Baggage allowance all for one

[Carlosjchavez]

I’m traveling with my wife and two kids 2 & 4 yr olds and we decided to use one piece of luggage that exceeds the single person weight limit, are the allowances accumulated? Or should we spread out our luggage?

[bec102896 · Accepted solution]

@Carlosjchavez 

You would need to spread out the weight to other bag(s) to avoid paying an overweight baggage fee.

Hope this helps

Blake 

[CareforNOLA · Accepted solution]

Spread it out among multiple suitcases.  Accumulating into one is not allowed — probably because they might have to spread things around in the cargo hold.

[DancingDavidE]

To clarify @Carlosjchavez if you are a little bit over but using a "standard" suitcase it would be fine to pay the overweight fee $75 for one item, but the limit is up to 100 pounds, so you wouldn't literally be getting 4 people x 2 items each x 50 lbs allowance = 400 lbs into one suitcase.

In theory you could use four suitcases at 100 lbs each for $75 each overweight fee = $300 extra or any combination less than that.

Unless you are getting reimbursed for luggage fees from work or from a credit card, most people would be trying to use their free luggage allowance and get these items into fewer smaller suitcases, either three for your group or four at < 50 lbs each.

Basically the luggage needs to be able to be carried by a human being and loaded into the aircraft, on and off the luggage carts, etc.

Instead since you may have baby gear coming with you with only two adults to pull the items, I'd suggest you plan on spending the $5 or so for a "Smart Carte" that are prevalent at airports in the US to help you get things back and forth from parking and check-in/baggage claim.

Double-check if you are taking the family internationally, some of the destinations have luggage limitations that are more strict on overweight or quantity per person.

I hope this helps - let us know what airport if you want any tips about how to navigate with excess baggage quantity.