1

I'm flying with Batik Air from KUL to NRT. There is 20-kg checked baggage included in the ticket but my suitcase weighs almost 30 kg. When booking I added a +10-kg baggage "add-on", thinking this would allow me to bring a 30-kg bag. Now I've heard from somebody else that the add-on needs to be a separate bag... Is this true?

Improve this question
2
  • Many airlines have a 22kg maximum weight per piece of luggage. If so, a 30 kg bag may cost a lot of overweight charge if they accept it at all.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Apr 17 at 3:57
  • 1
    Usually it's 32 kg from my experience. Could depend on region and airline though.
    – Leaderboard
    Commented Apr 17 at 5:11

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

There are two weights to consider:

  • The maximum weight per bag is a hard limit. For many airlines, and that is the case for Batik Air, the maximum weight per bag is 32 kg. No single bag can exceed the maximum weight.

  • The allowance is what you are permitted to check in, based on your fare and any options (anything beyond that will incur charges). Traditionally there have been two concepts:

    • The "piece concept" is used in/to/from the US and a few other countries. They count the number of pieces of luggage, and each piece has a maximum weight.

    • The "weight concept" was traditionally used everywhere else: you have a total weight, and you can split that in as many pieces as you want, as long as the total does not exceed the allowance.

  • More recently (starting a decade or two ago...) there have been concepts with limits on both the total number and the total weight.

  • In the case of Batik Air, their baggage rules never mention the number of pieces anywhere, only the weight, so I would venture that they work under the weight concept, and only the total weight is relevant. There are actually fares which include 35 or 40 kg while the maximum weight per bag is 32 kg, so obviously they intend that to be split over several pieces.

  • Even for airlines which have a limitation on both number of pieces and total weight, having less pieces than allowed is as far as I know never a problem as long as you never exceed the maximum weight per bag.

So I believe you shouldn't have a problem as long as:

  • The weight of any piece of luggage is below 32 kg.
  • The total weight is under your total allowance (included + purchased extra).
Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .