Exorbitant excess luggage surcharge

Airlines worldwide face the problem of how to deal with passengers, generally in economy class, lining up at their check- in counters with overloaded and bulky carry-on baggage, overweight check-in luggage or, as is often the case, with both.

While I fully concur with the airlines need to limit excess luggage abuses, I'm nonetheless astonished that a "one-way" surcharge for 20 kg on a KLM flight from Jakarta to Europe could exceed the cost of a "two-way" economy-class ticket by a whopping 20 percent!

This is exactly what happened to my nephew when he checked in for his KLM return flight KL 838 from Jakarta to Amsterdam and Luxembourg on May 19, 2001.

My nephew had visited me in Jakarta two months earlier in order to work on his university thesis and his luggage, mostly consisting of study and work papers, textbooks and heavy university library tomes, a laptop and assorted other publications, amounted to a staggering 50 kg.

While under the best of circumstances, my nephew could not avoid a hefty excess luggage surcharge, KLM's insistence on a whopping US$700 surcharge for 20 kg (generously reduced from 30 kg) from a student demonstrates a fair amount of insensitivity if not outright petty greed!

On his incoming KL 837 flight on March 21, my nephew's check- in luggage weighed in at over 40 kg without any questions being asked by the KLM ground staff or any surcharge being levied at that time. The cost of his round-trip economy class ticket was only $570 whereas the one-way 20 kg surcharge amounted to no less than $700.

Prior to his departure on May 19, my nephew had been instructed that in the event of excessive surcharges, heavy luggage containing books and work papers should be left behind at the KLM counter from where they could be retrieved and sent on via air freight. Being unfamiliar with long-distance air travel, not to mention the stress and panic caused by the large amount involved, my nephew sheepishly paid the $700 from cash received from me earlier in support of his continuing graduate work in Europe.

Since the KLM airport staff had been informed by my nephew that the excess luggage mostly consisted of books and work papers originally brought in via KLM at no excess luggage surcharge and considering his status as a non-income earning student, a more acceptable handling of the situation by KLM should have been forthcoming. The following alternatives could have been explored: (a) unaccompanied luggage at reduced rates (b) extra student luggage allowance whereby the surcharge could have been reduced to a more reasonable $ 350 or 10 kg for instance (c) leaving heavy luggage containing books at the KLM counter so that separate shipment by airfreight could be arranged

On several occasions, I had been promised by the Jakarta KLM office that the matter would be investigated but so far no explanation or clarification has been received.

Over the years, dozens of relatives and friends from Luxembourg have visited me in Indonesia flying KLM. However, following my nephew's KLM experience, I'm not so sure that they will continue to do so on future visits.

JOSEPH LOUIS SPARTZ

Jakarta