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I am asking for a colleague.

He wants to fly France --> USA and his choice of flight is restricted. He has to take Air France and the price for a checked baggage is very high (1100€ for a 700€ flight).

He wants to know if he can instead book the flight with no luggage, then arrive early at the airport and book a checked luggage on the spot.

I have done it on a RyanAir flight and it cost me 20€ at the airport, last minute. But it was a much shorter and cheaper flight.

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    How much baggage (weight and size)? What ticket class? That sounds like an unusually high price for a standard ticket. Having said that, AFAIK pre-booked baggage is always cheaper than at the airport.
    – Traveller
    Commented Oct 4 at 9:44
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    @Traveller I think the high price is because he has to use an administrative / professional travel tool (which he may circumvent by paying from his pocket at the airport). His ticket class is "Light".
    – C. Crt
    Commented Oct 4 at 9:48
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    You should check but I would assume that any ticket for a flight from France to USA with Air France allows for at least one small checked bag.
    – quarague
    Commented Oct 4 at 10:03
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    @C.Crt ‘Light’ normally means hand baggage only. The weight/number of hold baggage he wants to buy will determine the fee. I very much doubt buying it at the airport will be cheaper, and might not even be possible if the flight is fully loaded.
    – Traveller
    Commented Oct 4 at 10:58
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    Are you sure it's €1100 on top of the fare? Or €1100 instead of €700 to include checked bags? While expensive that's quite in line with the pricing for adding a bag to a "light" fare.
    – jcaron
    Commented Oct 4 at 11:22

2 Answers 2

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I think it's nearly impossible for one checked bag to cost €1100. The difference between a "light" fare (no checked bags) and a "standard" fare (1 checked bag) is less than €100 per direction. He's probably comparing different things (a one-way flight vs. a return flight for instance, or economy vs. premium economy or better).

Even if the flight is booked on a light fare, you can add a bag during the booking process (it's quite more expensive than the difference between light and standard, though!) or, once booked, via the "manage my booking" interface on the web or in the app, or in some cases even during the online check-in process. It's also possible at the airport. It will be cheaper if he does so at least 24 hours before departure (so online rather than at the airport).

Whether he can use the "manage my booking" features or not depends on the arrangements with the travel agent. But online check-in is nearly certainly possible.

I tested on a random CDG-LAX flight, the cost is €192/bag during the booking process. It will be more expensive at the airport (can't tell you how much).

Note that frequent flyers with at least Flying Blue Silver status automatically get one additional checked bag for free (sometimes 2).

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  • Using an "an administrative / professional travel tool" as the OP says in a comment, in the last couple of years I've still had to actually phone an agent and wait for an hour on hold to add luggage to my booking. So while it's certainly possible, it's not necessarily trivial. But the other info here is good.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Oct 4 at 14:46
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    Thank you for your answer. I should have been clearer, this high cost is caused by administrative tools. Basically, my coworker has two options: no luggage at 700€ or Light luggage for 1800€. There is no doubt that the travel agency is benefitting a lot from this professional partnership. In all cases, I think he took the option to book the cheapest flight and to call the airline to add a luggage. I don't know about the cost, though.
    – C. Crt
    Commented Oct 7 at 9:36
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Air France baggage rules are published here: https://wwws.airfrance.us/information/legal/us-regulation

Specifically it says

By purchasing your additional baggage allowance online, you will receive a 20% reduction on the prices below

So booking it up front online could be 20% cheaper than at the airport. It certainly will NOT be cheaper at the airport.

I did a test booking (CDG<->BOS) and saw that fee was indeed $75 per leg as listed. No 20% discount though, so this may be restricted to the second bag.

1100€ for a 700€ flight.

1100€ is most likely the total price of flight + luggage, not the luggage fee itself unless you have some extremely unusual luggage (size, weight, number)

Please note that if you need a checked bag, it's often cheaper to book a standard fare with the bag included instead buying a light fare and adding bags.

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    Note that the listed $75 is for a second bag if you are allowed one bag. For all other cases (including first bag if you are allowed 0) it's... $285 (!). -20% it seems more or less in line with the €192 I saw.
    – jcaron
    Commented Oct 4 at 13:03
  • Very interesting information, thank you. In the end, he will book the luggage at the airport.
    – C. Crt
    Commented Oct 7 at 9:37

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