Trip.com extortionate luggage fees

pepeshe

I recently booked a trip to Australia with trip.com! I paid £944 return a couple of weeks before travel date I logged on to my trip in the app to check my luggage allowance, it had 7kg hand luggage and 0 checked in luggage on outbound flight so I checked return flight and that had 7kg hand and 20kg checked in luggage! I thought there must be a mistake as there was only checked in luggage on the return trip so I contacted trip.com they said I would have to pay for the outward checked in luggage and they would send me a link which they did and if I waited until I got to the airport it would be more expensive I clicked on their link and it was £553 for 20kg from London to Kuala Lumpur and 20kg on  connecting flight from KL to Perth Australia!! I had no option as I was going. Very soon , I can't believe they could do this it's extortionate the luggage cost half as much as the flight which had luggage included on return flight ...that said in reality if you deduct £553 from the £944 cost of flight that means if the return luggage was £553 (which was included) then the flight was £381 ? ... Something very wrong here??? The flights were with Malaysian Airlines and the exact type planes were on both legs of the journey outward and return and it was booked as  a return flight from the onset  not separately !!?

eskbanker

It's one of the risks of dealing with an intermediary like trip.com rather than booking directly, but if you book direct with the airline then their cheapest fare class (economy basic) seems to include 20kg checked in baggage, so not sure how you've ended up with no hold luggage allowance at all - what does your initial confirmation paperwork state?

comeandgo

You don’t need to book through third parties for flights or holidays, next time just go direct to the airline you want to fly with and book.  It’s so much easier to deal direct with airline if any problems or flight delays.

TELLIT01

eskbanker said:

It's one of the risks of dealing with an intermediary like trip.com rather than booking directly, but if you book direct with the airline then their cheapest fare class (economy basic) seems to include 20kg checked in baggage, so not sure how you've ended up with no hold luggage allowance at all - what does your initial confirmation paperwork state?

I'm guessing that the initial price with trip.com is because they don't include hold luggage in their initial price thereby artificially lowering the cost.  Adding at the time of booking would probably have been quite expensive, but adding once the initial booking was complete even dearer due to their own fees for changes to the booking and the fees applied by the airline.

Caz3121

eskbanker said:

It's one of the risks of dealing with an intermediary like trip.com rather than booking directly, but if you book direct with the airline then their cheapest fare class (economy basic) seems to include 20kg checked in baggage, so not sure how you've ended up with no hold luggage allowance at all - what does your initial confirmation paperwork state?

It looks like Malaysian also offer an economy lite fare
What is Lite Fare? Lite Fare is Malaysia Airlines’ lowest fare that comes with 7kg of cabin baggage and complimentary meal
Sounds like OP has lite fare on outbound and basic on return
It is almost always cheaper to purchase a ticket including baggage upfront rather than adding on excess baggage to one that does not include it - which is why it is generally better to book with the airline and see the options side by side to select the most suitable for needs (if you need baggage you select a ticket type that includes it) than using a third party that entices by offering cheap fares which will be the most restrictive tickets
The Malaysian Airlines shows excess baggage between UK and Australia as $52 per kilo

bagand96

An agent can only sell the tickets and fare classes that an airline has on offer.  So although agents don't come recommended on these boards you could have easily ended up with this situation booking direct with the airline. It's easy to do just selecting the cheapest option at each stage. As Caz points out the outbound leg must be a Lite fare and the inbound a more standard economy fare including a bag.  This should have been shown during the booking process on Trip.com

It sounds like you've gone head now but you probably paid the airline bag fee as well as some Trip.com administration fee.  Did you have access to your booking on the airline website? If so you might have been able to add it there?  Did you check with the airline how much it would cost to add the bags at check in?

TELLIT01

Caz3121 said:

The Malaysian Airlines shows excess baggage between UK and Australia as $52 per kilo

If the entirety of the checked baggage was classes as excess baggage because it wasn't prebooked it looks like the OP actually got off lightly.

mcau

I’m having the exact same issue with last minute.com being told I would have checked luggage and I didn’t, their luggage is so expensive I cannot believe it. They never advertised my fare would be a basic fare and advertised I would get baggage, I feel scammed and cannot get a refund - so I feel for you too 

TELLIT01

No help to either of those in this thread commenting on the price of adding baggage, but general advice is to avoid 3rd party providers and book direct with the airlines.  3rd parties may seem to be cheaper but they can be a nightmare to deal with if there are any issues.

Westin

mcau said:

I’m having the exact same issue with last minute.com being told I would have checked luggage and I didn’t, their luggage is so expensive I cannot believe it. They never advertised my fare would be a basic fare and advertised I would get baggage, I feel scammed and cannot get a refund - so I feel for you too 

Perhaps missed your end?

Examples:-

twopenny

why would you book through a 3rd party? Even as a newbie traveller I didn't do this.
You need to check and check again with why the price is lower. There is always a reason.
You want last minute, the cheapest. 
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