airline shipping rules

Wolf

unread,

Oct 22, 2002, 10:48:01 PM10/22/02

to

fly much with luggage?
http://www.goeps.com/airlineBaggage.html

--
My email address was CHANGED to wol...@attbi.com
this message may contain some deliberate spelling errors

shooter

unread,

Oct 23, 2002, 7:53:41 AM10/23/02

to

Wolf <wol...@attbi.com> wrote in message news:<3DB60E85...@attbi.com>...

> fly much with luggage?
> http://www.goeps.com/airlineBaggage.html

Wolf
This seems to be old data. I checked NWA. At your site they say you
can check three, or check two and carry one. At the NWA site they ONLY
allow you to check two no matter if you are carrying one or not. Your
site has a 2001 date on it. Nice try, I'd like to have updated policy
info on this stuff too. Also, airlines have different policies on
discounting excess baggage.

NWA charges $85 per excess bag. IF you show up with a letter on
company letterhead asking for the discount for film, video and media
they'll give it to you at $50 per bag. You used to not need the letter
but now if you don't, no discount. And there's no specific wording
they ask for.
I wrote a letter saying that I'm travelling for such and such corp to
videotape a program in X city. Please extend your excess bag discount
to me. The counter folks find it under G-Bag media in their computer
although many don't understand what I'm asking for at first. Many
times it takes a supervisor and a LOT of patience to get this done.
Travel with extra blank letterhead at all times.

What have others out there encountered in the excess bag game?
Shooter

Thom Shafer

unread,

Oct 23, 2002, 8:43:22 AM10/23/02

to

The excess baggage is all over the board. I live in Cleveland so I fly
Continental who happens to have their own travel agency. This was the
greatest discovery since the potatoe chip!

Continental Travel has all the authority and power to make things happen.

Example, flying from Cleveland to Harare, Zimbabwe our route went through
London changing to British Airways. Our producer had never been to London
so we built in an 18 hour layover to show her the town. For obvious reasons
with the IRA you must claim your bags if your layover is longer then a
couple of hours. Our agent called BA and the next thing you know it is
right there in the computer that BA will take care of our equipment. Nobody
could believe it from the ticket counter agents on, they where actually
arguing with us about it when we checked in! Worked like a charm.

They also routinely supply us with the computer codes to quickly access the
media rates, most ticket agents don't know where to even look in their
systems. Oh yes, with them we fly internationally at $40.00 per excess
bag.

I am sure that all the major carriers have similar in house travel agencies.
I would recommend giving that a try. They input the rates directly into
your reservation.

Thom Shafer
http://www.televisionsound.com

"shooter" <sho...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:a0d6f1bb.0210...@posting.google.com...

John Rowley

unread,

Oct 24, 2002, 8:30:19 AM10/24/02

to

Dear Tom

Thanks for this information which could be really valuable to myself and
our location rental clients. Seems a knockout compared to some of the
garbage and time/money-wasting you can get from some airlines and some
personnel. If you don't mind, I'm going to save it and pass it on to
colleagues who are travelling. Do you have their website, Continental
Travel's, (not Continental's)?

A minor point. Wasn't it Dan Quayle, one of your vice-presidential
aspirants, that got into some trouble with the media (and a little boy),
about the spelling of the word potato?

Regards.

John Rowley
in...@soundequip.com.au
www.soundequip.com.au

"Thom Shafer" <th...@televisionsound.com> wrote in message
news:KPwt9.3585$vq2.2...@news1.east.cox.net...

mjl

unread,

Oct 24, 2002, 7:19:12 PM10/24/02

to

United, Alaska and Continental are charging flat rates of $75 or thereabouts
per extra piece, I have spent hours on the phone with all of their corporate
offices to no avail regarding a special rate for Video crew. This used to be
at the discretion of the check in counter but now some of these airlines
have changed their policies and it is mandatory.

"shooter" <sho...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:a0d6f1bb.0210...@posting.google.com...

Thom Shafer

unread,

Oct 24, 2002, 9:50:59 PM10/24/02

to

I just got in and read this post and was surprised so I called Continental
Elite and yes it is correct. They have implemented this new policy this
month. Here is the official word from the Continental Elite Desk.

$80.00 per excess bag with the termination of all media discounts. Such a
shame.

Major bummer! I stand corrected!

Thom Shafer
http://www.televisionsound.com

"mjl" <harry...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:urgv8h5...@corp.supernews.com...

Scott Dorsey

unread,

Oct 25, 2002, 10:51:50 AM10/25/02

to

Thom Shafer <product...@cox.net> wrote:
>I just got in and read this post and was surprised so I called Continental
>Elite and yes it is correct. They have implemented this new policy this
>month. Here is the official word from the Continental Elite Desk.
>
>$80.00 per excess bag with the termination of all media discounts. Such a
>shame.

Yup, and accompanied cargo seems to be totally impossible now. I wound up
shipping a lot of gear FedEx rather than carrying it onboard earlier this
year.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

shooter

unread,

Oct 25, 2002, 9:58:58 PM10/25/02

to

> >$80.00 per excess bag with the termination of all media discounts. Such a
> >shame.

As far as I know, NWA is still giving the $50 per bag fee to media
pros. If anybody knows otherwise, I'd like to hear. Until then, if NWA
is the only carrier giving the discount, maybe we should pass the word
to try to fly NWA. Lets support those who support us. By the way, I
have no connection to NWA except a regular user and relatively happy.
Remember to have your letter typed up before hand on company
letterhead.
Happy trails
Shooter
>

Wolf

unread,

Oct 26, 2002, 4:08:25 AM10/26/02

to

ALSO: Do not forget to ask for excess valuation on luggage which is a insurance charged for, if you can get it it has low deductibles and helps with the systematic theft of valuables in some airports.
My current info on systematic thievery:
Paris - Charles De Gaulle,
CInncinaty,
fill in the blank with current info please ...................................................
(it has happened anywhere)
regular airline insurance covers about $ 400 of personal property NOT proffessional, or computer, or home audio stuff.
w

unread,

Nov 21, 2002, 11:19:57 AM11/21/02

to

I recently completed a shoot in Uganda and travelled American from Ft
Wayne to Ohare and British Airways from Ohare to Heathrow to Entebbe.
FedEx and UPS etc do not actively operate in Uganda so we were forced
to bring our entire kit with us. American said they'd "bend the
rules" to help us out, but BA was more stringent with the rules, even
though they are under the same corporate umbrella.

Max weight 70lbs (will take up to 100lbs for additional $455.) If over
100lbs, they will "leave it on the tarmack."

3 pieces per person at no add'l cost and $150 per piece thereafter.

We made it there and back with no problems using those criteria. The
only piece we shipped via freight was a backup Honda generator, which
left here 3 weeks in advance as per the freight company's directive.
It never did make it to Uganda.

Customs in Uganda, UK and US was very easy to work with because we had
pre-registered our entire kit and had US Customs documentation with us
at all times. We also had less hassle with the airlines because of
the pre-documentation along with letters from government officials in
both the US and Uganda stating our purpose of travel and work.

The pre-travel arrangements saved many hours of trouble and many
dollars of extra cost during the trip.

Clay Stahlka
Clay Stahlka Productions
www.claystahlkaproductions.com
cl...@claystahlkaproductions.com