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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   2434 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 22, 2024

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When I am flying, if I check in the bag, they weigh it and if it's over some specific number (50lbs? Don't remember, but it doesn't matter) they demand I pay ridiculous money for it being overly massive. Unless I, right in front on them, take some stuff out of the checked bag and put it into my carry-on bag, which they know I will be taking with me onboard. Last time we did this dance over 2 pounds. How does it make any sense? I understand carrying more mass takes more fuel, but putting it into my carry-on does not change the mass, and I could be traveling with a box full of lead bricks and nobody would tell me a word if it fits the carry-on size. One could suppose maybe the handlers are not allowed to lift over 50lbs - but if I pay the ridiculous payment, they suddenly become allowed?

I'm not even saying they charge the same for 2 yo kid and for 400lbs landwhale, so clearly the mass is not that important here. Why are they doing it? Just to piss me off because airlines secretly agreed their goal must be to maximize the amount of frustration in the Universe? Or there's some logical reason for it?

I know that at least Samoa Air did what you want and what sounds logical: charged people by the total flying mass. It went bankrupt, though.

So a passenger flying from Apia to Asau weighing 80 kg (180 lb) and carrying 20 kg (44 lb) of luggage would pay US$132 for the flight (100 kg x US$1.32 base fare), while another passenger weighing 60 kg (130 lb) and traveling without luggage would pay US$79.20 (60 kg x US$1.32 base fare) for the same flight.

Regarding the limit on the checked luggage, @rverghes probably has the right idea.

Sadly, the airline business is very volatile, so it's hard to know if the policy worked or not. Though it's funny that it was implemented by Samoa Air, given the mass propensities of Samoans.

Given the mass propensities of Samoans surely the best place to try out a policy like this is in Samoa where there's large variance in weights. There's no point in all the overhead for a policy like this if the standard deviation in how much people pay is going to be like $10 or so.

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