Hand Luggage Allowance on Dreamliners

[brynmelyndavid]

My wife and I will be flying from Manchester to Barbados to cruise on Azura in November. According to the information we have so far the weight limit on hand luggage is 5kg. That's incredibly lightweight and very restricting. Does anyone know how strictly Thomson enforce this limit and what their policy is should you go over it? Do they reject the luggage outright or surcharge you according to how much overweight you are?

Equally what happens on the return flight as we won't be checking our bags in at all - they'll be collected from our rooms and we won't see them until Manchester?

[Pennbank]

My wife and I will be flying from Manchester to Barbados to cruise on Azura in November. According to the information we have so far the weight limit on hand luggage is 5kg. That's incredibly lightweight and very restricting. Does anyone know how strictly Thomson enforce this limit and what their policy is should you go over it? Do they reject the luggage outright or surcharge you according to how much overweight you are?

Equally what happens on the return flight as we won't be checking our bags in at all - they'll be collected from our rooms and we won't see them until Manchester?

 

Would have thought a security issue there if not checking your own luggage in.

 

see

http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/simply/terms/baggage-allowance.html

Terms and Conditions

Tel: 0871 231 4050 (calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras)

Thomson Airways Baggage Allowance

 

Each customer is entitled to a free total baggage allowance of 15kg baggage and maximum 5kg of hand baggage (max dimensions: 55cm x40cm x 20cm (22in x 16in x 9in).

 

No single item of baggage may exceed 23kg. Customers who have pre-paid for an additonal check-in allowance which places them over the 23kg limit must check in an additional bag.

 

Baggage allowances can be pooled across a party.

 

Other bags such as handbags, laptop bags or laptop computers must be carried within the single item of cabin baggage. We recommend that video cameras, mobile telephones and other valuable items should be carried as hand luggage; they must not exceed the dimensions outlined above.

 

There are restrictions on what you may carry in your hand luggage – please read carefully the information enclosed with your tickets. Customers will only be able to carry Hypodermic Syringes in their hand luggage if supporting an approved "Diabetic Doctors letter". Customers carrying such items must also advise check-in staff.

You should be able to lift hand baggage into overhead storage compartments yourself.

 

Please note: Customers booking their holiday within 70 days of departure, may have a reduced baggage allowance of 15kg. Please check this on the Holiday Options page at the time of booking. An additional 5kg per person can be purchased at the time of booking for an extra charge of £10 (this must be booked for the whole party travelling).

 

Excess baggage charges at the airport

 

For short haul flights with Thomson Airways (that’s flights to destinations including mainland Spain, Portugal, the Balearics and Italy), the excess baggage charge is £13 (€17) per kilogram.

 

For mid haul flights with Thomson Airways (that's flights to destinations including Bulgaria, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Cyprus, Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco and Malta), the excess baggage charge is £15 (€19) per kilogram.

 

For long haul flights with Thomson Airways (that’s flights to destinations including the Caribbean, India, Mexico, Sri Lanka and Mauritius) the excess baggage charge is £18 ($27) per kilogram.

 

Payment by credit card will incur a 2% fee. Please note that regardless of excess baggage fees paid, no single item of baggage may exceed 23kg (this is for health and safety reasons).

 

Infants

 

Infants under the age of 2 now have an individual luggage allowance of 10kg. Folding pushchairs and wheelchairs do not count as part of your baggage allowance, however you will not be charged to carry them when travelling on our in-house airline. Some flights shown are not operated by our in-house airline. The maximum weight for checked baggage on these flights may be limited to 15kg with no additional allowance for infants. The weight allowed for all flights will be shown on your tickets.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Pennbank

[brynmelyndavid]

That contradicts the information on my cruise personaliser:

 

Depart: 25 November 2016 at 12:05 - MANCHESTER (MAN) Terminal 2

Arrive: 25 November 2016 at 16:50 - BARBADOS (BGI)

Luggage: Maximum weight 23kg. Hand Luggage: 1 piece, max weight 5kg, 55cm x 40cm x 20cm

[BrianI]

As P&O are chartering the aircraft, the information provided by them on their website or cruise personaliser overrides any information on the Thomson website which only affects Thomson only holidays.

P&O website

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/flights/baggage_allowance

Brian

[HomelessBear]

We've been on a number of P&O flight cruises, and I can't remember whether it was Thomson or Thomas Cook (as P&O use both for their charter flights), but I've seen a number of folks having to remove some contents of their hand luggage from one bag to another at check in, and also having to pay extra for being overweight (the luggage not the person!). So they can be strict with the luggage allowance going out or you may be lucky and get more lenient staff.

 

When you return, your hold luggage will be collected from outside your cabin the evening before you leave, and so its not weighed as it is going out. You'll also get your boarding passes sent to your cabin for the return flight, so your hand luggage won't be weighted on the return trip either.

 

As they are charter flights, P&O will give you the correct weights that you can take (and they often differ from what's on other Thomson flights).

Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise.

[shallwe]

The good thing about going to the Caribbean is that it is so warm that you only need lightweight clothes, and therefore you can take more of them with you :-)

[sammybonny]

When we checked in for our flight to Barbados in December our hand luggage wasnt weighed but we noticed it was for some other passengers .As far as I am aware you cant pay to increase the hand luggage limit only the checked baggage.I think this is because of limited overhead storage on the plane which seems to be very full with only 5kg limit.

 

As someone previously said dont worry about limits for the return journey as nothing is weighed.

P&O take the luggage directly from your cabin to the airport( I think it is called bonded luggage) and you wont see it again until it reaches the destination airport.

