- 3 times higher in prices when coming back than leaving despite same airline and route-

In case of exceeding the allowable weight, it appears that fees which consumers should pay have a significant difference depending on airlines.

The Korea Consumer Agency(www.kca.go.kr) performed the comparative study on overweight baggage fees** of six routes* and seventeen airlines among countries where many local travelers visited in order to provide useful information to 15 million airline passengers.

* Japan(Incheon-Tokyo), China(Incheon-Beijing), U.S.A(Incheon-LA), Thailand(Incheon-Bangkok), Philippines(Incheon-Manila), France(Incheon-Paris)

** Overweight baggage : the baggage exceeded the allowable weight when traveling by plane

■ Overweight baggage charges, a big difference in prices depending on airlines and routes

The overweight baggages come in a broad range of prices by airlines and routes. In case of the 30kg hold baggage, it shows that the hundreds of thousands of won gaps among airlines and the highest price is maximum 6.2 times higher than lowest price.

■ A big gap of overweight baggage fees between outgoing and incoming flights despite the same airline and route

Especially, the price gap of overweight baggage between outgoing and incoming flights is maximum 3.3 times, even though travelers use the same line on some routes, and the fee of incoming flight is more expensive than that of outgoing flight.

For example, the outgoing flight of the Asiana airline from Incheon to Tokyo charges 5,000 won per kg, but the incoming flight charges 3 times higher, 16 dollars. The gap between fees is caused by the different standard of outgoing and incoming flights.

As airlines charge overweight baggage fees by themselves, the difference of the fees between outgoing and incoming flights can be led by different costs, such as exchange rate, airport fees, etc. that airlines pay despite the same route and weight.

However, it is expected that overweight baggage fees of outgoing and incoming flights are similar as consumers generally fly back and forth on same routes. Consumers can be embarrassed due to the unexpected price gap as most airlines charge identical fees to round-trip flights.

The KCA noted that providing preparatory information on the fare system should be reinforced to help consumer choice and prepare in advance.

■ A group of more than two travellers is allowed to add up weight of each baggage with free of charge

Most airlines provide the service that a group of more than two travellers can total up each allowable baggage weight with free of charge based on their transit clauses. According to this system, the traveler who has overweight of baggage can have additional weight of baggage as another traveler has less weight of baggage. However, it is difficult for consumers to use this service as relevant information is not provided via the home-page.

The KCA announced that it is necessary to provide 'available information on adding up all baggage weight of group of travellers' by posting on each home-page, notifying in the process of purchasing tickets, etc. through various types of channels.

Based on this study, the KCA plans to urge airlines to offer relevant information on ▲ regulation of overweight baggage fees according to destinations, and ▲ summing up baggage weight of group of travellers in an easy way, when consumers purchase airline tickets.