Monarch stung us at airport - excess baggage - NOT !!!

oxygene

Has anyone else had this..

book a holiday with a travel agent..

Tickets arrived with

2 Persons
20Kg

Printed on it, left Manchester on Monarch without issue, returning back from Lanzarote, 2nd bag was refused with Monarch claiming that only one had been paid for.

Monarch refused to allow a phone call or speak to a manager with guy at airport claiming to be 'higest person you can speak too' and forced us to pay again for extra case, or as he nicely put it, 'you can travel but unless you pay for it, the bag stays here'.

Contacted travel agent who confirmed that 2 bags were paid for.

Who is at fault, the travel agent for printing tickets that can be read two ways, or Monarch in the understanding of how many bags can travel.

I was humiliated and embarassed in the way I was spoken to in Lanzarote and the rep refused to give anyway to identify him such as his name or badge number. Monarch took my last 25 Euro's off me, which was intended to provide food & drink for my pregnant partner who was suffering very back 'morning sickness' the day we flew. The stress of this meant we ended up at hospital with her at 2am on our return.

After taking a camera out to take his picture for later identification, he threatened to have me arrested for terrorism, in using a camera at an airport!!!!

Anyone else been stung by this money trap..

Is it time for a campaign for clearer tickets that the airline cannot read the way they want to in order to force another 23 Euros from passengers?

withabix

You forgot the 3rd possibility: The travel agent made a mistake. I suspect this may be likely, because when you use Monarch's booking system, if you want to increase luggage, you have to select EACH PASSENGER that you want to increase the luggage for.

Your claim for refund of the baggage charge is between you and your travel agent, because your contract is with them. I trust you have kept the receipt for the excess charge?

Personally, I avoid travel agents, because they can make mistakes and cost more.

Book on the internet, get the same holiday for less and get cashback.

Also, you get to enter the details yourself, so there is nobody else to blame!

My booking (coincidentally for Lanzarote) states:

DEPARTS: Manchester(MAN) Sat, 01-May-2010 (15:25)
ARRIVES: Arrecife(ACE) Sat, 01-May-2010 (19:40)
AIRLINE: Monarch Airlines, Flight Number ZB626

Your baggage allowance is 20kg per person
MEALS: Purchase on Board

withabix

To add to the above, are you SURE you weren't just being charged excess baggage weight rather than an extra case?

Monarch state this is 11 Euros per kg.

As for the stress (that's more likely to be due to flying, not being asked to pay 25 Euros) and the fact that you had no money left, you could quite easily have paid for food or the luggage charge using a card.

Pollycat

You said you booked a "holiday".

Was it a package holiday?
Was it a charter flight or scheduled flight?

With some package holidays you get luggage allowance per person.

For example, the Cosmos website (now called Monarch Holidays) states that with a charter flight each adult or child receives a hold baggage allowance.
Hold baggage charges may apply with some tour operators -passengers will be advised of any applicable baggage charges when making a booking - SO WHAT DID THE TRAVEL AGENT TELL YOU ABOUT YOUR LUGGAGE ALLOWANCE?

However, most budget airlines (and Monarch scheduled flights) charge for hold baggage.
Monarch do charge €23 per bag per one-way flight at the airport (i.e. if you don't pay in advance).

I'm not sure if travel agent print tickets, I think they come from the Tour Operator - if you've booked a package holiday.

I've booked loads of package holidays and never been confused about what luggage allowance we have.
And check-in staff have never mis-read my tickets either.

I agree with withabix - you need to contact the Travel Agent - with your tickets stating 20kgs luggage allowance plus your receipt for the amount you paid.

This is not necessarily a 'money trap'.

johnnyroper

had similar last year with bmi baby,i had payed for extra baggage as i have a 2 year old so lots more stuff to take.leaving birmingham no problems but at Palma they said i did not pay for extra despite me having the paperwork that states i did,after much arguing i still had to pay 80 euros and was even frogmarched to cashpoint to draw it out.it seems to me that in spain/spanish countries that they do as they please concerning luggage knowing full well you want to go home with your bags so are forced to pay the charge.
in my case the bags were not overweight anyway as i weighed in hotel they were same as at birmingham yet on palmas scales weighed substantially more.
write to monach and see what they have to say.

