3 On Your Side: Cost Of Overweight Luggage
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - With summer right around the corner, many people may choose to travel by plane on vacation which in turn requires purchasing a pricey airline ticket and dealing with expensive add-ons. As 3-On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan tells us, that luggage you're bringing along can pack a punch to your wallet too.
Maybe it's the long lines or the extra fees, but it seems a lot of travelers think those airport luggage scales are incorrect. There's reason to be skeptical. Being even a little over the 50 pound limit could cost you more than $100.
Earlier this year, inspectors at Boston's Logan Airport found more than a third of the scales inside one terminal were inaccurate. Also, in southern California only 73 percent of the scales at Los Angels Ontario Airport passed inspection.
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Even so, the overwhelming number of airport luggage scales are accurate. It's just that most travelers "test" the weight before heading to airport by using their bathroom scales - devices that aren't exactly famous for accuracy.
San Mateo County Sealer Fred Crowder says, "Don't pack them to 50 pounds based on your scale at home, go through at home and pack them at 45 lbs. and put the rest in your carry-on."
One alternative to your bathroom scale is to buy a mini luggage scale. You can find them online within a $20 dollar range. For more information, visit http://www.balanzza.com/
Reported by Jim Donovan, CBS 3
