Baggage and ski carriage queries

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Clive Once again you do not answer the point that there is no mention of out of gauge baggage in your T&Cs - You still say that ski carriage is additional weight - It cannot be if TOTAL checked bag is under 20 kg.- As Simon noted :- You stated that you pack all in one - but pay the extra - paying the extra does not guarantee delivery , So why is there a charge when total wt. is under allowance already paid for -You cannot dictate what the contents are - size is NOT in T&Cs can you please give DIRECT answers .If you cannot , please concede that these charges are not enforceable !! I dont think your answers would stand up in LAW or with the OFT.
Regards Peter Hardy

Has anybody actually been stopped yet this season for taking a hold bag, a snowbboard bag with all relevent snowboard equipment as it should be. Having paid the board carriage fee?
Even Easyjet didnt charge me when my board bag weighed excess last year.

Common sense needs to be a pplied. If your paying to take a snowboard you require extra equipment associated with this. If Thompson/crystal accept that 20kg is sufficent for a none boarding holiday then they must also surely realise boots, winter gear, helmets that are all required to snowboar dwill weigh more?

Hi Oli,
We have 4 sets of board equipment to take and 4 board bags booked. However reading above if there is no size limit on a hold bag then it looks like the best option is just to take one bag and not pay the board carriage?
Will I be cancelling mine? no, its not worth the hassle, it just appears that there is a way round it for us riders that saves us money and isnt against the terms and conditions.

Im playing devils advocate here and really do realise that its not the emplyees fault, and ultimately nothing will change in the short term.

Hi Clive / DJ,

I write this in the hope that you are still monitoring this thread, as we have a group holiday booked to Austria in Jan, and need to know what's going on with regards to snowboard carriage.

It was mentioned above a dizzying number of times that you would be revising your policies regarding carriage, with the possibility of having a total weight allowance, which would allow for passengers to decide on how best to distribute their wieght, much as Easyjet did when I last flew with them.

So: Has there been any movement on this, or am I going to have to struggle through the airport with a hold bag, suitcase, and my boardbag flapping away rediculously without anything in its boot pockets?

Many Thanks,

Nick

grace what is the baggage allowance this season if ski carriage paid what does the total weight then become is cabin bag extra to this or included regards peter hardy

hi pleased this topic is still an issue that needs resolve what are the allowances have they been revised as stated at begining of year . i still maintain that one bag under the weight regardless of contents should not have an excess charge applied please clarify peter hardy

Hi Peter

If ski carriage is paid, you get one ski bag at 15kgs and one hold bag at 20kgs.

if you have one coffing bag to put everything in, this is fine, but no bag can weight more than 25kgs.

The ski carriage fee is for the carriage of skis. i understand if your one bag weighs under 20kgs that you feel you shouldn't be charged, however this fee has to be paid fo skis as instructed by the airline- as a ski bag is a very different item of luaggage. It also is almost like an insurance, whereby if for some exceptional reason your skis don't make it to resort when you do, not only will we refund this charge, we will provide hire superior skis until your own arrive.

I hope this clarifies this better for you.

thanks

Grace

grace as stated on earlier chat i cannot find any t+c that state size of bag attracts extra charge so if i have a coffin bag as luggage with no skis in then no charge should apply ????? i already have insurance to cover delayed baggage on my existing travel ins. so dont need airline cover it should be obvious that ski trunks are superior being all the same size stack much better regards peter hardy

Hi Nick and Peter

Thanks again for your comments.

Nick- I can confirm that i have spoken with the web team and they are working on changing the ski carriage information on the web, so soon, you will see a difference.

I appreciate your comments on the ideal policy, however as I am sure you can appreciate we have to work with limitations from the airline and baggage handlers, and with this to contend with, the policy we have worked hard to acheive, works with limitations and provides a substantial weight allowance for your ski bags. we even managed to get the maximum bag limit increased from 23kgs to 25kgs which is definately a step in the right direction.

Peter, as a ski bag is an oversized item of luggage, it requires specific handling regardless of its weight. This is why there has to be a charge. I apologise this isnt the answer you are looking for, but unfortuantely these are airline and baggage handling rules. As much we try to work with everyones comments, some things are just out of our control.