Pollycat

johnnyroper wrote: »

had similar last year with bmi baby,i had payed for extra baggage as i have a 2 year old so lots more stuff to take.leaving birmingham no problems but at Palma they said i did not pay for extra despite me having the paperwork that states i did,after much arguing i still had to pay 80 euros and was even frogmarched to cashpoint to draw it out.it seems to me that in spain/spanish countries that they do as they please concerning luggage knowing full well you want to go home with your bags so are forced to pay the charge.
in my case the bags were not overweight anyway as i weighed in hotel they were same as at birmingham yet on palmas scales weighed substantially more.
write to monach and see what they have to say.

jonnyroper
did you get the €80 refunded from BMIBaby?

It's pretty poor if you pay for hold baggage, have the paperwork to say you have but are STILL charged on your return flight.

I think the OP's first point of contact should be with the travel agent rather than the airline.

johnnyroper

Pollycat wrote: »

jonnyroper
did you get the €80 refunded from BMIBaby?

It's pretty poor if you pay for hold baggage, have the paperwork to say you have but are STILL charged on your return flight.

I think the OP's first point of contact should be with the travel agent rather than the airline.

i could have got the money refunded but stupidly in my anger at Palma airport i somehow lost the receipt so could not prove to Bmi over here.
the op could get in touch with travel agent also to see what they say,but if you speak with monach they can tell you exactly what baggage allowance was on the booking,it may be the travel agent took the money and did not add on to the information sent to airline by mistake?? either way if you contact both it will all be clearer.

bagand96

As others have said, the OP needs to clarify if this was a package holiday and charter flight or a Monarch scheduled flight. You say you had paper tickets which makes me think it was a package holiday.

The staff at Lanzarote would not have been Monarch staff, but would have been a ground handling agent that Monarch contract. It could be a simple error by them, or a misunderstanding of procedures. Monarch operate scheduled and charter, and it can be further complicated by package holiday passengers ending up on Monarch scheduled flights. It could also be the possibility that an individual working for that handling agent is deliberately profiteering.

Anyhow, do you have a receipt for the extra payed at Lanzarote? If so, show this and your proof of booking to your travel agent and get them to refund you. As you booked with the agent, and it was them who issued your tickets it is them you should complain to.

withabix

Monarch don't issue paper tickets for package holidays. Email only - I've got one coming up on 1st May as above.

As above, package holiday is on a ZB code flight (scheduled) and not MON code (charter), although that probably makes no difference from Manchester as Monarch's flights to Lanzarote are ALL scheduled flights, it being a daily service.

Bizarrely, you can choose scheduled or charter for the same flight on their booking engine, although a '£20' scheduled flight still ends up at £180 of course!

Pollycat

withabix wrote: »

Monarch don't issue paper tickets for package holidays. Email only - I've got one coming up on 1st May as above.

As above, package holiday is on a ZB code flight (scheduled) and not MON code (charter), although that probably makes no difference from Manchester as Monarch's flights to Lanzarote are ALL scheduled flights, it being a daily service.

Bizarrely, you can choose scheduled or charter for the same flight on their booking engine, although a '£20' scheduled flight still ends up at £180 of course!

Withabix
when did that start?
We flew (charter) on a package booked with Monarch Holidays (ex Cosmos) in Feb 2010 and had paper tickets.

oxygene

We were booked on a ZB flight (20kgs per person)

Oh withabix... Who's card?? I don't have one.. And why should I pay again?

Anyway, Monarch admitted the mistake and refunded the money..

However... Same thing happened to in-laws in December from Benidorm and they had asked the travel agent for proof of two bags returned to which Monarch quickly shut-up and let them continue..

So why do Monarch continue printing tickets that can be misread or managers don't understand their own company policy.

The tickets are sent from Monarch to travel agents who smply forward them on to customers.

:j