AIRLINE BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE: best LIGHTWEIGHT suitcases????

codger

We've just booked a couple of flights with Thomas Cook Airlines and were asked to pay an additional £7.50p each per person per flight if we wished to have a 20kg allowance for checked baggage (i.e., suitcases placed in the aircraft's hold).

Not that long ago it seemed 32kg was the maximum for flying, but now the airlines (especially, charter airlines) are out to rip-off passengers for as much as they can by way of "extras" for, er, daring to take a suitcase on holiday -- or even sitting together.

We declined the total of £30 extra charges Thomas Cook Airlines wanted for the meagre 20kg allowance and are now stuck with the "free of charge" 15kg limit per person for checked baggage.

We've just weighed our suitcases and they're 5kg each.

So that's a third of the allowance already gone on an EMPTY suitcase.

Thinking that we'd better invest in some new, lightweight suitcases, we've searched the 'Net only to discover that, for example, a so-called Samsonite carbon fibre lightweight is. . . 6.2kg. Huh????

We also looked at the Debenhams' website where there's a range of luggage on offer, most of which is described as LIGHTWEIGHT, and almost all of which omits any mention of weight. Presumably, chocolate ashtrays will also be on sale at Debenhams soon.

Question: does anyone know of the name / make of suitcases that are truly "lightweight" and so weigh less than our current, old-fashioned, "non-lightweight" 5kg cases?????

Thanks!

alanrowell

Try soft rolling duffel bags. They'll do as long as the hardest thing you have to do is roll from car park to airport & airport to bus

shark17

I was looking for a lightweight case the other day and 5kg isnt that bad compared to some of these so called lightweight cases. I did however come across These and they were the lightest I could find. (Without paying silly money) There are other colours available .

codger

Thanks, alan and shark -- much appreciated!

Yup, we tried the soft-case / duffel-bag approach a year or so ago and the weight was fine but the clothes weren't at the end of a 5-hour flight (factor in 1 hour to airport, 2 hours check-in, another 1 hour at t'other end and getting to destination: 9 hours total). After 9 hours I've seen better looking dish cloths. . .

Shark: guess wot! We paid £60 / £70 in a House of Fraser luggage sale for an impact resistant hard-shell polycarbonate case. Lightness of weight and "exceptional durability" was promised. We took it on its inaugural flight and when we came to collect it from the baggage claim carousel at the end of its first journey, a section around the base was crazed like patio paving. . . and there was a crater the size of a dinner plate in the top.

Once emptied, we chucked this only-used-once suitcase in the rubbish, and bought a non-shell suitcase for the trip back. Our bad luck may not have been typical but after that experience, we've had it where these "exceptionally durable" polycarbonate suitcases are concerned.

Heigh ho. Back to the weighing scales!

Kezza25_2

hope i'm not pointing out the obvious but surely the new cases will cost you more than the 30 quid to 'upgrade'?

john0612

just check that you 15kg doesn't include you handluggage too

alanrowell

codger wrote: »

Yup, we tried the soft-case / duffel-bag approach a year or so ago and the weight was fine but the clothes weren't at the end of a 5-hour flight

Try ROLLING your clothes into a bundle - and at the hotel hang them in the bathroom, turn the shower to HOT and leave for 15 minutes

imho

I bought a "Rugged Gear" huge holdall on wheels from Argos , i think it weighed 3-4lbs as my suitcase weighed 14lbs empty . I have taken the holdall to India 3 times now and nothing on it has broken .

ynot2005

yes a wheeled holdhall everytime, i have had the same experience with soft sided suitcases breaking up after 1 trip as well

holdhalls take the knocks better and will save you about 1kg in weight as well

imho

Look half price in Argos .Rugged gear. Not the same case as i have but same make http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2861436.htm

imho

Ok this is all the 3 Rugged Gear they do on Argos .




http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10001&catalogId=10651&langId=-1&searchTerms=rugged+gear&go.x=0&go.y=0