Showing posts with label International. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International. Show all posts

Monday, June 19, 2017

China Airlines Checked Baggage Allowance is 40 Kg

Setting the Scene


If you were booking a flight with China Airlines using any third party website and are muddled by the discrepancies between baggage allowance mentioned on the China Airlines website and your ticket, please continue reading. Else, you can still read and it might solve any other related query. ;)

The ISSUE


China Airlines has a clear mention about the Baggage Allowance on its website as shown below which states that Economy tickets have a Checked Baggage Allowance of 30 Kgs without any limit on the number of units. However, any single bag should not exceed 32 Kgs even if extra luggage allowance is purchased. (I am not considering the Americas, USA and Canada trips.)

Image Source - https://www.china-airlines.com/au/en/fly/prepare-for-the-fly/baggage/baggage-rules



Reality Check


Now, most of the travel websites will actually show a Checked Baggage Allowance of 40 Kgs for Economy and Premium Economy Bookings through China Airlines.  The allowance is real and indeed great, but how do you know for sure?


EaseMyTrip DisturbedMySleep


I had booked my ticket from New Delhi to Brisbane through EaseMyTrip website. After several failed attempts to get in touch with EaseMyTrip Phone Customer Care followed by some email exchanges, they gave a final word that my Checked Baggage Allowance is 40 Kgs but limited to only 1 unit. Despite quoting the 32 Kg rule and the 30 Kg allowance from the official website, EaseMyTrip customer care representative decided to stick to his final verdict of Single 40 Kg unit.


Skype - The Saviour


Finally, the query was resolved when I made a Skype Call to China Airlines headquartered in Taipei. And they confirmed that the allowance was indeed 40 Kgs without any limit on the number of units, though they didn't confirm why their website has gone nuts.


Reflection


I think all the tickets booked in India for China Airlines are somehow the "Special Price" tickets and have this extra Checked Baggage Allowance. The fact that it is nowhere explicitly stated whether it is a Special Price Ticket or some other Business Gimmick Ticket along with its corresponding effect on the Baggage Allowance, it became too hard to figure out what the actual allowance was.


Verdict


China Airlines immediately needs to update their website with proper details.
EaseMyTrip needs to revisit its HR policy and employ people who might actually care for the customer.


Note

If you landed here and it proved useful, please add a comment.
Any suggestions, corrections, doubts, concerns and queries are most welcome.

Have an Awesome Journey! Cheers!

Sunday, June 5, 2016

TransferWise - Best money transfer portal

TransferWise is a recent startup that works on a peer-to-peer based money transfer method. The reason for posting about this is 'mutual benefit'. I personally like it and use it for my international transfers. It made sense to put its unique features which I appreciate here and along with that put my referral code to share the benefits.


  • Mid-Market Rate: It offers rate which is generally displayed on Google and other websites and is called mid-market rate. This is the best rate usually available on any website.
  • Transparent Service Charge: There is no other hidden fee and they charge a fixed amount for the transaction and you can do the maths after the transfer to see that no extra charges deducted unlike banks and other websites.
  • Easy to use: It is very easy to use offering both the web and mobile app service. Hence, once you get a hang of it, it is only a few clicks away to make the transfer.
  • Exchange Rate Fluctuation Control: This is more like a safety measure. The service allows you to put an x% cap on the allowable fluctuation in the exchange rate. If the exchange rate falls below the cap you choose, the transfer will not happen and wait for 5 days for the rate to fall, else will cancel the transfer automatically.
  • Guaranteed Exchange Rate for 24 Hours - Recently, Transferwise started providing a 24 hour guarantee period for the exchange rate subject to reception of money from your bank account or debit/credit card.
  • Accessible and Available: The transfer service is available in all the major countries and the count is continuously increasing.
  • Safe: It is safe to use this website and there are enormous other review websites that verify the fact that it is one of the popular choices.
  • Referral Benefits: The company offers you certain gift amount if 3 people use your referral code to sign up and make a transfer. You choose the currency you want the reward in. This is also the point where I share my referral code and the purpose of this post is therefore met. But why should you do it? Because it gives you first transfer free of service charge which means that you don't pay any extra charge and get a transfer done at the mid market rate.

    Use this link to sign up and get free first transferhttps://transferwise.com/u/72c7b6

    Happy Transacting!