The 6kg rule is, indeed, utterly brainless. Herbert
Keppler went after BA about it 3 or 4 years ago, as
did the Travel section of the New York Times, and you
can see what effect it had.
I have found enforcement spotty. Once I had to repack
everything (Philly to London), but on the return trip
carried on my camera bag and 12 kg backpack without
anyone batting an eye, flying steerage both ways.
Yes, BA Business Class is great (as is Lufthansa
Business Class), but steerage on both varies between
poor and awful. Unfortunately I usually have to fly
steerage.
Rick
--- Joseph Tainter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> This one goes into my "How did the human species
> ever survive?" file.
>
> Yesterday I got to Heathrow Terminal 4 early for my
> flight. After
> leaving off my big suitcase I dutifully stepped up
> to the checkpoint
> that you must pass before you are admitted to the
> security screening
> area. One woman is checking boarding passes, while
> two others intercept
> passengers who are trying to carry on the allowed
> carry-on bag. The
> woman wants to weigh my suitcase. It weighs a bit
> under 15 kg, so she
> tells me I must check it. Well, it contains $3000
> worth of digital photo
> gear, medications, and documents, and I am not about
> to check it. So a
> row begins. She tells me that I am allowed only 6 kg
> in one bag, and
> that I must repack everything into multiple bags. At
> this point the
> illogic of her demand had not sunk in. I asked to
> see her supervisor,
> who duly came along. This woman gave me the same
> story. I was allowed
> only 6 kg in any one bag. Both women suggested that
> I repack the
> contents into multiple bags. Now the absurdity
> started to sink in. The
> objection was not that I wanted to carry 15 kg on
> board, but that I
> wanted those 15 kg in one bag (in which they fit
> just fine). If I
> carried the same 15 kg in multiple bags, that would
> be okay. I tried to
> explain to the supervisor that this was ridiculous:
> the overhead bin
> carries the same weight regardless of whether it is
> in one bag or
> several. Her reply: "Sorry, sir, that is the rule."
>
> Both women asked me several times if I was in
> Business Class or Economy.
> I was in Economy, of course. I asked why it made a
> difference. The
> supervisor insisted that that in Economy, the bins
> would not handle the
> weight. This was a 747. I pointed out that all
> sections of the plane
> have the same overhead bins. This logic didn't
> matter. I also pointed
> out that I had flown on the same British Airways 747
> coming from
> Phoenix. That logic didn't matter either. All that
> mattered was that
> only 6 kg would be allowed Economy Class passengers
> in any one bag.
>
> At this point I realized that the people who run and
> work for British
> Airways are about as intelligent as American
> Educators -- the kind who
> suspend kids from school on the grounds of
> no-drugs-tolerated when the
> kid shows up with a cold, cold medication, and
> approval from the parents.
>
> So I trekked down to the end of the terminal,
> removed the contents of my
> suitcase, and proceeded back to the entrance. Now my
> 15 kg were in 4
> parcels rather than one. At the entry I saw that the
> gatekeepers were
> harassing some Middle Eastern-looking fellows. So
> while they were
> distracted, I walked right up to the woman checking
> boarding passes,
> showed her mine, and walked on through. Of course,
> once on the other
> side, I proceeded to repack everything into the
> original suitcase.
>
> Once past security, I spent 20 minutes walking
> around the vast duty-free
> mall just to bring my blood pressure down. When I
> was rational again, I
> thought about the several times that I was asked if
> I was in Business or
> Economy. Apparently, in Business Class I could carry
> the 15 kg in one
> suitcase. In Economy I had to carry the same 15 kg
> in several bags. They
> even had the nerve to claim that the Economy
> overhead bins were somehow
> less able to carry such a concentration of weight.
> At that point I
> understood that my real offense had been against the
> British class
> system. Those in Business Class had paid for the
> privilege of carrying
> 15 kg in one bag. Those of us in Steerage had not.
> We could only carry
> our 15 kg in several bags. I never asked whether
> they provide enough
> life preservers for everyone in Economy.
>
> Other than that, it was actually a very interesting
> flight. Going over
> the Atlantic usually isn't, and I've now done it 42
> times. But that's
> another story, and tonight I just need to rant. And
> I will never
> willingly fly British Airways again. Last June,
> flying Berlin to
> Heathrow (on my way back to Albuquerque), the
> British Airways attendant
> threw coffee all over me right at the start of 24
> hours of travel.
>
> Joe
>
>
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