[Mr Piano]

This was also my gripe, 5kg is ridiculous. Considering my empty bag weighed 2.5kg. It left 2.5kg for contents. My bag wasn't weighed on last 2 fly cruises, but it's a risk you take, you could be randomly selected although in truth never noticed anyone randomly selected. My view is if looks big and heavy you'd be more likely to be picked out

[chrisg1uk]

Have seen people having stuff weighed at UK and as far as I know you can't buy extra. Space is the main issue I think. We have manged fine on our caribbean cruises ... you don't need much until your main bags arrive ... for me a change of stuff to freshen up, shorts, flip flops and I'm done. Wear the trousers I wore on the plane to the restaurant 1st night.

As others have said going back seems less diligent but remember your main cases will be taken away the night before you leave so you will only have your hand luggae with you on your last day. Some folk seem worried by this but everyone copes and it's fine. I always include some really tatty old gear and bin it before getting changed for the flight.

Edited May 10, 2016 by chrisg1uk

[Tina.w12]

I've never had my hand luggage weighed, and I've been over! When they ask to see it I just lift it like it weighs nothing usually with only a couple of fingers so the think it really light! Maybe just been lucky?

[canny_cruiser]

My wife and I will be flying from Manchester to Barbados to cruise on Azura in November. According to the information we have so far the weight limit on hand luggage is 5kg. That's incredibly lightweight and very restricting. Does anyone know how strictly Thomson enforce this limit and what their policy is should you go over it? Do they reject the luggage outright or surcharge you according to how much overweight you are?

Equally what happens on the return flight as we won't be checking our bags in at all - they'll be collected from our rooms and we won't see them until Manchester?

 

I did the same trip on the Dreamliner in 2013 and had read that Thomson were really strict with hand baggage so I was meticulous about being under. Not a soul checked! On my latest P&O in March, again from MAN but on T Cook, everything was checked and many people had to transfer things from hand baggage into their checked-in cases, there at the check-in desk. What a palaver!

 

I do try to manage with a shoulder bag and lift it just like Tina.w12 describes above if challenged. Hey, that's not so much a smile on my face as a grimace when I am lifting 10kgs with only three fingers! Using a trolley case for cabin baggage just alerts them to the fact you are likely over 5kgs as even the lightest weigh 2kgs when empty.

Edited May 11, 2016 by canny_cruiser

[walkdengirl]

thompson weighed ours last year, my friend had to take things out and put them in her husbands bag. maybe buy a cheap lighter bag? we were allowed one 5kg bag plus a handbag

[the english lady]

We have purchased the lightest bags for everything, from suitcases down to carry luggage.

If you are starting off with a bag weighing 2.5kg, can you not get a more lightweight one.

When purchasing our suitcases(tripp from Debenhams) I went so far as to check the empty weight of all cases considered and picked the lightest/most durable.

You can get cases that are basically just nylon over a metal frame...not sure about them, so we have soft sided.

[groovechick]

Admittedly we flew with Thomas Cook at Christmas from Gatwick, but our cruise personaliser said our luggage limit was 23 kg for hold luggage and 5 kg for hand luggage, yet at the P&O check-in the allowance was stated as 6 kg for hand luggage. Maybe Thomson might do the same?

Would have been useful to know about that extra kg when DS was trying to pack GCSE revision books. He had to distribute 10 kg across all our hand luggage (before leaving home).

 

P&O/Thomas Cook also let you carry a handbag as a separate item rather than having to put it in the hand luggage. At Gatwick they were checking and luggage weights and dimensions and making people remove items.

 

Unless you are used to travelling first class I think 5 kg is pretty standard for hand luggage across all the airlines.

[brynmelyndavid]

I think 5kg is actually about the lowest on any airline I've ever come across. Even the low-cost carriers tend to have a minimum of 10kg and some have no weight restriction for hand luggage!

[groovechick]

I think 5kg is actually about the lowest on any airline I've ever come across. Even the low-cost carriers tend to have a minimum of 10kg and some have no weight restriction for hand luggage!

 

Yes, but don't they charge you extra for hold luggage? They've got to give you a decent hand luggage weight, otherwise you'd have to take your holidays in a nudist colony! :eek:

[brynmelyndavid]

Yes, but don't they charge you extra for hold luggage? They've got to give you a decent hand luggage weight, otherwise you'd have to take your holidays in a nudist colony! :eek:

 

They do but that gets factored into the overall cost of the flight for me - and at least I can buy a second case allowance if I want to which doesn't seem possible on the dreamliner... :(

[sammybonny]

They do but that gets factored into the overall cost of the flight for me - and at least I can buy a second case allowance if I want to which doesn't seem possible on the dreamliner... :(

 

You can purchase extra hold baggage allowance on both Thomson and Thomas Cook Caribbean flights but I think it is very expensive .The info is on P&O website .

[Jennizor]

We were on the Dreamliner in February for our Caribbean cruise on Azura, which was brilliant by the way. I bought an IT small case which weighs 1.54 kg. our previous one weighed 2.5 kg. I know 1 kg doesn't sound a lot but it did make a difference. It wasn't weighed at Manchester however! I see Argos are selling it for £29.99, I think I paid a bit more from Debenhams though. It is sturdier than it looks and it was great for the return journey as we could pack a change of clothes quite easily.

[cruisebore]

I am under the impression that the weight limit going out is to try and restrict the sizes of carry on baggage, taking into account that hand baggage is not checked for weight for the return flight at Barbados and there are always the few who will try to get the kitchen sink into theirs.

Edited July 3, 2016 by cruisebore

[insanemagnet]

Just buy the lightest bag you can and wear anything heavy (and take it off and carry it as soon as you are through check in).

 

With thought it is easily done. I have done a two week holiday with a 10kg allowance, and that was without the benefit of the laundry on board P&O.