Be careful when booking Emirates or through Expedia.

[Scuba+]

I always book Emirates direct, i like their website. I usually compare with skyscanner first

[taylor1975]

2 hours ago, penboy said:

Have you ever had to change a flight due to illness etc. That is when you find out why an agent's price is cheaper. 

No .....but thats why i have holiday insurance. I'd have to be very ill to not get on a plane for hols.

[shadowcat]

Weigh your stuff and ship it if you are over. Heaps cheaper.

Some people carry a lot of baggage.My total is rarely more than 11 kilos.

What are you guys carrying. ? hALF A GIRL ?

[OmarB]

1 hour ago, baddog666 said:

 

Trying to change flights  using a third party can be a nightmare. 

 

 

Exactly the same as from airline direct. You'll be in a booking "class" typically there are 6 in economy with a letter indicating what can and cant be done. If for example your class says you can change inbound for say £100 you ring the airline and tell hem

[Geordie59]

T&C on tickets from agents are usually poorer than from the airline direct. I agree it can take a lot of digging to find what the T&C are. Prices are usually similar and seldom different enough for me to book through an agent.
It is not only baggage allowances but changes are usually impossible or a lot more expensive that an airline charges. And if your flight is cancelled / delayed so you miss a connection you'll be in a much better position to get rebooked with an airline issued ticket.

[regyai]

I've just flown back with a cumulative 96kg allowance (which I don't waste ;) )

But seriously if you are savvy, as stated several times above, BOOK DIRECT WITH THE AIRLINE (my current one price matches anyhow)

Otherwise,

Lousey flight times , routes and stopovers

Curtailed baggage allowance, no date changes/or punitive fees, and diminished/deleted airmiles

all come into play as the flip side of that supposed saving

[Scuba+]

Weigh your stuff and ship it if you are over. Heaps cheaper.
Some people carry a lot of baggage.My total is rarely more than 11 kilos.
What are you guys carrying. ? hALF A GIRL ?

My golf clubs are pretty heavy, i agree though you don't need loads of clothes, can do laundry every few days.

[OmarB]

32 minutes ago, regyai said:

I've just flown back with a cumulative 96kg allowance (which I don't waste ;) )

But seriously if you are savvy, as stated several times above, BOOK DIRECT WITH THE AIRLINE (my current one price matches anyhow)

Otherwise,

Lousey flight times , routes and stopovers

Curtailed baggage allowance, no date changes/or punitive fees, and diminished/deleted airmiles

all come into play as the flip side of that supposed saving

ok well I've just done not a dummy booking per se because the dates are very much what I want mid January, anyway Travel Trolley on Oman air for two months is £428 and identical booking class (no changes whatsover/refunds) on Omans own website is £494.....30kg luggage allowance on both.  Perfect example of airlines own website being more for identical product

[baddog666]

If it works for you , great. I have logged a lot of miles over the years. Used to travel  extensively for business. I have been delayed , missed connections, had luggage re routed ...... now only travel for fun. I don't mind spending a little more money for peace of mind .  

 

[Scuba+]

ok well I've just done not a dummy booking per se because the dates are very much what I want mid January, anyway Travel Trolley on Oman air for two months is £428 and identical booking class (no changes whatsover/refunds) on Omans own website is £494.....30kg luggage allowance on both.  Perfect example of airlines own website being more for identical product

Its not always more expensive using the airlines website, you just need to compare before buying

[footix]

1 hour ago, shadowcat said:

Weigh your stuff and ship it if you are over. Heaps cheaper.

Some people carry a lot of baggage.My total is rarely more than 11 kilos.

What are you guys carrying. ? hALF A GIRL ?

Sorry to get off topic but I seem to have acquired too much stuff (i'm on a 3 month SE Asia jaunt) and would like to ship some stuff I won't need back to the UK. Any idea how I arrange it and likely cost? Post Office, DHL? Any advice appreciated. Cheers

[Scuba+]

Sorry to get off topic but I seem to have acquired too much stuff (i'm on a 3 month SE Asia jaunt) and would like to ship some stuff I won't need back to the UK. Any idea how I arrange it and likely cost? Post Office, DHL? Any advice appreciated. Cheers

If you are in Patts head to Soi Post office 13/2 a lady opposite will box it for you which is cheap but postage isnt. Land is cheaper if heavy and takes 3 months. I was going to send 5 shirts back to UK and it was 1000 baht so i didn't bother

[regyai]

3 hours ago, footix said:

Sorry to get off topic but I seem to have acquired too much stuff (i'm on a 3 month SE Asia jaunt) and would like to ship some stuff I won't need back to the UK. Any idea how I arrange it and likely cost? Post Office, DHL? Any advice appreciated. Cheers

You can see your Thai Post Office options here (just enter the package weight) :

 

http://www.thailandpost.co.th/index.php?page=rate_result&country_code=GB&weight=1000

[hioctane]

13 hours ago, baddog666 said:

I appreciate that OP posted this as a heads up to others.

