Baggage Flight Fees?

[NewTraveller]

Hello everyone. My friends and I are plannign to go from Ireland to France and chose flying as our mode of transportation. We were plannign to fly from Dublin into Marsaille but as we started gettting ready to purchase our flights on Ryanair we read the conditions. It seems that there is a limit to the amount of pounds you can take (which is usual) but appears very limited (about 20-30 pounds) and then you have to pay about 5-8 euros for every additional pound. This would make a 25 Euro flight MUCH more expensive. It seems that Aer Lingus has a similar request. Are we by any chance misunderstanding the airline requirements for baggage? There seems to be no local number to call so that we could speak to a rep.

[Eagle]

NewTraveller, I believe you're interpreting the baggage conditions correctly. I've also just booked with RyanAir for a flight this fall, and that's also what I found. I suppose with budget airlines, that's one way of providing cheaper tickets but also covering costs for fuel, etc. on a "user pay" basis.

According to the "Terms & Conditions" when I booked, they charge a fee of €6.00 / £5.00 for each piece of checked baggage per one way flight. The total weight limit for all checked baggage is 15 kG / 33 lbs. Baggage in excess of this weight will be charged an additional €8.00 / £5.50 per kilo. The maximum weight for any individual item can NOT exceed 32 kG! No "pooling" or sharing of baggage limits between passengers, even in the same group is allowed.

Also, there is a limit of ONE carry-on item per passenger, weighing no more than 10 kG (this seems to be much the same at all U.K. airports). This doesn't mean one small pack and a Purse or whatever, as in North America - it quite literally means ONE item in the approved size AFAIK.

I'm resigned to paying the baggage fees as the convenience of flying far outweighs the minor baggage costs. Of course, it helps to know this before departure as it provides me the opportunity to "pack light", thereby minimizing the costs (probably a good idea anyway - I'll definitely be packing lighter than my last trip)!

Happy travels!!!

[NewTraveller]

Yes. The people I'm travelling with are not willign to cut down and it seems more realistic to go with a bigger plane which will now cost us $117 dollars as opposed to the $80 we were hoping to pay but it will make up for the expensive baggage fees they would have charged us.

So now, we have a layover of 8 hours in LOndon and we're hoping to get out to the city for a few hours as others have never been to London. Does anybody know if it would be a problem to leave the ariport and come back later? Would we hav have to go through customs?

[pointofnoreturn]

The one bag carry-on is somewhat enforced. Meaning that sometimes they don't really care. Twice, I've went through security in European airports with two carry-ons and they didn't mind. But going to London from another European city, I had to put my 2nd bag inside my first before going through security (as did other people) but we all took it out after that.

I would really press the issue of the 15-20 kg limit. It's not worth carrying excess weight and I'm sure you guys will find a way to make it all work.

8 hours Layover in London - just stay in the airport. It's REALLY expensive getting into London. Like if you're laying over in Gatwick, it'll cost between 8 and 15 pounds one-way to go to London and the same amount to get back into the airport.

[madamtrashheap]

Ditto on the points the others have made about baggage restrictions - Ryanair are one of the strictest and the first to charge you for 1kg/1lb over the limit.

As for travelling from the airport to central London - I'm of the opinion that if there's something (-things) you'd like to see in London town then sitting around an airport for 8 hours is worth the money to escape into the city. However, there are a few points worth considering...

PONR's figures for Gatwick are correct (the fastest way into the city from LGW airport is on the Gatwick Express which costs GBP14.90 one way, or rather GBP15.20 for a same-day return ticket) and for Heathrow it will be GBP15.50 one way or GBP29.50 return for a ticket on the Heathrow Express to Paddington station, or buy a One Day Travelcard and take the Tube (underground train) on the Piccadilly Line (dark blue) to the centre of London in around 1hr15mins (to Covent Garden, for example). If you get a Travelcard then you'll save money if you intend to use the Tube to see a few things, but take into consideration that you'll need time to get through Customs (this will vary on which airport, number of staff on duty, planes unloading simultaneously, etc, but allow at least 30mins to be on the safe side), then collect luggage, work out which Terminal your next flight leaves from, sort out what to do with luggage, go into the city (anywhere from 30mins to 1hr30 travel time), getting around, then getting back out to the airport to check in a minimum of 2hours before your flight leaves.

