Anyone ever had their checked bags measured at check-in?

[RSD]

I'm going to be pushing the boundaries of luggage size a little on my next trip , and I'm just wondering if anyone has ever had their bags measured by the check-in agent at an airport? Do they even have tape measures at the check-in desks?

 

[justinbrett]

Which airline?

If it’s a commercial suitcase unlikely they will measure. If you’ve got a non standard item like a box I have seen them measure.

 

[Quickstatus]

Japan airlines are notorious for measuring anything that looks oversized.

 

[Flyerwin]

If it's international then I've had that happen. Learned the hard way.

 

[oz_mark]

IME, depends what you mean by 'a little'.

 

[RSD]

Its China Eastern on a MU ticket then Cathay on a CX flight number on a QF 081 issued ticket.

Bags are 2x these North Face Rolling Thunder 36"

 

[trooper]

So a total of about 72"/180cm? W-D-H...0r 10"/24cm over.... They DO look quite big...

 

[RSD]

So a total of about 72"/180cm? W-D-H...0r 10"/24cm over.... They DO look quite big...

Yep. On MU flying J the allowance is 2x 32kg, so hopefully they will be a little lenient.

On Cathay the allowance is 2x 23kg, so I am already looking at 2x US$130 in overweight fees for the extra kilos from 23 > 32kg. Hopefully they will be satisfied with just charging that amount.

Edit - I just found this on Cathay's webpage - which might help me a little with the size issue

I will be carrying diving equipment, so hopefully that should get me past the dimension problem.

 

[Quickstatus]

On MU flying J the allowance is 2x 32kg, so hopefully they will be a little lenient.

On my JL flight the ski bag was 5cm over. Lenient was not in their vocab.

 

[elanshin]

Ive always found it was the weight more than the size airlines cared about as long as you weren't taking the piss. I mean i brought back a washer and dryer in QF last year (don't ask why my mum wanted them). They just sent them through to oversized at 21kg a pop.

 

[Aeryn]

Japan airlines are notorious for measuring anything that looks oversized.

Against my advice my partner recently bought a new suitcase that was 2cms over the max dimensions listed on QF website. He checked his bag in on both QF and JAL flights in the last month without issue although bag weight was always under 23kgs. I do not think the bag-drop staff can easily eyeball small discrepancies.

I have however had SQ make me weigh both my checked bag and carry-on (25L backpack and small purse) at check-in to ensure both the checked and carry-on were not exceeding weight allowance.

 

[Quickstatus]

I do not think the bag-drop staff can easily eyeball small discrepancies.

They don't need to eyeball usual checked luggage. They just targeted the ski bag because it was going to oversized baggage as all ski bags do.

 

[RSD]

Many thanks everyone - lets hope they are in a good mood on the day in a few weeks.

 

[justinbrett]

My Antler large bag is 5cm more than the QF allowance (163cm vs 158cm). It’s never been an issue on 20+ airlines including most of oneworld.

 

[elizabeth1]

Yes, I’ve had my checked bags measured at check-in before. It was during a flight with a budget airline, and they had a strict weight limit. They actually used a scale to weigh my bag before allowing me to check it in. I ended up having to take a few items out to avoid paying extra fees. It was a bit of a hassle, but at least I was prepared for it.

 

[Quickstatus]

I've always had overweight hand luggage on QF flights. 20kg not uncommon. NQA

 

[RSD]

I've always had overweight hand luggage on QF flights. 20kg not uncommon. NQA

Mine is usually overweight due to carrying several big lithium batteries for underwater lights. I have a trip coming up where I will be taking 14x 97 Wh batteries plus others.

 

[Quickstatus]

Mine is usually overweight due to carrying several big lithium batteries for underwater lights

Mine was once overweight because I bought back a good supply of chainsaw chains and a transmission for the ride on mower once. This meant I had to push some checked luggage contents into the HL.

 

[RSD]

Mine was once overweight because I bought back a good supply of chainsaw chains and a transmission for the ride on mower once. This meant I had to push some checked luggage contents into the HL.

LOL! That will do it every time.

The best "to hell with it" effort for checked luggage I ever saw was one morning checking in at LHR for a flight to KUL back in the 1990's. Back then both the World Rally Championship and the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship were incredibly strong and well supported by manufacturers.

A large truck with liftgate turned up at departures along with two van loads of guys in Mitsubishi Ralliart uniforms. They quickly got to work and unloaded all of these aluminium checker plate cases - I stopped counting at 20 but there was quite a few more, along with more regular luggage etc. - and they took the whole lot in and checked it in on the same flight as I was on.

I was talking to them on the flight and they had just finished a round of the WRC in Europe on the Sunday, and they had an APRC round starting in Malaysia on the Friday (this was on Tuesday), and they had a shortage of spare parts so they were checking in spare diffs, driveshafts, turbos and lots of other parts along with their toolboxes. All up they checked in over 1900kg.