Dear Editor,

I recently paid about US$300 for a 30-minute flight within the Caribbean on an ATR aircraft. My ticket included a checked bag, a carry-on and a personal item. That sounded reasonable until I reached the airport and learned that the supposedly included carry-on was limited to

10 pounds

.

Pounds, not kilograms.

My carry-on weighed 12 pounds. The empty bag itself weighed about eight pounds, leaving room for roughly four pounds of belongings under the airline’s limit. For being two pounds over, I was told to pay

US$65

. I did not argue, but I was stunned. What is a traveller expected to put in a carry-on with a four-pound allowance after accounting for the bag itself? A pair of jeans and shoes could use it up.

Earlier, I had watched passengers remove belongings from their carry-ons at the check-in counter. At the time, I did not understand why. Once my bag was weighed, I did. People were being made to sort through personal items in public to avoid a charge. It is embarrassing, intrusive and entirely unnecessary.

If an airline advertises a carry-on as included in the ticket, that allowance should be usable. A 10-pound limit, combined with a US$65 charge for going even slightly over it, raises an obvious question: Is the carry-on genuinely included, or is the allowance so low that many passengers will end up paying more?

The experience became even more troubling when the bag I was required to pay for was tagged as

“excess baggage.”

There was nothing excess about it. It was one ordinary carry-on, two pounds above the limit. I was then asked which of my bags was the priority. What does that mean after I have paid extra? Could a bag still be left behind, and if so, on what terms? Passengers deserve a clear answer before they hand over their money and belongings.

Airlines may have weight restrictions, particularly on smaller aircraft. But they should explain those restrictions plainly when selling tickets, set allowances that people can realistically use and treat travellers with dignity at the airport.

Who is looking out for the travelling public in our region? Regulators and consumer protection authorities should examine how carry-on allowances are advertised, how extra fees are imposed and what happens to bags labelled “excess” after passengers pay to transport them.

A US$300 ticket for a 30-minute flight is expensive enough. Travellers should not discover at the counter that an “included” carry-on can barely carry anything.

A concerned Caribbean traveller

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: LETTER: A 10-Pound Carry-On Allowance Is an Insult to Caribbean Travellers.