Etihad charged me £1600 at the desk to take 3 suitcases to Australia! How can I get my money back?

Pollycat

mda99das said:

Can someone explain the advantage of boarding first. To me if I am going to be on a long haul flight I like to be one of the last boarding. Yes I get that I may not have access to the overhead storage units, but you don't need to take that much. 

This is really not the same topic as the original post which discusses being charged for excess hold baggage.

However, most long haul flights I've taken (with scheduled airlines) board according to groups, usually FC, BC, premium economy then economy starting from the back of the plane.

I've never seen overhead storage full up on scheduled long haul flights.

My hand luggage consists of a backpack that fits under my seat and doubles as a footrest during the flight.
It contains a change of clothes, swimwear, a hoody in case I'm cold, my handbag (I like to keep everything together so I've just got one bag to worry about), a book, a neck pillow, various cosmetics e.g. hand gel, lip balm and some medication.

jimi_man

mda99das said:

Can someone explain the advantage of boarding first. To me if I am going to be on a long haul flight I like to be one of the last boarding. Yes I get that I may not have access to the overhead storage units, but you don't need to take that much. 

We very rarely take hold luggage - even on a two - three week holiday, so it's nice to make sure that there is some sort of overhead locker space available for our carry ons and our rucksacks. 

gmc99a

Yesterday my niece booked a holiday via Loveholidays to Abu Dhabi with economy tickets with Etihad.

When the confirmation came through it showed that she had got "Economy Basic" so no luggage allowance.

When she phone Etihad she was told it would cost £1,300 for the suitcases.   

This is for a trip that is not booked to take place until October.

Since this was noticed on the same day as the booking I think the airline is being unreasonable here.

She is currently in contact with Loveholidays about this but who knows what can be done.

gmc99a

Whilst setting up a duplicate booking on the Loveholidays website it allows you to add checked luggage for four people at a cost of £84.  Surely this is what the cost should be and not £1,300.

Ayr_Rage

gmc99a said:

Whilst setting up a duplicate booking on the Loveholidays website it allows you to add checked luggage for four people at a cost of £84.  Surely this is what the cost should be and not £1,300.

See my post on 19th at 9:15 pm !

If you book Economy Basic then any subsequent baggage will be charged at Excess Baggage rates.

Your niece has made a very expensive mistake.

gmc99a

When the tickets were being booked on Loveholidays there was no option to select which version of Economy.  Just "Economy" and a baggage allowance button which she insists didn't do anything when she clicked on it.  I guess that is a dispute with Loveholidays.

Despite that she doesn't want to cancel or change the flight just add the baggage in.  I refuse to believe that this should cost £1,300 six months before the flight.

Yes a very expensive mistake.

Ayr_Rage

@gmc99a just had a look at Loveholidays, some holidays with flights with Etihad include 25Kg of hold baggage, others don't.

However the "add bags" button is certainly there and does work, you get 20kg for around £20 per leg.

gmc99a

Yes it worked for me when I tried it too.

Pollycat

gmc99a said:

When the tickets were being booked on Loveholidays there was no option to select which version of Economy.  Just "Economy" and a baggage allowance button which she insists didn't do anything when she clicked on it.  I guess that is a dispute with Loveholidays.

Despite that she doesn't want to cancel or change the flight just add the baggage in.  I refuse to believe that this should cost £1,300 six months before the flight.

Yes a very expensive mistake.

It doesn't matter what you believe. 
Your niece has put a 3rd party between her and the airline she's flying with.
I think she will be very lucky if she pays less than £1300 to add her luggage.

Yes, a very expensive mistake.

Voyager2002

Pollycat said:

gmc99a said:

When the tickets were being booked on Loveholidays there was no option to select which version of Economy.  Just "Economy" and a baggage allowance button which she insists didn't do anything when she clicked on it.  I guess that is a dispute with Loveholidays.

Despite that she doesn't want to cancel or change the flight just add the baggage in.  I refuse to believe that this should cost £1,300 six months before the flight.

Yes a very expensive mistake.

It doesn't matter what you believe. 
Your niece has put a 3rd party between her and the airline she's flying with.
I think she will be very lucky if she pays less than £1300 to add her luggage.

Yes, a very expensive mistake.

Travelling only with hand luggage and buying what she needs once there is likely to cost a lot less.