53 per cent of people ‘stressed’ by airline weight limits – survey

    A total of 53% of people questioned in a survey say they feel unduly stressed when queuing to check-in their luggage at the airport, for fear of going over the weight limits.
    According to the survey of 2,000 travellers by luggage company Samsonite, women are more prone to luggage weight anxiety, with 40% admitting to sneaking a spare pair of shoes or handbag into their children’s or partner’s suitcase.
    30% of people have also had to repack their suitcase, often on the floor of an airport, in order to redistribute weight to another case or into their hand luggage.
    The survey comes as Samsonite launches B-LITE, a light softside suitcase aimed at air travellers. The 55cm cabin sized case weighing in at 2.3kg.
     “Samsonite has spent the last 100 years anticipating the needs of travellers by creating the lightest, strongest and most reliable suitcases on the market. Since luggage weight seems to be the single biggest cause of anxiety and stress for modern travellers, launching B-LITE, our lightest ever soft-side suitcase seemed to be the perfect antidote.” said Mark McGuigan, General Manager of Samsonite UK and Ireland.
    For 6 months Samsonite will also be introducing the first ever ‘Luggage Weight Assessments’ on board Samsonite-branded London taxis.  The taxis will be equipped with scales that will allow passengers the opportunity to weigh their suitcase on the journey to the airport, so they can redistribute excess weight to their hand luggage or a partner’s suitcase if necessary. 
   “We’re expecting a great response to the on board luggage weight assessments since, in recent years, I’ve noticed it is common for couples to anxiously row over the weight of their luggage on the way to the airport.”  said Stephen Riseborough, London Black Taxi Driver.

The survey found:

• 53% of people admit to feeling unduly stressed when queuing to check-in their luggage at the airport.
• 81.5% of people now check their chosen airline luggage allowance before even starting to pack for a holiday.
• 66% of people actually weigh their suitcases on domestic scales before setting off for the airport.
• Over half of people simply avoid taking any check-in luggage at all so as to escape paying any potential penalty fees.
• 58% of people deliberately pack less on the outbound journey to allow for increased weight on the return journey.
• 40% of women admit to sneaking a spare pair of shoes or handbag into their children’s or partner’s suitcase.
• 30% of people have repacked their suitcase on the floor of an airport.