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TRAVEL TIPS
Hand Luggage Allowance
In Economy class every passenger is allowed to carry for free in the cabin a carry-on baggage that shouldn’t weight more than 7kg and the maximum dimension is 55 x 38 x 20 cm.
If you’re travelling in First Class or Business Class, you can have two pieces of carry-on baggage such as: a briefcase that shouldn’t exceed 45 x 35 x 20cm plus a handbag.
In addition to the carry-on baggage, other personal items are also allowed as hand baggage:
- A handbag, pocket book or purse.
- A briefcase.
- An overcoat, wrap or blanket.
- Electronic equipment
- Reading material for the flight.
- An infant carrycot.
- Food for infants and children for in-flight consumption.
- Fully collapsible baby stroller (on wide body aircraft only).
- Braces/prosthetic devices and/or walking stick, canes or crutches, on which the passenger is dependent.
Carry-on baggage must fit underneath the seat in front of the passenger or in the overhead compartment. Security items such as knives, blades, nail clippers, or any sharp and/or pointed objects must be removed from carry-on baggage and packed in checked baggage.
Certain restrictions have been introduced for security reasons, to limit the amount of liquids, aerosols and gels, that passengers may include in their carry-on luggage on international flights. Items such as drinks, perfumes, sprays, creams, gels and toothpaste must be in containers that have a maximum capacity of 100 ml/mg. The containers should fit comfortably in a transparent resealable plastic bag. Each passenger is limited to only one transparent resealable plastic bag with a volume no greater than one litre. Bags such as freezer bags (20 cm x 20 cm or 25 cm x 15 cm) sold in most supermarkets are ideal for this purpose.
Checked Luggage Allowance
The allowance for checked baggage depends on your route and class of travel:
Economy Class: 30 kg
Economy Class ( STUDENT who purchased their flight ticket with STC Travel) : 40 kg or 46 kg depending on which airline.
Business Class: 40 kg
First Class: 50 kg
Each item should not exceed 23 kg and the total dimensions (length + width + height) of each bag must not exceed 150 cm.
As we mentioned previously there are special allowances depending on the route:
- if you’re travelling to and from North America and Canada: 2 bags of 23 kg
- each in Economy Class, and 2 bags of 32 kg each in Business or First Class.
- if you’re travelling to and from South America: 2 bags of 32 kg each in all classes.
Special Baggage Allowance
Sports equipment can be transported as checked-in baggage and it will count for your standard allowance if it doesn’t exceed 150cm, otherwise you’ll have to pay an additional fee.
Passengers that are travelling with an infant – under two years of age – can carry an additional 10kg of luggage plus a stroller for free.
What do I need to do when I arrive at the airport, to make sure I board my flight on time?
There are a few simple steps you can follow to make sure you can successfully board your flight on time!
1. Be early: Make sure you arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before your flight so you are not in a rush
2. Check-in baggage security scanning: If you have bags to check in, make sure you perform security scanning, obtain the security sticker then proceed to bag drop-off counter (closes 60 minutes before departure!)
3. Get your boarding pass: you will need to ‘Check-In’ to get your boarding pass. There are a few different ways you can do this:
Closes 60 minutes before departure:
d. Check your counter number on the screens and proceed to airport check in counter
4. Travel Document check: For international flights, especially to Australia, you MUST go to this counter to present your passport before your boarding pass is valid
5. Immigration: Lines can be long so make sure you allocate at least 15-30 minutes, and have your boarding pass and passport / ID ready
6. Hand-carried baggage scanning: After immigration, you will need to perform another security scan for your bags to be carried on board. Remove your laptops, smart phones and tablets to be scanned separately. You must comply with the size dimensions and weight must not exceed 7kg.
7. Boarding: make sure you are at your departure gate early as it will CLOSE 20 minutes before departure time. There will be queues and sequenced boarding
If you plan to do some duty free shopping and to enjoy the various food & beverage outlets at the airport, we advise you to use the outlets past immigration, near your boarding gates. Always check your time and departure gate on the screens and make sure you listen out for announcements.
A Reminder to Never Pack Your Valuables in Checked Baggage
The airlines and your Travel Insurance do not cover valuables loss in your checked in baggage.
