[Hannah]

Hi Folks,
Just a bid of bad press about Cathay Pacific that I feel i should share.....booked one way tickets a few weeks back and was told by booking agent (Thomas Cook) that 20kg luggage allowance was standard but it would be worth contacting CP to see if they would increase it.
have emailed CP who have said that if i bought a 'special migrant ticket' they would have been able to offer me more, but as i bought a 'standard ticket' then i was stuck with 20kg. They suggested i upgraded my ticket to a special migrant ticket to get the extra luggage allowance.
Emailed them today to tell them Thomas Cook were not aware of this ticket and could not change my ticket now anyway (not without charging me loads of cash in the process) and requested that they offer the extra luggage allowance as a goodwill gesture. In effect they have told me to sod off, telling me that they will not offer excess luggage allowance to someone without a 'migrant ticket'

Have i missed something somewhere? I've heard of many people on this forum who have got extra luggage allowance on request - did you all have migrant tickets (whatever these are) and did you pay more for them? Fair enough if i've just missed this (and Thomas Cook have missed it too) but if not then maybe future customers of CP might wish to bear this in mind if they book tickets with them in future. Email address for those wishing to check this out with CP is uk_sales_ops@cathaypacific.com

Alas, 20kg it is - will have to stuff my saucepans and plates down my trousers!!!!!

[katandbob]

Hi Folks,
Just a bid of bad press about Cathay Pacific that I feel i should share.....booked one way tickets a few weeks back and was told by booking agent (Thomas Cook) that 20kg luggage allowance was standard but it would be worth contacting CP to see if they would increase it.
have emailed CP who have said that if i bought a 'special migrant ticket' they would have been able to offer me more, but as i bought a 'standard ticket' then i was stuck with 20kg. They suggested i upgraded my ticket to a special migrant ticket to get the extra luggage allowance.
Emailed them today to tell them Thomas Cook were not aware of this ticket and could not change my ticket now anyway (not without charging me loads of cash in the process) and requested that they offer the extra luggage allowance as a goodwill gesture. In effect they have told me to sod off, telling me that they will not offer excess luggage allowance to someone without a 'migrant ticket'

Have i missed something somewhere? I've heard of many people on this forum who have got extra luggage allowance on request - did you all have migrant tickets (whatever these are) and did you pay more for them? Fair enough if i've just missed this (and Thomas Cook have missed it too) but if not then maybe future customers of CP might wish to bear this in mind if they book tickets with them in future. Email address for those wishing to check this out with CP is uk_sales_ops@cathaypacific.com

Alas, 20kg it is - will have to stuff my saucepans and plates down my trousers!!!!!

Have i missed something somewhere? I've heard of many people on this forum who have got extra luggage allowance on request - did you all have migrant tickets (whatever these are) and did you pay more for them? Fair enough if i've just missed this (and Thomas Cook have missed it too) but if not then maybe future customers of CP might wish to bear this in mind if they book tickets with them in future. Email address for those wishing to check this out with CP is uk_sales_ops@cathaypacific.com

YES you missed my post warning as we had the same thing happen to us!

excess baggage will be the only way of getting more..... I had no probs with the boys/emirates and will never use CP again but the flight/free nibbles drinks were ok...entertainment isnt as good as Emirates either and you have to be carefull not to miss the beginnings of the progs/films as they start on a set time not as per person choosing the program

sorry you wont get the extra luggage - you could always try moaning to TCook and see if they can do something extra??

we did ours via internet so we had no comeback :(

Kat

[suebeenz]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I have had similar bad luggage experiences with United and Air NZ.

With Air NZ, I was told one thing on the phone about oversize luggage, but then when it came time to checkin, they were telling me something else. I was furious, and I there was absolutely nothing I could do. When I asked for a manager, she walked to the back, and came out a few minutes later and said that because of 'Security Reasons', he couldn't talk to me. When I asked for his name so that I could file a complaint, I was told again, because of 'Security reasons' they couldn't tell me. I think people with surfboards are used to getting ripped off though.

You wouldn't have believed how jam-packed my pockets were of stuff on my flight to NZ. Good thing I was wearing a belt! :laugh When possible, I'm now avoiding Air NZ. At this rate though, I'm going to run out of airlines mighty quick.

But again, sorry about your sour experience. Hopefully you'll forget it all when you get off the plane! :cheers

Oh on last thing. If you have any connecting flights in NZ, don't forget to consider that you'll likely have to checkin carry-on luggage, as those planes are small!

[Brad77]

Well, I booked a one way with Singapore Airlines on the net from Johannesburg to Auckland, and then called them up and they have given me a total of 37kgs. I phoned again the next day to double check. They were very helpful.