You will be able to leave the airport provided there are a few things you observe:
- you don't need a visa for the UK (USA passport holders don't)
- you can leave your luggage (once upon a time you could, but now with security that's a bit of a contentious issue) or check it in (but check in for international flights is usually max 4hrs before takeoff)
- passing through Customs & Immigration you have all of you flight documentation and passports on you to prove you are leaving again that day

Plus, depending on the time of day, you may find that you're smack in the middle of rush hour! Not to put you off, but you need to weigh all of this up before you work out if you can afford it to go into the city (time- and money-wise). On the other hand, at least you have overcome the luggage charges situation by changing airlines. ;D Although it's a good point about not taking to much luggage anyway that PONR makes.

If you are flying into Stansted and out of another airport, forget seeing London - you'll pass right through it trying to get to the departure airport and will spend a good chunk of time doing just that! Come to think of it, this might work in your favour (the only time Stansted is a good thing! )- but I won't write any more until I know which airport(s) you're flying in to/out of in London.

[NewTraveller]

Thanks Madame! Unfortunetly, we will be arriving at Gatwick airport (further from central london than Heathrow). Given some of your points, I'm wondering if the plane will just move our luggage to the next plane, and therefore we won't have to worry about it. Also, someone mentioned to me that we may not have to go through customs since we're flying in fom Ireland which is within the EU, as opposed to having flown in from the U.S. These 2 things would save us much more time. Any info on that?

We arrive at 9:50 a.m, so even though it's about 1/2 hour to central london, i'm having high hopes that I may be able to take my travelmates to see the changing of the guards, which I belive happens at 11 (yes, I know, may not be too realistic ) . Then just walk around Piccadilly Circus, by the river to see london bridge and Big Ben, adn possibly eat at a pub . The layover is actually 10 hours but I'm only counting it as about 6 hours in the city, taking an hour away for arrival details, giving us an hour to get back to the airport and being there 2 hours before departure. Any thoughts?

[Eagle]

NewTraveller, Not sure what day you were planning to be in London, but I believe the Changing of the Guards happens on even-numbered days from September to March. I've seen both 11:00 and 11:30 listed as the times when the change takes place.

While it's certainly feasible to make it into London from Gatwick, MTH made some good points regarding "unexpected delays" that can occur.

Good luck with your decision!

[herrbert]

The changing of the guard seem to last for hours, so don't worry too much if you are not there at 11.30.

With only a couple of hours I would walk the South Bank from London Bridge till the Tower Bridge. You can see a lot of the tourist highlights along the way. (maybe crossing the Millennium Bridge to see St. Paul's)

I don't believe that the airlines will take care of your luggage, so you will have to pick it up, and to use a locker for the hours, you will be in the city. (prepare a little daypack)

If you haven't decided on your ticket, you could also opt for BMI (www.flybmi.com), they might offer better deals on weight.

[madamtrashheap]

NewTraveller, as you're landing and departing from Gatwick, believe it or not that is actually an advantage in terms of getting into/out of central London. Victoria station (where the Gatwick Express - and regualr trains servicing the airport - comes into is just up the road, literally, from Buckingham Palace, so seeing the changing of the guards, the palace, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and then even Green Park, Hyde Park, Piccadilly, Soho, Leicester Square and Covent Garden are all doable. See if you can locate a tourist map of central London, just to get your bearings and an idea of what lies where. But make sure you leave plenty of time to get back to the airport. Again, the train will leave from Victoria Station but getting back to Victoria from wherever your last sightseeing place is will take the time. If you'd like to eat in a pub, may I suggest not the first one you see (which will be the ones right outside Victoria Station). There are better choices that'll you'll go past in your travels.

Here is the official site for Gatwick Airport www.gatwickairport.com/ which has some interesting information on the Home page, as well as information on airport facilities. It's not a huge airport compared to say Heathrow, but it still takes time to get between the North and South terminals. Also, here's the link regarding Left Luggage (baggage storage) at the airport www.gatwickairport.com/portal/controller/dispatcher.jsp?CiID=32fb8f106ad52010VgnVCM100000147e120a____&ChID=623a0a4c06b75010VgnVCM10000036821c0a____&Ct=B2C_CT_GENERAL&CtID=448c6a4c7f1b0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____&ChPath=Home%5ELGW%5EAirport+Information%5ENorth+Terminal%5ETerminal+A-Z%5ELeft+Baggage as I don't think you can check in any more than 3 or 4 hours before your flight leaves. (cut and paste the above link, it's too big to hyperlink properly here!)

Hope that helps with the planning of "London in 6 hours or less"! ;D

[NewTraveller]

Madame, thank you so much for your info as well as that given by everyone else!