Excess Baggage

[Mark UK 3]

DA,

I'm a Brit who is looking to marry my wonderful fiancée - whenever my K-1 visa finally finds its way into my grubby little mitts (hopefully within a couple of weeks).

I will be selling all the stuff in the UK that I can, but I imagine I'll be taking three suitcases of my belongings over with me on the flight to the U S of A.

Let's say I'm flying from Heathrow to JFK to Pittsburgh (which I probably am). Does anyone have the slightest idea (rough guestimates, of course), how much excess baggage would cost me per kg?

Or, even better, what other options might be open to me. I imagine I'll be 20-30kg over the limit.

Thanks in advance,

<--- that emoticon is great

Mark

[William33 110]

Why not call the Airline you plan to use and check per kilo pricing.

I recall that it is usually pretty expensive.

[Mark UK 3]

Why not call the Airline you plan to use and check per kilo pricing.

I recall that it is usually pretty expensive.

Yeah, the last time I moved between countries (France and the UK), it was very expensive, but that was with British Airways.

Not sure who I'll be flying with yet, hence the question....

[William33 110]

Why not call the Airline you plan to use and check per kilo pricing.

I recall that it is usually pretty expensive.

Yeah, the last time I moved between countries (France and the UK), it was very expensive, but that was with British Airways.

Not sure who I'll be flying with yet, hence the question....

You may want to explore other shipping options, such as DHL, Emery or some other. You could potentially ship items in advance. If you are willing to go with several weeks delivery time, that certainly helps to reduce cost.

[Baileyj96 0]

I've been checking on that for my fiance. It seems that most airlines I've checked usually charge $100 dollars a bag for around 40 to 50 lbs.

You usually get two checked bags and one carry on to start with. Then anything over that is when the charges start. You might also want to check on using the same airline for connections. I think someone ran into the problem of having to pay more than once because they had a connecting flight with a different airline and they charged for the excess baggage also.

When you figure out what airline most post it on the website.

Baileyj

[beccaogingi 0]

It really depends on the airline. Give a call. It may end up cheaper/better to FedEx/ship the extra.

My friend flew from Dublin to the US for work and they would not let her pay overage charges. She had to get a second bag and put the extra luggage into that. I can't recall which airline this was.

Icelandair is usually good, and not that expensive for overage. But I think LHR to REK to JFK to Pittsburgh (forgot the airport code) just sounds painful.

[gym 0]

I have sent my things over with sevenseas worldwide.com there are very reasonable

[Jaylen Brit 0]

Mark, I flew with US Airways and they charged $80 per bag over the 'free' limit - we were allowed 2 free bags as long as they were within a certain size (which is quite large - usually the airline website has a guide on size as in WxLxD in inches/cm), and under 23kgs. After that every bag over was charged for. I took 6 bags in total and there were 2 of us travelling - we had 4 large wheelie cases and 2 stuffed backpacks - the backpacks were under 10kgs each so they generously didn't charge for them - they DID charge for one of the cases as it was over 25kgs (the free bags are ONLY free if under the weight limit) so it ended up costing me only $80 in excess on the flight.

Airline website was helpful, and I also called them as most airlines have offices in country of departure (in my case London) and they went thru the info with me.

Hope that helps

[*Robert* 2]

Most international carriers will allow you two check bags, weighing upto 70 pounds each. However, US carriers will only allow you upto 50 pounds. If your bags are checked all the way through, you shouldn't have a problem. If you have to recheck them, showing that you are coming from an international flight is sometimes all you need.

For US carriers, such as United, they charge you $50, per bag, for being overweight.

[Mark UK 3]

Most international carriers will allow you two check bags, weighing upto 70 pounds each. However, US carriers will only allow you upto 50 pounds. If your bags are checked all the way through, you shouldn't have a problem. If you have to recheck them, showing that you are coming from an international flight is sometimes all you need.

For US carriers, such as United, they charge you $50, per bag, for being overweight.

Thanks everyone. I called American Airlines and they gave me a quote. It seemed very reasonable, actually. $25 to boost the 2 x 23kg bags to 32kg each. $100 for each additional bag at 23kg ($25 to boost it up to 32kg).

The only problem is that I'd have to go from JFK to La Guardia with lots of baggage. Oh, well, can't have it all...

[Dr_LHA 3]

You're transferring to another airport from JFK? How come? Did you book the flights seperately?

You need to make sure that the deal you're getting on those large bags will cover your short haul flight (from La Guardia to Pittsburgh I assume). Usually those planes are pretty small (perhaps a propellar plane, depending on what airline) and they don't really like huge bags.

[cheeky^Wolf 0]

I think he's going to JFK for a temporary EAD. Could be wrong.

Off topic but are you moving to Pittsburgh Mark? Not many of us Brits around these parts!

Helen

[Dr_LHA 3]

I think he's going to JFK for a temporary EAD. Could be wrong.

Could have got a flight from JFK to Pittsburgh though surely?

[cheeky^Wolf 0]

Maybe he's trying to save some money, or likes travelling lol

[rebeccajo 14]

You're transferring to another airport from JFK? How come? Did you book the flights seperately?

You need to make sure that the deal you're getting on those large bags will cover your short haul flight (from La Guardia to Pittsburgh I assume). Usually those planes are pretty small (perhaps a propellar plane, depending on what airline) and they don't really like huge bags.

We flew from O'Hare to Pittsburgh with 8 pieces of luggage - stuffed to the gills and VERY heavy. No problem transferring to the smaller jet that flew into Pittsburgh.

Real planes fly in there Robert. I don't know where you live, but I get the distinct impression you think everything out of your apparent big city element is.... second rate?

Edited August 31, 2006 by rebeccajo