That said , I don't understand why anyone would use a third party booking agent for long distance flights. I use all the websites to check fares and dates, but always book through the airline. If you save a little money , there is usually a reason why. 

 

Sometimes I book through a third party agent because there is significant savings.. ($100-200 USD and sometimes more) . The savings do exist... especially if you are flexible with your flights and can go any day of the week like I can.

[hioctane]

Being from the US... I think standard is 22kg for economy.  I always aim for that.  Any more and I would definitely check with the airline before booking.

[vimto66]

Thats a good bit of info so thanks,it definitely worth knowing,always thought the generous baggage allowance was the same irrespective of who you booked an Emirates flight through!

[regyai]

12 minutes ago, vimto66 said:

Thats a good bit of info so thanks,it definitely worth knowing,always thought the generous baggage allowance was the same irrespective of who you booked an Emirates flight through!

Its not

 

As mentioned above in a post:

Even in economy there are different 'classes' denoted by a letter, each with its own T's & C's re baggage, date changes, applicable air miles etc

And therein lies the rub, the online agents peddle dates & prices and make it all but impossible to see what 'class' of economy you are buying into

 

 

 

.

[vimto66]

Just now, regyai said:

Its not

 

As mentioned above in a post:

Even in economy there are different 'classes' denoted by a letter, each with its own T's & C's re baggage, date changes, applicable air miles etc

And therein lies the rub, the online agents peddle dates & prices and make it all but impossible to see what 'class' of economy you are buying into

 

 

 

.

Ok thanks,it certainly pays to read the info thorughly then,definitely had a 30 kg allowance last time (july),if i book with Emirates again i`ll look closely!

[hioctane]

42 minutes ago, regyai said:

Its not

 

As mentioned above in a post:

Even in economy there are different 'classes' denoted by a letter, each with its own T's & C's re baggage, date changes, applicable air miles etc

And therein lies the rub, the online agents peddle dates & prices and make it all but impossible to see what 'class' of economy you are buying into

 

 

 

.

Exactly right. One time I booked through an agent and on their site, they said I would get x amount of miles for my flight. After my flight, I didn't get my miles. I asked the airline and they told me that my ticket class does not qualify for miles!

[taylor1975]

My qatar flights in nov/dec were booked through travel trolley i think. 

£317 all in. Quite a saving over going direct. 30kg is stated too.

maybe its emirates trying to gauge a few quid from unsuspecting customers. They seem to be keen on that approach at the moment.

[brownmanc]

On 10/5/2017 at 10:30, Digsy said:

Just posting to let you guys know to check your baggage allowance and not assume it's 30kg like most other long haul flights like I did.

I booked an Emirates flight through Expedia and didn't check the baggage, the parts saying "Emirates have a very generous baggage allowance" gave me false hope.

Now I like to buy stuff for family when I'm coming home so my baggage usually is about 25kg on the way back. I weighed my bag before I do the usual shrink wrapping I always do on flights home from Swampy. 26kg, thought nothing of it.

Got to check in, "mister your bag is overweight by 6 kg, do you want to remove some stuff", now obviously I couldn't as it was shrink wrapped and it would take some time and with others waiting to check in, I thought I'd risk it, surely it couldn't be that much of a charge.

2200 (I can't remember the exact amount but it was over 2k) PER KILO!!!!!! Ended up costing me over 13000 baht in total. £300 quid.

Now I doubt I can do anything about it as it says on my info 20kg but just posting to let people know to check their allowance before booking tickets so as not to get stung like I did.

 

The following is from Emirates website :-

Weight concept

The weight concept applies to all routes, excluding travel to or from destinations in Canada, North America and South America. For travellers in Emirates Economy Class, your baggage allowance depends on the type of fare you’ve purchased.

When you fly with Emirates to and from destinations outside the Americas, you can enjoy the following checked baggage allowances:

	Economy Fare Brand				Business Class	First Class
Ticket issued	Special	Saver	Flex	Flex Plus	All fare types	All fare types
Before 20 June 16	30kg	30kg	30kg	30kg	40kg	50kg
On/after 20 June 16	20kg	30kg	30kg	35kg	40kg	50kg

 

If your allowance has increased after having a ticket reissued, we strongly recommend that you carry proof of your original baggage allowance (a print out or screenshot of the original ticket).

