Originally Posted by HokkaidoRider
Hey from Korea, killing time on a transfer. To the guy who told me "so itll cost you 50-100 bucks, big deal, youll live", I know you said it partly in jest, but what I would do to be only paying that.
I was ultra friendly, all smiles, at the check in counter they told me it is 3200yen per kg OVER the 20kg. yesterday when I phoned it was only 1200yen. 3200yen is say $30us, PER kg!?!?! Anyways, she types into her calculator and says its going to cost about 60,000yen (600us$). I kindly pointed out about Koreans policy change, as well as the fact that I bought the ticket when it was 32kg for both. By the way, Im not Japanese, but I can speak enough of it to get by, and that may have saved me on this occasion. She said that she'd accept it as 32kg being the limit, and since my total bike/bags was at 38kg, I can just pay for the 6kg overweight. It still cost me about $200, but a far cry from 600. Ill look into shipping it back if its cheaper, because thats just ludicrous.
From bangkok I fly to nepal where there will be another charge of about 150, and next month back to bangkok itll also cost 150.. that I can live with, but if I get stoved with a 600.... ouch.
Yes, you're right... smug guys often don't have the experience, too. I got slugged by Cathay Pacific at Paris Airport in 2003 for around $300 or $50/kg for being overweight, and that was negotiated down from around $400. AND, while I tried the trick of packing my panniers together, I as told to remove one and put it on as luggage. Not a pleasant experience all round, especially when funds are low from an extended tour. It was the last time I fly with CP. Qantas has been good, and several of the internal airlines -- Virgin Blue in Australia, and Westjet in North America -- well, I cannot sing their virtues enough for their bike friendliness.
Good to see you pick up something on the roundabouts with Thai.