Sterling introduces new luggage allowance money spinner

For just a brief second I actually thought that Sterling Airlines had come to its senses and for once was going to play fair.

The airline finally admitted in Danish press yesterday that its “save-the-environment” luggage allowance scam introduced back in January was indeed not saving any fuel nor reducing pollution. As a direct consequence the airline has reintroduced the maximum allowed free check-in luggage of 20kg per passenger.

Finally, I thought and went straight to Sterling Airlines website to see if the change was mentioned there. It wasn’t - but an even bigger money spinner of a scheme was though! As of 28 October 2007 Sterling Airlines will introduce its “pay for baggage” scheme, which means that you will have to pay for all your check-in luggage - similar to the scheme Ryanair is running.

Gone are the (unconfirmed) reintroduced free 20kg, greedingly grinning at you instead are these check-in luggage fees:

• up to 15 kg: £2
• 15 to 20 kg: £15
• 20 to 25 kg: £28

Let’s look at just how much more you’ll need to pay from 28 October. According to Sterling Airlines’ website, a return flight on 28 October from London to Billund for two adults comes to a supposed total price of £142, only it’ll cost the two adults an additional £60 to check-in the normally free 20kg, bringing the real total price to £202 - an increase of 42%

So be careful if you book a flight with Sterling, the total price that you initially will be quoted is not at all the real total price. I’ve said it before, but I really, really resent these scraped-to-the-bone tickets. Unless you are on a 1-2 day business trip, checking in luggage is a necessity for most of us and is something that should be included in the total price, not an extra hidden cost. No matter what spin Sterling might put on this, the airline’s new scheme is nothing but an underhanded profit booster.

Note

Please note that the above allowances and prices are sourced from Sterling Airlines’ website at the time of writing. This article will not be updated to reflect any policy changes that Sterling Airlines may make. You should check Sterling Airlines’ website (www.sterling.dk) for their up-to-date official policies.

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travel, budget airlines, luggage allowance, luggage fees

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