You can check in as many pieces of baggage as you need, as long as the total weight is less than the maximum baggage allowance of your class. However, each individual item must weigh less than 32kg in total.

If an individual item has total dimensions (length + width + height) greater than 300cm (118 inches), it can’t be checked in as baggage and will need to be sent as cargo or freight. There are no exceptions to this rule.

 

[Klongwater]

On 10/5/2017 at 17:47, taylor1975 said:

On the subject of checking things ...Is it 6 months validity on your UK passport, in order to enter thailand and associated middle-east country for 2 hour stopover?

 

 

On 10/5/2017 at 17:51, davidge said:

6 months for Thailand. Not always enforced but not worth risking.

Doesn’t matter for stopover as you’re not entering the country.

 

22 hours ago, rog555 said:

Anyone know why the 6 month passport validity requirement exists ?

 

 

Good job I clicked this topic....I have two trips booked during the next three months,(one in less than a week) and a UK passport which expires within five months.Until now, I wasn't aware of Thailand applying a minimum six month passport validity to guarantee entry to the Kingdom,but a quick look at the UK Foreign Office website shows it is the case! 

Time to act,quickly.

Would be curious to know if anyone has ever been refused entry for having less than six months validity on their passport?

[davidge]

5 minutes ago, Klongwater said:

 

 

 

Good job I clicked this topic....I have two trips booked during the next three months,(one in less than a week) and a UK passport which expires within five months.Until now, I wasn't aware of Thailand applying a minimum six month passport validity to guarantee entry to the Kingdom,but a quick look at the UK Foreign Office website shows it is the case! 

Time to act,quickly.

Would be curious to know if anyone has ever been refused entry for having less than six months validity on their passport?

https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently

Book an appointment online at your nearest passport office for the 1-day service.

 

[regyai]

52 minutes ago, taylor1975 said:

My qatar flights in nov/dec were booked through travel trolley i think. 

£317 all in. Quite a saving over going direct. 30kg is stated too.

maybe its emirates trying to gauge a few quid from unsuspecting customers. They seem to be keen on that approach at the moment.

Maybe so

 

I haven't researched all booking classes on Qatar

But

just because its the same 30kg allowance don't assume you are buying the same class in each instance

Reference to the Emirates classes below clearly shows two (no doubt different in other ways, and in fare prices) classes with a common baggage allowance:

8 minutes ago, brownmanc said:

The following is from Emirates website :-

Weight concept

The weight concept applies to all routes, excluding travel to or from destinations in Canada, North America and South America. For travellers in Emirates Economy Class, your baggage allowance depends on the type of fare you’ve purchased.

When you fly with Emirates to and from destinations outside the Americas, you can enjoy the following checked baggage allowances:

	Economy Fare Brand				Business Class	First Class
Ticket issued	Special	Saver	Flex	Flex Plus	All fare types	All fare types
Before 20 June 16	30kg	30kg	30kg	30kg	40kg	50kg
On/after 20 June 16	20kg	30kg	30kg	35kg	40kg	50kg

 

If your allowance has increased after having a ticket reissued, we strongly recommend that you carry proof of your original baggage allowance (a print out or screenshot of the original ticket).

You can check in as many pieces of baggage as you need, as long as the total weight is less than the maximum baggage allowance of your class. However, each individual item must weigh less than 32kg in total.

If an individual item has total dimensions (length + width + height) greater than 300cm (118 inches), it can’t be checked in as baggage and will need to be sent as cargo or freight. There are no exceptions to this rule.

 

 

[mbamber]

16 minutes ago, Klongwater said:

 

 

 

Good job I clicked this topic....I have two trips booked during the next three months,(one in less than a week) and a UK passport which expires within five months.Until now, I wasn't aware of Thailand applying a minimum six month passport validity to guarantee entry to the Kingdom,but a quick look at the UK Foreign Office website shows it is the case! 

Time to act,quickly.

Would be curious to know if anyone has ever been refused entry for having less than six months validity on their passport?

Article on Passport validity I have always been advised to renew 6 months ahead of expiry of my Passport, UK allows you to renew 9 months early so your new passport is valid 10 years 9 months.

https://lifehacker.com/these-countries-follow-the-six-month-rule-for-passpor-1782577451