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Tags: Open Threads / Baggage / Luggage / Awful Trends / → All Tags

What's To Be Done About The Baggage Scale Crouch Of Shame?

Back in the days before pricey luggage fees and seemingly weekly airline bankruptcies, carriers didn't ever seem to charge for overweight bags. But we've recently heard about shady baggage scales from Tucson to St. Lucia, a disturbingly awful trend that can cost you at least $50 for every "overweight" suitcase you check.

Of course, the problem is that most hotel rooms don't come with scales--and even if they did, would you really be geeky enough to balance your Samsonite on there before heading to the airport?

In other words, the airlines have us by the rucksacks: If you're gonna check a bag, you have to trust the scale at check in. Overweight bags have led us to perform the dreaded crouch of shame more than once, digging through our dirty underwear in front of everyone, stuffing extras into our carry-on to lighten our checked load. But what's to be done about the hidden baggage scale scourge?

Do you have any tricks to determine which scales are bogus? Is one airline more guilty of shady scales than the others? And have you ever had to do your own crouch of shame? Let's commiserate in the comments.

Related Stories:
· More Airport Scales We Can't Trust [Jaunted]
· Baggage Scale Crisis Continues in Caribbean [Jaunted]
· Jaunted Open Threads [Jaunted]

[Photo: tttallis]

Tags: Awful Trends / Airport Hell / Luggage / Baggage / UVF / American Airlines / → All Tags

Baggage Scale Crisis Continues In Caribbean

After Tucson and New York, we were hoping to be done with faulty luggage scales at airports. But the scourge is now menacing the Caribbean, at least according to one tipster who hit us up on the complaint line:

My honeymoon cost me $50 more than expected due to what I'm sure were faulty scales at the American Airlines counter in St. Lucia's Hewanorra International. Somehow between arriving in St. Lucia and leaving, our luggage gained 15 pounds. I actually removed some items from our luggage that weren't needed anymore, and we didn't buy much of anything to bring home.

I would say we probably added five pounds of souveniers and removed the same in items that were not returning with us, such as some toiletries we came with that were full on arrival but almost empty on leaving. If my baggage weighed five pounds more, I'd be fine with it, but 15 pounds more is another story--especially when that extra "weight" requires me to shell out money!

Obviously we haven't checked all of American's scales in the Caribbean, but given the carrier's track record, it seems possible there are some shenanigans afoot. This being the third instance of faulty scales we've heard about in less than a month, this is now officially an awful trend.

Related Stories:
· New York Airport Scales Now Accurate, No Thanks To American [Jaunted]
· Airport Hell coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Noël Zia Lee]

Tags: Awful Trends / Airport Hell / London Stansted / STN / Ryanair / → All Tags

Stansted The Latest Victim Of Airport Protests

Thailand apparently isn't the only place protesters can shut down airports: London Stansted was closed for three hours this morning after 57 protesters cut their way through a fence and attempted to stage a sit in on the airport's only runway. While it's unclear whether they actually reached the tarmac, the group still created quite a scene, with at least 52 flights canceled and further delays likely.

The protest group, Plane Stupid, claims short-haul flights are the fastest growing source of carbon emissions in Britain; Stansted is a hub for Ryanair and EasyJet. And recently approved plans call for more passenger facilities and a second runway to be built; long-haul international service will get a boost in March 2009 when AirAsia X touches down at Stansted. The planned expansion has predictably spawned at least one anti-growth group besides Plane Stupid.

Ryanair, which was forced to deal with more angry passengers than usual after canceling dozens of flights, has been blaming BAA, the agency that runs Stansted, for its lax security oversight. Pointing fingers won't get delayed fliers home any faster, but Ryanair makes a decent point: At least the people who broke into the airport overnight were peacefully trying to raise awareness about climate change--not attempting something much more sinister.

Related Stories:
· Plane Stupid Shuts Stansted Airport [Official Site]
· Runway Protest Strands Passengers [BBC]
· Airport Hell coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Plane Stupid]