The following items are judged to be unsuitable as contents of checked baggage, and the Airlines and Insurance companies assumes no liability for loss, theft, damage or delay in the delivery of:
A. Cash, currency
B. Negotiable papers
C. securities
D. business contracts, documents
E. jewelry, watches
F. cameras, videos and photographic equipment, camcorders, audio equipment, film, camera equipment, photographs.
G. Electronic equipment/devices, personal electronic equipment/devices, including components such as compact discs and video game cartridges.
H. computers and related components
I. binoculars, telescopes, optical devices including eyeglasses
J. silverware
K. precious metals, stones or materials
L. art objects, sculptures
M. historical artifacts
N. original manuscripts
O. irreplaceable books, publications, collectibles (such as baseball cards) P. antiques, heirlooms
Q. keys
R. sales samples
S. medications
T. furs, including coats, gloves, hats
U. game trophies, antlers, and pelts
Notice that medications are listed. Keep necessary medication with you at all times. Never mind its monetary value; what matters is its medicinal value, and if your bag goes missing, you won’t have access to your medicine anymore.
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A helping hand for air travellers
Flying rights: Not many Malaysian travellers are aware about what they’re entitled to when they use air travel.
Set up in March 2016, the Malaysian Aviation Commission has been pursuing its goal of helping consumers know their rights before they fly.
DO you know that if an airline loses your luggage, or damages it, you can be entitled to a compensation of up to RM6,000?
“That is the maximum. The actual amount would depend on the value of the suitcase and the nature of the damage and so on,” says Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) chief operating officer Azmir Zain.
And if your luggage doesn’t arrive at your destination on time, he says, you are allowed to buy items like toothbrush and clothes and claim the amount from the airline by submitting the receipts as proof.
Since Mavcom was set up 19 months ago, it has introduced the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code (MACPC) which defines a passenger’s air travel rights.
Azmir: It’ll take time to educate Malaysians about their rights
A Mavcom survey last year, which was done to understand the main gripes of passengers, found that 69% of them thought they knew what their rights are but they actually did not.
“There is a lot of misconception. Many travellers believe that the ‘Terms & Conditions’ set by the airlines represent their rights, which is certainly not the case. The ‘Terms & Conditions’ of the ticket do not necessarily spell out their rights.”
For example, he says that not many travellers are aware that the airline must provide them with meals, telephone calls and Internet access if the flight is delayed for two hours or more.
“For delays of five hours or more, or when a stay becomes necessary, then hotel accomodation and transport must be provided.”
This applies to local and foreign carriers, irrespective of whether it is full service or low-cost airlines.
All this information is found on the Mavcom website under the “Know Your Rights Before You Fly” section.
Since the website was up in May last year, Azmir says they have received almost 350,000 page views. Of this, 85,000 are unique visitors.
The highest number of page hits is centred on the consumer rights page.
“That would make us infer that more travellers are becoming informed of their rights.”
From March to August this year, he says, Mavcom has received 677 complaints - which is a 92% increase of the number of complaints received - over the corresponding period last year.
From March 2016 to February 2017, Mavcom received 1,639 complaints. This is quite low given the number of flights in and out of Malaysia.
Azmir says that the Transport Ministry was the one handling complaints against the airlines and airports prior to this.
“They received 102 complaints for the whole of 2015 until the first quarter of 2016. So if you compare our numbers with that, ours is relatively high.”
He believes it would take some time for Malaysians to be fully educated on their air travel rights and how to exercise these rights.
One way Mavcom has been trying to educate consumers is through meeting with consumer asssociations, giving briefing to MATTA members and placing reminders and notices at airports.
“Based on the types of questions and even the complexity of the problems that reach us, it seems that slowly but surely passengers are becoming familiar with what they are entitled to.”
Air travellers with grievances should first take it directly to the airline to give them a chance to resolve it. But if it is a complicated issue or if there is no response or a delay from the airline concerned, they can take it up with Mavcom.
He says Mavcom meets up with the airlines on a quarterly basis.
Of the 677 complaints Mavcom received during the March to August period, he says 673 were against airlines and only four were on airports.
Going by that, he says: “Maybe consumers are not aware that they are able to complain about an airport. Or it could be that they have made their complaints directly to the airport.”
Most of the complaints sent to Mavcom, he says, involved monetary compensation such as flight delays or cancellation or damaged luggage.
“Consumers tend to go the extra mile to make a complaint when money is involved.” he says.
Source: The Star Online 22 Oct 2017 by Shahanaaz Habib
