Archive for baggage
Ocean Air will mantain internacional luggage allowance for domestic flights
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Brazilian airline Ocean Air has announced to travel agents that it will mantain the luggage allowance of international flights for passengers catching an Ocean Air flight 6 hours before or after the international flight. Consumers have to present the international ticket at the Ocean Air check-in desk to be allowed to carry as much luggage as allowed by the company responsible for the international flight.
Unfortunately, as it was the case with Webjet (Webjet will mantain internacional luggage allowance for domestic flights), there is no mention of this decision at the company’s website; for that reason we encourage you to check with the company before making any purchases.
Webjet will mantain internacional luggage allowance for domestic flights
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Brazilian airline Webjet (part of the CVC group) has announced to travel agents that it will mantain the luggage allowance of international flights for passengers catching a Webjet flight 6 hours before or after the international flight. Consumers have to present the international ticket at the Webjet check-in desk to be allowed to carry as much luggage as allowed by the company responsible for the international flight. There is no mention of this decision at Webjet’s website, for that reason we encourage you to check with the company before making any purchases.
special baggage
Posted by: | CommentsPlenty of items fall within the special baggage category: boxes, sports equipment, musical instruments, wheelchairs, prams/baby carriages, firearms and pets, among others.
Each airline has its own set of regulations regarding the transportation of special baggage. Often you are allowed to transport some specific items using all or part of your baggage allowance. To transport some other items, you have to pay. Prams/baby carriages and wheelchairs can be transported at no additional cost in many airlines. However, there are a few companies that will include those items on your baggage allowance, while there are a few airlines that will not transport certain models (usually those that are quite large and can’t be folded for storage). For the transportation of large and delicate musical instruments you might even need to purchase a separate ticket!
It’s good to be informed as in specific times of the year the airlines run promotions allowing the transportation of sports equipment at no extra charge (that is the case, for example, in some flights from Brazil to Argentina during the skiing season).
As for the transportation of boxes, some companies do not allow it. Others will only let you carry unopened boxes the way they came from the shop when you bought the equipment contained inside. A third group of airlines will allow you to check-in boxes for as long as they comply with certain limits.
As for pets, there are increasingly fewer companies transporting pets. Those that still allow them are limiting the maximum size of the animal. Never mind the complex paperwork you have to fill. Flying with pets is becoming more difficult every day.
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hand baggage in domestic flights
checked-in luggage in domestic flights
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“weight concept” and “piece concept”
“weight concept” and “piece concept”
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The weight concept and the piece concept are two basic notions you need to be familiar with if you are to fully understand the baggage limitations associated to each airfare. Depending on the destination, an airline can apply one concept or the other.
- Weight concept: airlines express your maximum baggage allowance in kilos. Some companies limit the number of pieces of baggage you can transport using that limit (just the one piece of luggage of up to X kilos or several pieces that cannot weight more than X kilos). Other airlines don’t. Excess baggage is charged by the kilo.
- Piece concept. Very common in flights from Brazil to destinations other than South America. It establishes a limit based in the number of pieces of baggage, usually two, and a maximum weight per piece of baggage. In case of excess baggage, you pay a fixed amount for each additional piece of baggage – it doesn’t matter its size or its weight for as long as it doesn’t go beyond the maximum weight allowed.
Pay attention as regardless of the concept applied by the airline, there is usually a maximum weight limit for each item of baggage. Above that limit, the airline can refuse to transport the suitcase, even if you are willing to pay for it. Or you might be allowed to send the baggage paying an additional charge, but the suitcase might not fly on the same aircraft as yourself – might be handled as cargo. The current trend is a maximum limit of 32 kg, specially in Europe due to collective agreements governing the work of airport handling workers.
Excess baggage: it is charged for each leg flown. You pay on the way out and pay on the way in, depending on the weight of the baggage you check in for each leg of your trip.
A recent trend is to allow pre-payment of your excess baggage, at a discount. Either through the company’s website or at the airline previous to travel.
N.B.: limits and charges are changing constantly due to the recent shifts in petrol prices.
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checked-in luggage in domestic flights
checked-in baggage in international flights
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hand baggage in domestic flights
Posted by: | CommentsOn Brazil you can board a plane with one piece of hand baggage. It cannot weight more than 5 kg and the sum of its height, width and depth can’t be bigger than 115 cm. In planes with less than 50 seats those limits can be smaller.
