Never Trust What Your Travel Agent Says About Checked Baggage… – Live and Let’s Fly

While walking to security at SeaTac airport earlier this month I witnessed an angry customer screaming at the Turkish Airlines check-in staff over the cost of checking a bag. The young man was totally in the wrong and it is a reminder that travel agents should not be trusted when it comes to your luggage limits.

Always Verify Your Baggage Policy Directly With The Airline

While I book my own flights, I operate a boutique travel concierge company specializing in the effective use of points and miles called Award Expert. Each year we help hundreds of passengers book airline tickets. I am not a travel agent, but I work with travel agents all day long and, contrary to popular opinion, there is still great value in a shrewd travel agent with knowledge about destinations or contacts at hotels.

But I also notice that some of the developing world and even the developed world still use travel agents in the very traditional sense, i.e. in booking everything through a travel agent, even simple airline tickets. And it is dealing with those agents that I offer this warning: be careful.

These are the agents who will add a “commission” to your ticket for doing what you could do in a few minutes on the airline’s website. They are also the people who may, as we’ll see below, misinform you about baggage in order to sell you a ticket, which can lead to great stress and expense later on.

Let’s return to Seattle, where a young man was enraged that Turkish Airlines wanted to charge him for his third checked bag. As a supervisor tried to explain that only two bags were included for economy class passengers, he raised his voice and held up a paper, explaining, “Look here! My travel agent says I get three bags! I won’t pay for a third bag!” The agent tried to explain that it didn’t matter what his travel agent told him. He refused to agree and finally walked away in a huff. I’m not sure what ultimately happened.

I wonder if the play is to try to get the airline to waive the extra baggage fee out of pity?

Bottom line: if you book with a travel agent, double-check the baggage policy directly with the airline to avoid unpleasant surprises at the airport. The young man was totally out of line here…but I do feel some pity for him if his travel agent misled him and he incurred an unexpected 80 USD in cost. His recourse is with his travel agent, not Turkish Airlines.