Check-in bag allowances with Brit tour operators range from 15kg to 23kg this summer… so whose is best?
Monarch has increased its checked luggage allowance for summer beach holidays to 23kg - up to 8kg more than other travel companies
YOU'VE saved all year, booked your perfect holiday and hit the shops for that summer wardrobe.
Now all that's between you and the beach is the tricky part - packing your suitcase with all those must-haves and negotiating the bafflingly complicated luggage allowances that seem designed to catch you out, no matter how much you prepare.
This week, tour operator Monarch announced it was INCREASING the checked luggage allowance for anyone booking one of its summer beach holidays, from 20kg to a whopping 23kg.
On top of that, you can take up to two pieces of hand baggage if they don't measure more than 56cm x 40cm x 25cm and are no heavier than 10kg.
The new mega-weight - a total of 33kg - is NOT valid on any of the company's city break holidays though, where the basic packages come with 10kg hand luggage only although you can add a 23kg hold case from £19.
Even I would struggle to pack 33kg for a two-week summer holiday but the generous new allowance, which also allows a duty-free plastic bag, puts the company in a different league to its larger competitors.
Thomas Cook and TUI have very different allowances for holidaymakers booking standard package holidays.
With Thomas Cook, passengers travelling short or mid-haul to Mediterranean destinations get 15kg of hold luggage and 6kg hand luggage included in the price.
But if you upgrade to one of their Signature breaks then the allowance rises to 20kg for hold luggage, as well as your 6kg carry-on.
The UK's biggest tour operator, TUI, owners of Thomson and First Choice, has similar allowances but, again, slightly different rules.
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On package holidays, you will get 15kg of hold luggage as standard, or 20kg on some of the luxury packages and if you book a Premium Club seat then you will get 23kg in the hold and 7kg in the cabin. But for standard flights, hand luggage is very different - you get just 5kg in the cabin and can only take on-board ONE case with maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm.
The likes of laptops and handbags, and items bought in the airport, HAVE to fit inside your one piece of cabin luggage.
And it's different yet again for popular Northern-based tour operator Jet2Holidays, which has recently launched flights and package holidays from Stansted in the South.
Its hand luggage allowance is up to 10kg in ONE bag and up to 22kg in hold luggage on most, but not all, package holidays.
The sheer difference in allowances is baffling enough for someone like me who works in the industry. How anyone who perhaps travels just once or twice a year on holiday is meant to know the rules when they vary so much is anyone's business.
Add to that the fact millions of us will travel with online travel agencies such as On The Beach and LoveHolidays this summer - where the agencies have packaged up low-cost flights with the likes of Ryanair and easyJet with accommodation and transfers - and it's a minefield.
My advice? ALWAYS check your allowances before you book.
If you are someone who can travel with one pair of pants and a hairbrush, you are probably fine.
But if you are like me, with umpteen cossies in the case, or are a family with young kids, the difference in luggage allowances could well impact on the price dramatically if you pack over the limit and are forced to pay at the airport.
Ask the question or search out the allowances on the holiday website - and always take that into account when looking at the final price.