Virgin Carry-on Crackdown

Virgin Australia is cracking down on carry-on luggage that exceeds the airline’s strict 7kg weight limit. Passengers with overweight carry-on are being turned around and asked to check in their bags.

It appears the Virgin carry-on crackdown has been taking place randomly across Virgin’s domestic network over the past few weeks. But our members report that the premium entry to Virgin’s Sydney lounge is being particularly targeted.

Flying out of SYD last week, At the Premium entry, VA had someone at the scales weighing every single persons luggage. Anything over the 7kg limit was turned around and requested to check their bag in.
The gentleman in front of me with 9.8kg was blowing up delux. The agent remained calm and said that too many people were taking advantage of the 7kg and exceeding it so they were ”cracking down” on it.

In this instance, our member says that Virgin was only targeting frequent flyers using the lounge.

At 8.1kg I was also asked to turn around and check my bags in, now before averyone goes, rules are rules whats the issue. I walked into the main terminal, straight through normal security and into the lounge. It was apparent that the same “cracking down” wasn’t happening at the normal check in counters or at the gates, walking through VAs terminal there were plenty of people with oversized and overweight bags.

Virgin Australia has a strict 7kg carry-on limit for all domestic passengers, including Business class guests. Virgin’s website cites safety reasons for the limit, claiming that overweight carry-on baggage “may cause injury to our guests and crew”. By comparison, Qantas also has a carry-on weight limit of 7kg per piece but allows each passenger to bring up to two pieces of carry-on luggage. Both Qantas and Virgin Australia also allow an additional “personal item” to be carried onto the plane, such as a laptop computer, handbag or book.

If a passenger’s carry-on is rejected and they have already checked in a bag, Virgin is asking them to pay $70 for the extra bag. But Virgin does give all passengers a complimentary 23kg checked baggage allowance. In addition, Silver and Gold Velocity Frequent Flyer members can check in one extra bag. Platinum members receive two free additional checked bags. The $70 fee is only charged if the customer has already reached their checked baggage limit.

Some members believe the Virgin carry-on crackdown is unreasonable…

Last Tuesday, I had a work colleague in Melbourne made to check her bag in – it weighed 7.1kg…

But many members support the tough stance…

As someone who regularly checks a small ~9kg bag that I would prefer to carry-on, I am glad they are cracking down because I play by the rules.

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: VA cracking down on carry on 7kg limit

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.