I hope this answers both your queries.

Have a great holiday

Grace

I'd like to thank TUI for finally applying some logic to this issue that clearly raises some concerns along with blood pressure.
For the past 10 years or so, I have been travelling with a regular suitcase (20kg limit normally) and a double ski bag with 2 pairs of skis in so I only paid for 1 ski carriage. The ski bag was packed with lightweight clothing in order to pad and protect the skis in transit.
Some airlines clearly used to state there is NO charge for ski carriage and that this is connected with the tour operator not the airline (Monarch being the obvious ones) and in times gone by I have checked in ski bags without having paid ski carriage. However, this was £15 at the time and probably comes across to some as penny pinching.
Now that ski carriage has doubled (at least) in cost, people are looking ay ways to avoid paying it by using coffin bags, and I see no reason why they should if their bag is under the 20kg baggage limit included in your flight ticket. However, the arguement seems to be that these bags are not "regular size" and therefore require additional handling charged for, with the increased risk that if the pilot hasnt put enough fuel on board your bag is likely to be the first hauled off, and if your clothing is in there, you're in a bad way in resort. Trust me, I know, when Monarch sent us from LGW to Grenoble and landed at Geneva instead, offloaded everyone and their luggage where we discovered that only a handful of cases (let alone ski bags) had actually been loaded. Believe it or not, the tour op blamed the weather for the way the plane had been loaded, but insurance covered us for "purchase of essential items".......cue a nice new pair of sallopettes, although this didnt do much to paper over the cracks of not having your clothes, wash bag or any ski equipment for 3 days! I now travel with gloves, goggles and something I could wear to ski in in my hand luggage believe it or not!

Anyway, back to the main issue, ski carriage and setting clear terms. Thanks TUI Group for having the sense to set a limit, and I believe that a regular case weighing 20kg plus a ski bag weighing 15kg is plenty for your average european ski week. Boots packed in the case, clothes etc in the case, and some clothing packed around the skis in the ski bag. I think these weights are sensible and clearly defined. Ok, theres the issue of the coffin bags, as clearly anyone travelling with them is going to have skis/boards in them, but you do get an extra 5kg to take with you, although you still have to pay the £35 (yes its gone up another fiver this season) for ski/board carriage.

I have yet to see anyone ask anyone at check in to open or unpack a ski bag. All the check in staff are interested in these days is if you have paid the ski carriage fee. Look out for the tour op reps hawking in the check in queues, looking for a cheeky dollar earner for people who may not have documentation to prove they paid for ski carriage.
(Amazingly this happened to me with a party of 8 at LGW a few years back when the Skiworld rep popped up and asked us to pay £35 per ski bag, we had 1 each. We had already paid for it, but for some reason this was confirmed on a supplementary invoice and not the main holiday documentation, and I didnt have that with me at check in. She actually got very aggressive demanding the money before allowing us to check in, before this passenger got very aggressive back and told her to check her system which would confirm ski carriage had been paid. Problem was, it was 5am and the "system" wasnt up and running. Luckily she relented, probably when I told her where she could find us in St Anton if she wanted to chase us up for non payment after checking the system herself. But you could really do without all that at stupid o clock when you're only interested in fighting your way through the queue at security so that you get more than 5 minutes in departures before your flight is called. Sound familiar?)

So. just to confirm Thomson Airways ski flights for Thomson/Crystal/First Choice packages:

Hold baggage: 20kg max, included in price
Ski Carriage: 15kg max, cost £35 if prebooked, more at the airport if not
Coffin style bags: 25kg max, cost £35 if prebooked etc etc

Lets hope the other chartered airlines follow suit and clearly set out these exact same limits so we dont all have to read forum after forum or scour through the woolly T&Cs of our holiday documents in order to clarify what is or more likely isn't included.

Grass your arses.

