 Poster: A snowHead
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when flying from bham a couple of weeks ago we had a silly situation developed at checking.
we were 4 people (2 adults and 2 kids)
we had booked in 3 bags and they had allowed us 80kg (dont know why but when we booked 6 months ago this was the norm .its now 60kg)
we had paid for skiis
we turned up with 3 bags weighing 55kg in total plus a ski bag and NO boot bag. so 25kg and boot bag of our allowance not used
we also had our trusty plastic sledge we take everywhere with us - it weighs about 1kg
they insisted that this sledge would be charged £18 each way as it was an "extra piece". i argued with them as we have taken it , on easy jet, for the past 5 yrs and never come across this. I asked to see a supervisor but they woudl not budge. the kids were just about to cry as I said we were not paying £36 to get a sledge to france and back and we would have to chuck it in the bin and see if the chalet had one we could use.
we then hit on the idea off fastening the sledge to our largest case - thus it would be "one piece" of luggage.
so i trotted over to the bloke who shrink wraps bags to keep them clean/dry etc and he happily wrapped it very very tightly and diligently to our case (even cutting little holes for the handle and wheels !). went back to check in and no problem at all.....WHAT A TOTALLY POINTLESS WASTE OF EVERYONES TIME AND A COMPLETE COMMON SENSE BYPASS (plus it cost me a fiver for the wrapping !!)
coming back from geneva no problem at all - just checked it in as we have done every year. no questions.
at birmingham airport check in is not done by easyjet but by servisair and the girl on the desk (who was clearly on her first day out of school judgin by her speed and supervisor looking over her shouder all the time) was a "computer says NO" type of person. they did call easyjet bacggage handlers to ask but they also "said no"
never had this issue at stansted or Luton
what a stupid situation and totally uneccesary....
GRRRRRRR 
Ok. rant over
annoying thing is - guess wehere we fly from for ski trip number 2 in april.... ! shrink wrap at the ready this time !
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Bad luck backhojo, sounds like a farcical situation. You've neatly proved, however, that there are ways to get around such situations. In fact, you've inspired me...I'm now going to cellophane my skis to my suitcase on my next trip and see what they say... 
Joking aside, my experiences with Birmingham Airport have been mostly very positive. I expect your experience could have happened anywhere on the wrong day.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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backhojo, Where do you think they *should* draw the line on an extra piece of luggage?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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backhojo, If it's not an extra piece of luggage, what is it? 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Think I'm with the airport here, I'm afraid. The rule sounds fairly clear. You had paid for 3 items of hold baggage (leaving skis aside), and you turned up with 4 - I don't see why you'd expect the airport/airline (it doesn't really matter which) to let you take them all on? The fact that one item is thin and weighs little is irrelevant - if you don't want it to count as an item then put it inside one of the others. The fact that some has bent the rules for you in the past is also irrelevant (although interesting - I'm surprised they would let a sledge on for free).
Your solution is very neat though - sledge presumably wouldn't fit inside the case so strap it to the outside. Presumably you could do this with multiple suitcases as well - as long as you stayed within the relevant weight limits!
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| Quote: |
I'm now going to cellophane my skis to my suitcase on my next trip and see what they say...
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haha - but don't do that on flybe (only a random chance of the skis going on the plane - having to rent skis for a day or 2 might be an inconvenience, but not having *any* luggage arrive would be a major PITA)
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If you feel that strongly about it, you should write that you're going to "blow them sky high" on your Twitter feed.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Chill. You are on holiday. Why get all hot an d bothered, getting the kids on the point crying, then floundering around sorting out the shrink wrapping? Cough up £36, keep cool, chill out with the family over a drink whilst you wait for your plane. No worries.
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| ChrisWo wrote: |
Think I'm with the airport here, I'm afraid. The rule sounds fairly clear. You had paid for 3 items of hold baggage (leaving skis aside), and you turned up with 4 - I don't see why you'd expect the airport/airline (it doesn't really matter which) to let you take them all on? The fact that one item is thin and weighs little is irrelevant - if you don't want it to count as an item then put it inside one of the others. The fact that some has bent the rules for you in the past is also irrelevant (although interesting - I'm surprised they would let a sledge on for free).
Your solution is very neat though - sledge presumably wouldn't fit inside the case so strap it to the outside. Presumably you could do this with multiple suitcases as well - as long as you stayed within the relevant weight limits! |
but the point is they have never charged before and its been back and forth several times. perhaps next time I will load up my suitcases to the max limit with pointless bricks just to spite them - it will cost them more in fuel as the flight will be heavier.
I think use of common sense would have been appropriate - things like "this chap is 25kg under his allowance and he has paid for skiis and boots but only has skis to check in so we will let him have the sledge in lieue of the boots" and "or dear I can see his kids are upset - I will put a good word in for him when i call the baggage guys" and do a good sales pitch rather than - this guy has paid for 3 bags and but has 3 bags and a sledge can he bring it ? . she made no attempt to explain to the chap on the phone that it was not a fully blown traditional alpine sledge with metal runners - which is probably the picture he had in his head - and that its actually not much more than a tea tray
idiots !