[willsken]

I also booked a one way with Singapore Airlines on the Internet for the 4 of us. Originally we were told 20kg each. When I emailed them to say we were emigrating the offered 25kg each, as only people settling in Aus were entitled to a migrant allowance. I sent them another email telling them how mean and stingy I thought they were and they upped it to 30kg each. 120kg in total will be fine for us. (I hope) :roll

We went to a travel agent and they quoted for normal and migrant tickets and the migrant ticket was a lot more expensive. :mad:

[Kimmie]

The migrant fare is a right nuisance, our travel agents booked it for our family, and then I got told we could not fly it as I have a NZ passport so we have had to book new tickets. Not sure of your situation or age, but if you check in pregnant (up to how ever many months they can't tell of course) you usually get more luggage allowance, but maybe not enough to help you out.
Good luck anyway

[StevieD]

Maybe if you informed them that you are really hacked off about it, and that you are a member of a forum of potential emigrees with a very large membership running into thousands, and that it would be a shame if it was let slip and they lost potentially thousands of customers, I wonder what their response would be?? You could try it, just don't mention the forum name, worth a try I suppose.

Good luck!

[beano_bill]

Hi All,

We went Cathay to NZ on our recce trip & I'll never fly with them again.

Started at check-in, even though we knew we were chancing our arm, we tried to get either an upgrade or at least an emergency door seat. Nothing doing and we turned up 3 hours before check-in opened :(

On the flight from HK to NZ, not three hours in I was being told off for insisting on keeping my blind open ("you close blind now!" still funny a year on) even though it was gorgeous sunshine outside :wah

On the flight from HK to LHR, OH & I were separated - not just across the aisle, I was a good 10 rows behind her. Cue peaceful trip home ;) but no, she'd managed to swop seats...I'm still waiting for a reply to my snotty letter.

Beano

[diforsyth]

Maybe if you informed them that you are really hacked off about it, and that you are a member of a forum of potential emigrees with a very large membership running into thousands, and that it would be a shame if it was let slip and they lost potentially thousands of customers, I wonder what their response would be?? You could try it, just don't mention the forum name, worth a try I suppose.

Good luck!
.....and they might just stick to theirs guns and single you out for 'special treatment' on the flight e.g. the seat with the stuffing knocked out it, the broken TV screen. Threats are normally treated with contempt. I would try again in a week's time and hope you get someone different and try the approach of "I appreciate that you may not be able to help me but I've been let down whilst buying my ticket.......is there anything you can possibly do to help me........"

You must remember that TK let you down and CP are providing exactly what you paid for. The fact they have an emigration fare suggests they've bit hit with bigger charges (through additional load & therefore fuel) so many times that they felt they had no choice but to introduce the fare.

Good luck,
David.

[Carol]

I agree. Thomas Cook at fault really.

We have flown with CP and I have to say they were wonderful.....
Although I admit it was a return trip.

[StevieD]

David, nothing wrong with a bit of wordsmanship if all else fails! I wouldn't say go all out threatening them with exposure, but a bit of gentle persuasion!? :laugh

[veronica]

we have flown with Cathay Pacific and they were great. although Singapore air are better.
I am going to put my flak jacket on now as I say this.......... why do any of you think you should you get special luggage allowance/treatment from the airline of one country when you are emigrating to a country that has nothing to do with the airline country. Pressumably you have chosen to fly cathay pacific because it is cheapest. But what benefit is there to China if you move to NZ. If you want to fly air new zealand they still have a slightly higher baggage allowance and if you were to ask them to up it as you were emigrating to their country then it would seem fair. They also have a slightly bigger seat pitch.

Every body flying these journeys wants an upgrade, but doesn't want to pay for it, and personally I think the exit seats should be kept for people over 6' tall. being married to someone of 6'3" and seeing him squashed into the seat where he can't fit his knees in so sits sideways for most of the journey, and seeing someone a lot shorter sprawled in the leggy seats always irks. And he isnt the tallest I have seen by a long shot.

Right, just doing up my flak jacket for voicing something I have thought for a long time.

[StevieD]

That is a fair point Veronica - baing married to a taller person, I see the problems she has in cattle class.

[Hannah]

Now that would suit me!!! I'm tall, and my legs are extra long......if they give me the exit door seat because i'm tall i could hide all my luggage under my seats!

Maybe I could go back to CP and suggest it? I could tell them i'm a member of a forum that has thousands of long legged members (www.longlegs.org/forum or something) and that if they don't meet my request of providing a free upgrade or an exit door seat then only short people will fly CP in future!

There has to be some benefit in having long legs. My whole life has been spent trying to track down clothes for women with 34" inside legs....time things got a bit easier for me eh!!!?

[veronica]

same length as both our girls, (6' & 5'10") spent many an hour letting turnup trousers down in the past.

you also have to take into account that with the asian airlines they are sized up for asian people, their most prolific customers. And how many chinese have you seen with long legs.

