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British Airways, the airline that once called itself the “world’s favourite airline”, has changed its baggage policy to remove one of the last passenger-friendly benefits it offered….and this move comes with no notice to passengers or, it would appear, to anyone outside of the airline.
The policy that’s been changed was called the “Most Generous Baggage Allowance Policy” and, for once, the policy lived up to its name.
This was the deal:
When a customer was travelling on a return or stopover journey in mixed cabins, the Most Generous Baggage Allowance applied for baggage ie. a customer travelling outbound in Economy Class, but returning in Business Class would receive the Business Class baggage allowance on both sectors.
Not any more.
As of 18 October 2017 this policy has been removed and, for new reservations, flyers will receive the baggage allowance applicable to the cabin they’re flying in.
British Airways has provided a few examples of how this changes things:
Let’s take a practical example to illustrate this in action:
On an itinerary of New York – London (in Business Class) and then London back to New York in Economy Class a passenger used to be given the Business Class baggage allowance in both directions.
This was useful if you had a lot of baggage to carry in the first place or if you were planning to take advantage of the weak pound and buy up half of London before you returned home.
As of 18 October the passenger will only get the baggage allowance applicable to his/her cabin so, in the example above, the passenger would be able to check 2 bags on the outbound flight free of charge but, unless he/she gets rid of a bag before the return, there will be an excess baggage fee to pay on the way back.
Bottom Line
I didn’t actually know about this policy till a couple of years ago but, once I knew about it, I managed to make the most of it on quite a few occasions – especially when I had a lot of luggage but didn’t want to waste miles/Avios on a roundtrip Business Class fare when one direction was a daytime flight.
This change may not affect all that many customers (which begs the question why are BA bothering with this?) but it does highlight just how customer un-friendly the airline has become. How about a little notice BA?!