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Mr Technique wrote: |
| If you feel that strongly about it, you should write that you're going to "blow them sky high" on your Twitter feed. |
whats twitter ?...is it that pointless thing that people spend all day telling people everything they are doing ? 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| achilles wrote: |
| Chill. You are on holiday. Why get all hot an d bothered, getting the kids on the point crying, then floundering around sorting out the shrink wrapping? Cough up £36, keep cool, chill out with the family over a drink whilst you wait for your plane. No worries. |
but I am from Yorkshire so its against my principles to pay more than the seldge actually cost to put it on a plane !!
anyway we we tired and hungry cos the silly situation was keeping us from our fry up at weatherspoons as the stupid women was going so slow that the check in queue was taking ages to move and we were in danger of not having enough time for breakfast !!
the other daft thing about brum is that you can print you boarding passes online from the easyjet website to save time - then when you get to check in they dont use that system and spend 10 mins faffing about printing your boarding passes !!! and I am not exagerating -it took her ages !
at geneva you use you pre printed boarding passes to speed the process up - it was painless and pleasant on the way home...thats swiss efficiency for you !
shame really as everything else at brum we liked - especially the long stay car park that was practically in the terminal - hardly worth getting on the transfer bus we coudl have walked in the same time...very impressed. not much further than the very expensive short stay car park !
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| Quote: |
I think use of common sense would have been appropriate
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Certainly sounds like it. Unfortunately I believe common sense has now been outlawed everywhere in the UK, certainly seems to have been in my expereinces of late
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You know it makes sense.
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Sounds like taking Ice to the Eskimos....
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Christ, what an asshole.
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Poster: A snowHead
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II, LOL
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| backhojo wrote: |
| the other daft thing about brum is that you can print you boarding passes online from the easyjet website to save time - then when you get to check in they dont use that system |
Is that fact? My son is travelling out of Brum this April,with Easyjet.He will be hand luggage only.I know you can do on-line check in...but if they don't actually use it at the airport then what's the point?
Bit like the pre flight information that EJ insist you do prior to arrival.When I flew out of Brum in January(with Thompson)they did it at check in,with a swipe of me passport! The girl thought it hilarious that EJ make you go on the web site and do it.....as she said to me,"total nonsense,they want to invest in a decent computer system" 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| backhojo wrote: |
| the other daft thing about brum is that you can print you boarding passes online from the easyjet website to save time - then when you get to check in they dont use that system and spend 10 mins faffing about printing your boarding passes !!! and I am not exagerating -it took her ages ! |
That must have been an Easyjet thing. I flew from Brum in January on Thomas Cook airline and printed out boarding passes at home. There was a "checked in on-line" desk with nobody queuing so we walked straight there. The other 2 Thomas Cook desks had big queues, so well worth it.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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snowskisnow, I flew to GVA from BHX back in January. I was with a couple of friends. We had all printed our Easyjet boarding passes out before going. Bev and I were given "proper" ones at the airport. Our friends were not - they used the ones they had printed. The only difference between us was that we had skis and they didn't, so maybe that explains it. Coming back we checked in with the machines at GVA. They issued tags for the bags, but not boarding passes, so we used our "home made" ones.
No. Can't explain it.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| snowskisnow wrote: |
| backhojo wrote: |
| the other daft thing about brum is that you can print you boarding passes online from the easyjet website to save time - then when you get to check in they dont use that system |
Is that fact? My son is travelling out of Brum this April,with Easyjet.He will be hand luggage only.I know you can do on-line check in...but if they don't actually use it at the airport then what's the point?
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If you have hand luggage only, then you ignore the check in desks, and go straight through security and to te gate.
If you have hold luggage, then there is rarely any point to the online check in, unless the airport has "bag drop" points.
| Quote: |
Bit like the pre flight information that EJ insist you do prior to arrival.When I flew out of Brum in January(with Thompson)they did it at check in,with a swipe of me passport! The girl thought it hilarious that EJ make you go on the web site and do it.....as she said to me,"total nonsense,they want to invest in a decent computer system" |
Depends on where you are going. Some destinations require the information to be sent to them before the plane takes off.
Others don't require API at all.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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II, excellent.
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| Mr Technique wrote: |
| II, excellent. |
Indeed. I think this just might take off...
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| II wrote: |
| Christ, what an asshole. |
are you referring to me or the check in staff ?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| maggi wrote: |
| backhojo wrote: |
| the other daft thing about brum is that you can print you boarding passes online from the easyjet website to save time - then when you get to check in they dont use that system and spend 10 mins faffing about printing your boarding passes !!! and I am not exagerating -it took her ages ! |
That must have been an Easyjet thing. I flew from Brum in January on Thomas Cook airline and printed out boarding passes at home. There was a "checked in on-line" desk with nobody queuing so we walked straight there. The other 2 Thomas Cook desks had big queues, so well worth it. |
I didnt pay for the "online check in service", i just used the "print out your boarding passes" option. when i asked at the check in desk what the point of printing out the boarding pass was if they were going to print one for me I was told "we know its silly, we keep telling easy jet but they are not interested" !! (the checkin was staff by the handling agents servisair)
its not a major hassle but if you multiply the amount of time it took them to faff about printing our boarding passes (it was a disproportionate length of time compared to normal) by the number of people in the queue it goes someway to explaining why the queue was very slow moving. At geneva the automatic check in machine asked me if i wanted boarding passes or if i had printed them. these speeded up the process and then the bag drop off was very efficient - especially as it printed luggage labels as well. quick check of passports, dump the bags then off for food.
at least next time we will be prepared and can shrink wrap the sledge to the case and allow extra time for check in !
all in all I liked brum airport - a bit like east midlands which we cant use any more - shame as its only 1hr away - due to easyjet pulling out of there.
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backhojo, when you print the boarding pass it counts as an online check too ! Technically if you had no luggage to check in you could have gone straight to the gate.
Well done for getting free carriage for a few years for your sledge
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Jo225 wrote: |
| Mr Technique wrote: |
| II, excellent. |
Indeed. I think this just might take off... |
I hope so.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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