[MB]

Interesting post about extra allowance, Veronica. The thought it prompts in me is, as much as a matter of interest as anything, how many passengers on a typical long-haul flight to NZ are new migrants?
I ask because I can see that one argument is response to your point might be that, if very few passengers are migrants, it is at least not unreasonable to request a bit of extra baggage allowance... but this argument would of course depend on their being very few migrants on a typical passenger load!
It could just be that there's a discrepancy between a "please give us a wee bit of extra allowance, 'cos we're migrants and therefore pretty rare, so it won't make much difference to the flight" perception... and a reality whereby migrants might be a considerable and predictable burden on the patterns of baggage load.

I obviously am ignorant about this! Any statistics, anyone?

[MB]

By the way, Veronica, having just posted that, I realize that the only way that it addresses your point about the 'nationality of airline vs. migrant target country' is very informally and generally. That is, my point is about goodwill gestures by airlines irrespective of their country of origin: I can just see a response to you that might go "If we migrants are few and far between on flights, a few extra kg's isn't unreasonable to request, whatever the airline, and might even be good PR".

[Trigirl]

we're going air nz. we're flying via hong kong and their (very reasonable in my opinion) resposne to our request for a migrant baggage allowance was "if you want extra allowance fly via LA"

not in a million years so we're sending any extra stuff air freight the day we leave.

we asked but certainly didn't expect them to say yes. we didn't fly with them because of price but because it was the flight time etc we wanted.

[diforsyth]

The bottom line is that airlines are businesses and need to work primarily for their shareholders. You need to bear in mind that there is a very fine line between goodwill PR & profit and a company must be vigilant about setting precendence.

When it comes to flying a plane from A to B, there are fixed costs (landing fees, staff etc.), variable costs (fuel, food, drink etc.) & variable charges (fares, excess baggage etc.). The heavier the load, the more fuel and therefore the greater cost. The fewer passengers, the lower the income. They work on the basis of spreading cost amongst the expected passengers and will take the hit if there are less passengers on the flight. Imagine the uproar if they suggested a flight was delayed until more passengers wanted to fly or where passengers & their luggage were weighed before a fare was calculated - not very PC but totally 'user pays'.

The bottom line is you get what you pay for. I'm also against reserving 'good' seats for tall people when everyone pays basically the same. If you follow that route then should small but wide people be given wider & better seats for the same cost? Why should 'average' people lose out on the chance of a better seat when they pay the same as everyone else?
:exit

[veronica]

mainly cos people who are tall have less room to move (have you ever sat 24 hours with your knees wedged against the seat in front of you), we have a friend who is 6'8" and very leggy and it is physically impossible for him to sit in one of the row seats, his legs end up in the people next to hims footwell. squished up people are more likely to suffer blood clots as a result of it.

wouldn't it be good if the seats were sci fi type and moulded to fit the person in them. welcome to the future.

[diforsyth]

If you compared flight classes to cars and only 3 were available e.g. economy=mini, business=mondeo, first=jaguar - would tall people opt for a mini because it was cheapest and then complain to the manufacturer that it was too small for them? Flying is not a right for people, it is a profit making service that is offered to people to choose whether they wish to accept it or not. That might be tough to swallow but everyone has choices.

David.

[veronica]

ok if we are dealing with mythical situations.....if you were on the train sitting down when there were no spare seats and a very pregnant lady was standing with a small tot in her arms would you stay sitting .....after all you paid for your ticket too.

Most people I know are reasonable people and can see the sense of fitting people who are outside average in a better suited seat as most average people can be adequatly seated in a normal seat.

Also my understanding of the aviation rules is that you can't definately book those exit seats until you are seen at the airport as the staff have to sight the person sitting there to ensure they are fit and able bodied as they have the responsibility of helping open the door in an emergency.

[diforsyth]

I'd be the first to give up my seat for a variety of deserving people on a train or a bus but you seem to forget that you're not comparing apples with apples, so to speak. With train & bus journeys (at least short ones) you pay for carraige and not for a seat as you do on plane. I'm sure no one truly enjoys long haul travel and will suffer the consequences & restrictions of what they are willing to pay regardless of their size or weight. If someone wants more then it can either be paid for or cross your fingers and hope you are lucky.

I'd love to know the general views on how people think seating arrangements should be made on flights: -
Would the tallest or heaviest be seated first?
If so, which category?
Would it be politically correct to differentiate?
Would their travelling companions be allowed to sit beside them or would the seats be reserved for other tall/heavy people?
If a later check in was taller/heavier would they change the seating plan?
Chaos :roll

[Ana&Steve]

I'd say it's fine to ask for more room if it's available. Besides, all of the seats are made the same, but different people have different body types. Tall people aren't automatically rich enough to afford upgrades, and they can't help that they were born tall. If I were very tall or very overweight, I would want to be able to request extra comfort. If it wasn't available for that flight, I would, being aware of my special needs, try to keep my schedule flexible for other flights that might have less passengers/more room. I really don't see a problem with getting the most out of my consumer dollars, and with the airlines doing their best to make me happy, in the hopes that I will continue to use them and recommend them to others. My 2 cents. :yes
Ana