Grace's comment above states that:

"Passengers who book ski carriage now get an allowance of 15kgs. this will include skis and anything you can get in the bag. If this includes boots then that is fine- as long as it is under 15kgs"

Our party has booked 2 x ski carriage to allow for the transport of our boots - we're not taking skis but will be taking four pairs of boots in two bags, each bag weighing under 15kgs. On the basis that boots are now allowed in a bag as part of your 'paid for' ski allowance (provided the bag doesn't exceed the 15 kgs weight limit) presumably this is OK?

Thanks

David.

Hi Tony

Thank you for your comments.

I can confirm that what you quoted is correct

'So. just to confirm Thomson Airways ski flights for Thomson/Crystal/First Choice packages:

Hold baggage: 20kg max, included in price
Ski Carriage: 15kg max, cost £35 if prebooked, more at the airport if not
Coffin style bags: 25kg max, cost £35 if prebooked etc etc '

Hope you have a fantastic holiday

Grace

Boots are part of your 20kg free luggage. Either pack them in your case or use separate boot bags but its all part of the 20kg.
Phone TUI and refund your ski carriage.

How much does the ski carriage cost at the airport with Thomson?

Hi H

It is £45 to book at the airport.

Many Thanks

How about blades?

Hi Jim-Bob

How are you intending to carry your blades? Ssome customers pack them in their cases, and othes take full on ski bags which will incur the ski carriage charge.

Thanks

Grace

Grace, could I please just check a few things;

Does the £35 ski carriage charge cover both ways - so £35 per pair of skis gets those skis there and back?

There are two of us, each with our own skis, which we put into one "double" ski bag. We have paid for 2 x ski carriage (so £70) - so this means it is ok to put both pairs of skis into this one bag, as long as that bag is less than 25Kg?

Is it ok, or not, to take ski boots in hand luggage?

Thanks very much for your help,

John

Hold baggage: 20kg max, included in price
Ski Carriage: 15kg max, cost £35 if prebooked, more at the airport if not
Coffin style bags: 25kg max, cost £35 if prebooked etc etc

Hi Grace

Just to clarify then, you can take hold baggage (20kg) and a coffin style ski bag (25kg) having paid £35.

Thanks
Barrie

HI Barrie

Not quite!

If you pay £35 for ski carriage you can take either...

1 suitcase at 20kgs and 1 ski bag with one set of skis and any other items inside at a maximum of 15kgs

OR

1 large coffin bag with all luggage in at a maximum of 25kgs.

I hope that clarifies it better.

Thanks

Grace

Thanks for clearing that up.

so just to clarify grace's post the total weight allowance for the ski carrage is 15kgs so between the 2 bags (normal luggage and ski carrage) you can have 35kgs?

or

1 coffin bag at a total weight of 25 Kgs and no other bags

Hows that fair? cant i do a coffin bag at 20kgs and another small bag at 15kgs?

Hi Alex

The configuration has to be hold baggage at 20kgs and ski bag at 15kgs, or one large coffin bag at 25kgs.

I understand your comments regarding forfeiting 10kgs luggage. This is something we will discuss with the airline and may well be something we change for Winter12-13 but for this season, we will be remaining with the existing guidelines.

Thanks

Have a great holiday

Grace

So if there are 2 of us going we have paid for a week hols package including one ski carriage @ £35 and put both our snowboards in one bag totalling 25kg, my husband takes no hold luggage but I take a bag weighing 20kg or less and that's between 2 of us would that be allowed?

Can I also say I booked this through travel house on the off chance as we were passing, at no point was any of this explained to us and we told the agent we were intending on putting both boards in one bag as we have always done! This is not mentioned on confirmation papers either and the only reason I checked was because they don't tell you your baggage allowance on the confirmation... Thankfully I did check or I wouldn't have known any of this until I arrived at the airport!!

Thanks,
Lyndsey.

HI Lyndsey

you will need to pay for ski carriage for each set of skis you are carrying. If you only have one booked, then your ski bag can weigh no more than 15kgs. if you prebook 2, you can pack both sets in one bag and this bag can weigh up to 25kgs.

I am sorry to hear that the agent didn't advise you of this information. However, this information is provided online and in all the brochures that the agents obtain thier information from, and so it may just be they missed it.

I hope that helps

Thanks

Grace