passengers on these flights to two checked bags and one carry-on. Excess, oversize and overweight bags will not be accepted during the embargo period; sports equipment, including golf clubs, bikes and surfboards, will be accepted as part of the total checked bag allowance. Mark Kienzle, a spokesman for American, says that the increased load factors over the summer have forced the airline to institute strict baggage requirements on certain routes. "This time of year, people tend to pack more, which cubes the plane out," he says. "Boxes aren’t flexible like luggage or golf clubs." And while golf aficionados may cringe at the idea that American’s baggage handlers consider nine irons to be flexible, it’s the fixed size of the boxes that contribute to the crowded conditions in baggage hold. Mr. Kienzle also points to the fact that the tendency to overpack is especially prevalent on flights to the Caribbean and South America during the summer. Although airlines are loathe to publish statistics about the "heaviest" planes in terms of baggage, road warriors who travel through to Miami and New York’s JFK airports can attest to the fact that suitcases shrouded in shrink-wrap often weigh more than the passengers who check them. "That’s just how it is in Miami," says Jim Dixey, a former manager for Pan American World Airways at Miami International Airport. "People bring everything with them." Profits At first glance, excess-baggage fees and additional charges for sporting equipment, such as the $100 fee paid by Mr. Gibson for his surfboard, would appear to be a significant profit center for an airlines. But that isn’t always the case during peak travel season. "It’s great revenue up to a certain point," says Guy Booth, marketing director of LatinPass, a consortium of Central and South American carriers. Mr. Booth says that when the number of passengers increases, airlines are forced to leave bags behind, which quickly becomes an expensive proposition. "It’s a huge cost when airlines have to send bags on other carriers and compensate passengers for delayed luggage," he says. None of the LatinPass member airlines has imposed any excess baggage or box embargoes yet, but Mr. Booth says that a few airlines are considering it. "It’s a typical thing; if it catches on, they’ll follow suit," he says. American’s embargo on checked boxes now also extends to two domestic routes: Los Angeles-Miami and Los Angeles-Ft. Lauderdale. And while business travelers tend not to travel with boxes in tow, some are still concerned that the increasing crackdown on the size and amount of luggage accepted during the summer months will have a negative result on their ability to unwind. "The airlines have made it clear they don’t care about surfers," says Mr. Gibson. "But we’re not all blonde-haired boys in Gidget movies — we’re doctors and lawyers now. We’re passengers, too."
Response:
Heh. And I suppose next you’ll be trying to claim that this guy is one of "your" travellers…. Best Greg > Another r.t.a.’er in the news? Looks an awful lot like surfguru’s > posts of > several weeks back, and the Wall Street Journal Interactive > Edition has been > known to get their travel story ideas from this newsgroup.
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