Excess Baggage...
Well it is increasingly becoming bike related, but in this instance it was kite kit the bastards charged me for, but it could have been a bike I was on the way to whistler..
Anyway I weigh 67 kgs, got hit for £60, my ordinary luggage was 23kgs and my kite kit was less than twenty, so fair enough, well not fair but anyway..
I then get sat next to this humungous great yank biatch who spilled into my seat had a frikking mountain of carry on and a huge case and travelled for no extra charge.
Then I read about the French airlines giving fat folk extra seats.
Now that's all very well and not wanting this to be a rant about the obese (although that could a whole other thread in itself).
It strikes me as averagely fit travelling sportfolk we are being discriminated against when we travel with our kit, be it boards, kites or bikes. (I'm a windsurfer and kiter as well as bike rider).
I'm not a total newbie to this forum, have lurked for a fair bit and lost my login when it switched.
So pardon the rant straight off like this and check out the petition we could do with a bit of back up on this one...
[url= http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/ExcessBaggage/ ]The petition[/url]
It probably wont do much, but it will make the point.
If you agree of course, if not flame away..
It's not about discrimination, it's about making money. Life's not fair, is it?
averagely fit travelling sportfolk
I think you'll find that most on here are pie munching, bike part collectors...
I agree they do generally try to sting people taking sporting kit. But it is a choice you make to fly, and you choose to use their service and pay their rates. It sucks. But I'm not sure what you can petition against really.
I think you'll find that most on here are pie munching, bike part collectors...
Guilty as charged.
hmmmmmm pie, and oh yeah must pop down to the post room to see if my new pedals are here
🙂 has anyone trademarked that yet?pie munching, bike part collectors...
Oh dear GRF, you've made the mistake of looking for sympathy and support on a forum who's contributors will automatically contradict whichever side of any argument you happen fall on.
Whether you're looking for support for a worthwhile cause, or a bit of sympathy, perhaps regarding the unfortunate death of an entire family in a wideley reported runaway car, you won't find it here.
The argumentative and condescending self-righteous keyboard warriors will continue to slap you down whilst dismissing you as an idiot, however fair and valid a point you raise.
"STW. The only place where you're wrong [i]whichever[/i] side of the argument you fall on, even if it's both."
has anyone trademarked that yet?
That'll be mark's next trademark for this place...
"contributors will automatically contradict whichever side of any argument you happen fall on"
I never contradict.
Oh, hang on.
To be honest I don't consider flying to be expensive enough.
I think you'll find that most on here are pie munching, bike part collectors...
Guilty.
I am both fat and I like to take sports equipment with me on holiday, so I ain't signing shit. 🙂
Yes, we should apply this to other things - I don't have children, must mean that I pay at least 50% too much tax.
You'd really be better off appealing to the airlines rather than setting up one of those pointless e-petitions. Actually, as it's about money, why not just tell the airlines that you won't fly with them if they charge you for extra luggage?
Air France make fat people buy two seats (the second at a slight discount) but refund one if the plane isn't full and there's a seat going spare next to them. Actually, most airlines have this policy. If someone books a single seat and they're too big to fit in it (to the point they're spilling over to the next passenger) they either have to be moved to where there's space or bumped off to another flight.
Petitions are silly - just vote with your feet and only book with airlines who have policies on luggage that you are amenable to.
And fwiw I'm a diver and last time my holiday hold bag came in at 19kg dead - no speciali light travel kit, heavy Apeks regs and I didn't even bother taking the spring straps off my fins. How some people end up at 30kg+ is beyond me.
Can you imagine how long it would take them to process each passenger at check in if they had to customize their fare?
It's bad enough now if you have to go off & pay the excess, if everyone had to go & pay at the airport, it'd be crazy time
GRF is on the right track.
However we falling into a trap if we make it a campaign against fat people. There's more of them than us for a start.
There's really 2 issues.
1. Seat space is inadequate for most western size travellers. This needs increasing and legroom too. It's a H&S issue. How many people are dying of DVTs after air travel? - there's no way you can do the recommended exercises in cattle class.
2. Baggage allowance is inadequate. When you're travelling overseas self supported you need to carry a bit of gear. Thus we need free sports gear allowances.