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British Airways reducing free-baggage allowance

Get ready to pack lighter when crossing the pond on British Airways, which is reducing its free-baggage allowance for economy class.

World Traveller (economy) passengers who book trips to or from the Americas (except Brazil) Oct. 7 or later will get one free checked bag instead of the current two, according to the policy change announced Friday, July 31. Also starting Oct. 7, sports equipment such as skis and bicycles will be counted in the total.

As of Saturday, Aug. 1, it appeared that BA competitors Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand were still letting coach fliers check in two bags on these routes.

British Airways, which has suffered heavy losses, said the new policy was part of an effort “to address the economic downtown and better reflect changing customer trends.” It also said the change would save fuel by reducing aircraft weight.

The new policy will not affect first-class and Club World (business) passengers, who will still be allowed to check three bags when flying to and from the Americas.

— Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor

Photo: British Airways planes at London’s Heathrow airport on July 31. Credit: Sang Tan/Associated Press.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 8:28 am by Jane Engle and is filed under Airline travel, Business Travel, Frequent Flier, Great Britain, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

6 Comments on “British Airways reducing free-baggage allowance”

P Bainbridge Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Great way of turning people away to other airlines Id say. Smart move BA - NOT!!!
chris Says:
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:58 am
Not a problem for anyone really. Stop travelling on British Airways and book with Virgin Atlantic, United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, Continental…..There is so much choice. We the public need BA as much as they need us!!!!!
Javon Griffith Says:
August 13th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Virgin Atlantic it is!
Thomas Kauwling Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Why don’t you indicate the maximum weight per ‘free’ item for checked baggage (whether 1, 2, or 3 times) in your baggage FAQ section? Would you please return an answer ASAP? Thank you.
Mals Says:
August 26th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
This is sooo ridiculous…
wendy stoddard Says:
October 24th, 2009 at 5:38 am
cant beleive weve just come back to B.A to fly to the U.S.A and you stop the two free bag allowance,will go back to Virgin now.