Excess Baggage Fees can dampen that holiday spirit instantly. Here are 5 tips to avoid wasting your money on excess baggage costs.
Airports are stressful places. From checking in on time, to making sure the duty-free shopping gets delivered correctly, to gearing up for a long-haul flight.
Ideally the only worry should be when the in-flight champagne will arrive. Here’s how to avoid excess baggage fees, especially when you are flying with an internal airline in a foreign country and might not be in Business or First..
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Order an extra baggage allowance online
Prior to arriving at the airport, check your airline’s baggage policy. Most will allow you to buy extra allowance at a cheaper price than at the check-in desk, so if you just can’t justify leaving that extra jacket at home, think ahead and pre-purchase.
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Buy an electronic hanging scale

Check the weight of your luggage before you leave your house with an electronic hanging scale. These low-cost tools make weighing luggage much easier than using a typical bathroom scale, and they’re also portable – meaning you can easily bring them along for the trip and weigh your bags again on the return trip home. s
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Use lightweight luggage

People often forget that empty luggage also has its own weight, and with airlines such as Qantas charging up to $80 per kilogram in excess fees, every bit of weight that can be scaled back makes a difference.
Get more space for your shoes by purchasing lightweight luggage. Anything under four kilograms should keep you on track and underweight.
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Use your frequent flyer points
If you’re a regular flyer you should be rewarded. Most airlines will allow you to use your frequent flyer points to purchase additional baggage allowance.
It’s also a good way to use up those extra points that don’t quite equal the equivalent of a flight ticket – better to be used than not at all.
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Ship your excess baggage home
Consider using a shipping company to send the heaviest luggage home.
Not only is it cheaper than coughing up the extra dollars when you’re just a few kilograms over, it’ll also allow you to skip the customs lines and won’t leave you wasting time by the luggage carousel.