Deal with excess baggage the smart way

How to send your excess baggage

Confirm the baggage limit per person with your airline when you book your ticket. Every airline has a different limit. Weigh your luggage at home and if it goes past the acceptable limit, you can book your luggage to be sent unaccompanied.

Travellers tend to pay for excess baggage as very few of them are aware that commercial airlines allow excess baggage to be sent unaccompanied. This service is not advertised much, but you can book a space with the same airline beforehand, so that your luggage is on the same flight as you. You can also use another airline for your unaccompanied luggage. However, you might have to submit your luggage as cargo a few days or a week in advance.

When booking your luggage as excess baggage, the charges must include a documentation fee which should cover handling, clearance at both ends and an airport terminal fee. Extra packaging for perishable or fragile goods costs a little more, but even with that you should end up saving.