The checked baggage allowance on Air Tahiti (to Tahiti and
elsewhere within French Polynesia) is a mere 10 kg (20 lbs)! Yes, we are
talking about the luggage which is being stowed in the bowel of the airplane.
If you prove that you have a connecting international flight within days of arriving
in Tahiti, you buy a return ticket and you arrange for your file to be adjusted
in the computer, Air Tahiti allows you to check 20 kg (40 lbs) of luggage. Much
better, but… still 5 kg or 10 lbs less than what every visitor to the islands
bring from home or what they assume is allowed. When I made all my arrangements
for the trip to Tahiti in Nuku Hiva, nobody mentioned anything about carry-ons.
The flights from Belgium to Tahiti were long; the lay-overs
as well. By the time I wanted to check in with Air Tahiti for my last leg of
the journey, I was tired. While the previous check-ins and flights went smooth,
with no issues in regards to my big duffel bag, my regular sized carry-on and
my laptop bag, at the desk of Air Tahiti, in the airport of Faaa (Tahiti), I
came to a stop. And, so did other tourists. My duffel bag weighed 22 kg (44
lbs), so 2 kg or 4 lbs too much. Then, the employee wanted to see my carry-on,
which fits in the normal overhead bins of other airplanes. Without blinking,
she told me this item was not allowed in the cabin of the plane (even though I left
Nuku Hiva with it in the cabin of the same Air Tahiti plane) and that I had to
check it. On top of the restricted size for this flight, the allowed weight for a carry-on is... 3 kg (6 lbs)! Mine weighed 18 kg (36 lbs). With a blank face,
she told me I owed her the equivalent of $160 in overweight charges!
I complained. Other tourists did as well, after the first shock of this unwelcome news, but all paid the required fees, rather promptly.
I did not. I tried all the arguments I could find – how unfair this is to
someone who arrived on connecting flights allowing this luggage arrangement,
how it was not an issue on the leg TO Tahiti, how none-obese people should not
have to suffer from the adjusted luggage allowance limits conducted every three
years and getting 5 kg (10 lbs) less each time, how the weight issue must not
be much of an issue if you can get everything on the plane anyway, as long as
you pay huge amounts of money for it, how – if weight was such a problem – they
should weigh passengers AND their luggage together and come up with a total
allowance (South Pacific people are known to be relatively heavy) - to no avail.
Appalled by the ridiculous and mandatory fee, I uttered
again how expensive the plane ticket was to begin with (over $700 for a three
hour flight) and that the overweight charge really was a lot of money. Then, the
woman at the desk mentioned that I could try to check my carry-on bag as cargo.
Time was running out, but I managed to find the freight department and – to
make a crazy expensive story a tad less expensive – shipped my carry-on as
“cargo” with the same plane for about $110. I could have sent the luggage on
the next day’s flight for about $60, but… then all the chocolaty contents would
have melted! The plane from Tahiti to Nuku Hiva carried about 20 passengers,
spread out over 70 seats, bringing the empty seat – paying passenger ratio to
3:1 …
When there is no competition or customer consideration,
companies like Air Tahiti can charge what they want and take advantage of every
chance to do so! My recommendation for cruisers wanting to fly to their home countries or for guests to come visit, is to wait until the boat is in Tahiti.
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