On domestic flights there are no restrictions yet to the transportation of liquids on board. The usual prohibitions to transport flammable materials, weapons, knives and the likes apply. With the exception of liquids, when deciding what goes into your hand baggage we advise you to follow the same rules that are applied to international flights.
Be careful, some international flights arriving in Brazil have connections with other international flights on route to other Brazilian cities. If that is the case, if you don’t leave the international transit area after your arrival in Brazil, the restrictions to the carrying of liquids on board still apply. If you go through immigration chances are your next flight will be considered a domestic one.
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checked-in baggage in domestic flights
checked-in baggage in internacional flights
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checked-in luggage in domestic flights
Posted by: | CommentsN.B.: the information contained on this post was accurate at the time of publication. Baggage limits are changing constantly and we encourage you to get in touch with your airline for the most up-do-date information related to your ticket.
The rules that apply to baggage transportation in Brazil are contained in Decree 676 of 13/November/2000 in articles 37 and 42.
The decree establishes a minimum limit of baggage companies must carry:
- 30 kg in first class (right now there are no domestic flights with first-class section)
- 20 kg in executive/business class and in economy/tourist
- 10 kg in aircraft with a maximum of 20 seats
As in Brazil the minimum is usually the maximum, up until very recently most companies adopted those limits as the maximum amount of baggage they would carry for free. Recently GOL, TAM and Varig altered that limit, which for them stands now at 23 kg on domestic flights.
With Gol and Tam, each excess kilo costs 0,5% of the Y tariff for each leg – a value under the 1% maximum established by law (2% on aircraft with less than 20 seats). Varig, OceanAir and Trip do not provide excess baggage information on their websites.
Be careful with your connecting flights: if you are connecting to a domestic flight and that connection is not included in your tariff (as it would be the case if you had bought your domestic ticket separate from your international ticket, even if you fly with the same company), domestic baggage allowances will be applied to you.
If all the flights are operated by the same company – or companies belonging to the same alliance, get in touch with the airlines to find out for sure how much weight you’ll be allowed to take on your domestic flights.
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RELATED POSTS:
checked-in baggage in internacional flights
hand baggage in domestic flights
special baggage
checked-in baggage in international flights
Posted by: | CommentsN.B.: the information contained on this post was accurate at the time of publication. Baggage limits are changing constantly and we encourage you to get in touch with your airline for the most up-do-date information related to your ticket.
International flights follow the rules laid out by ITA. According to it, on economy class passengers can carry one item of baggage of up to 20 kg when the weight concept is applied (30 kg in business and first class) and two items of up to 32 kg and 158 cm (all three dimensions added) when the piece concept is applied (see also on this blog “weight concept” and “piece concept”).
Brazilians can’t complain much. Most companies give a generous weight allowance for flights originating in Brazil (for some companies the ticket must have been bought in Brazil). Others extend the benefit to inward flights. The piece concept, usually restricted to flights to the U.S. and Asia, is commonly used in flights to Europe as well.
For flights within South America IATA rules based on the weight concept are usually applied. The limit goes from 20 to 23 kg depending on the company. The exception is Pluna, a company that began charging 20 USD in flights going to Brazil for an item of baggage of up to 20 kg (and 3 USD for each additional kg up to a maximum of 32).
We don’t know for how long passengers beginning their flights in Brazil will be able to take advantage of the generous allowances the companies are currently offering. Some companies, mainly Americans, are reducing the maximum weight for the item of baggage passengers on the economy class can carry, from 32 to 23 kg, when the destination is Brazil.
You have to be very careful when making connections in Brazil to domestic or regional flights with a smaller baggage allowance (an item of baggage weighting no more than 20 kg). Sometimes the tourist finds out his baggage is above the weight limits for domestic flights when it is too late to do anything – the only alternative is to pay an extra charge.
Care must be even greater when the domestic flights is done with a low-cost company. A simple way of avoiding problems is to include all the flights of your trip under the same tariff – many companies extend the generous internacional baggage allowance to the domestic flights too.
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RELATED POSTS:
checked-in baggage in domestic flights
hand baggage in domestic flights
special baggage