Know your limits

Tom and Jean Craft received quite a shocker last summer when they checked in at Rome’s Da Vinci airport for a post-cruise flight to Paris: a $332 charge for excess baggage.

Volare Airlines, one of Europe’s many low-cost carriers, allowed each passenger only 33 pounds (15 kilograms) of free baggage, including carry-ons.

Toting two roll-aboards each plus two carry-ons, the California couple were way over the limit for Volare, which has since stopped flying.

Tom Craft has been left with this lesson: “Be careful with whom you book. Next time we have flights, luggage restrictions are high on my list to check.”

They should be high on your list too, especially when flying to and within Europe. The rules are changing, even in the United States, and violating them can cost hundreds of dollars.

Among things to watch for:

The dozens of low-cost carriers in Europe set different luggage limits. Complicating matters, those limits usually are expressed in kilograms; 1 kilogram is about 2.2 pounds.

Although Volare’s limits appear extreme, the free baggage allowance for Dublin-based Ryanair, for instance, is about 33 pounds (15 kilograms) for checked bags and 22 pounds (10 kilograms) for a carry-on. Its excess fees are about $2.63 per pound.

London-based EasyJet limits free checked baggage to 44 pounds (20 kilograms); excess fees are about $3.40 per pound.

Major European carriers tend to be more generous – but not always. Ireland’s Aer Lingus, for instance, limits coach passengers to 44 pounds of free checked baggage, except on trans-Atlantic routes. On those, following industry practice, it allows as many as two bags, within certain size limits, providing none weighs more than 70 pounds (32 kilograms). Excess fees are $2.93 per pound; on trans-Atlantic routes, they’re $70 for each extra bag.

British Airways has a similar trans-Atlantic policy. On its other international routes, coach passengers may check 51 pounds (23 kilograms) of luggage for free; within Britain, they may check one piece, up to 70 pounds. Excess fees vary by route and fare.

European airports are starting to restrict the weight of checked bags. London’s Heathrow Airport last year began rejecting checked bags heavier than 70 pounds. England’s Manchester Airport, citing an increasing rate of injuries to baggage handlers, did the same April 1.

Some U.S. carriers are cracking down too. American Airlines recently dropped its weight limit for free checked bags on international flights from 70 to 50 pounds per bag, matching its domestic limit. (It bans bags heavier than 70 pounds from flights to Europe and Asia.) Fees for overweight bags start at $25. Fees for checking more than two bags start at $80 per bag.

Last month, Southwest, which does not fly internationally, also dropped its free allowance from 70 to 50 pounds per checked bag. Fees for overweight bags start at $25. Southwest still allows as many as three free checked bags per person, more than many competitors do; each extra bag, up to nine, costs $50.

Airlines and industry observers cite several reasons for tough limits. Extra-heavy bags, they say, injure baggage handlers and flight attendants, compromise fuel economy by adding weight and slow down turnaround times because they require special handling.

Airlines deny that hefty excess-baggage fees drive their luggage policies. The fees do bring in a tidy sum – more than $259 million for U.S. carriers in 2003, the last full year for which federal figures were available. While that total is increasing, it’s hardly enough to slow the flow of red ink the industry spills each year.

Although it’s hard to find statistics on the number of pieces of baggage and their weight, many industry insiders say they’re seeing more and heavier luggage as leisure travel increases and wheeled bags proliferate.

As for carry-ons, the International Air Transport Association recommends that the combined length, width and depth of the bag be limited to 45 inches. Many but not all carriers follow this; Continental Airlines, for instance, bumps the limit up to 51 inches.

Airlines commonly set weight as well as size limits. But only foreign carriers seem inclined to reject carry-ons based on weight. Within Europe and when flying internationally anywhere, the limit can be as little as 13 pounds, or about 6 kilograms.

Not so in the United States, in my experience. I’ve never had an airline put my carry-on on a scale.

Here’s how to avoid a showdown at the ticket counter:

•Know before you go: Call the airline or consult its Web site. The IATA site offers handy links to nearly 100 airlines’ policies; go to www.iata.org/ps/services/bags/links.htm.

•Divide and conquer: Split your belongings between two bags. Just because you can wheel it to the ticket counter doesn’t mean your bag will fly.

•Devise a Plan B: What will you do if the airline makes you check your only piece of luggage, which you had planned to carry with you on a 17-hour journey?

That happened to my partner and me on a recent trip, when we ran afoul of a 15-pound carry-on limit on China Airlines. We frantically repacked in line at the ticket counter, cramming inflatable pillows, eyeshades and more into our purses. I already had put needed medicines in my purse. What if I had forgotten them?

•Take less stuff: There’s no substitute for traveling light. For tips on how and what to pack, go to www.travelsense.org and click on “Travel Tips” and “Packing” (American Society of Travel Agents); and to www.ricksteves.com and click on “Plan Your Trip” and “Travel Tips” (Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door tour company).