I just got back from Heathrow Airport and I have to just vent my feelings.

I had gone to drop my sister who was travelling to Nigeria via KLM. Thank God I decided to
stick around. My sister had planned to pay the extra £40 to take one of her suitcases from
23kg limit to 32kg. This is what my Mum paid a few weeks ago. We had weighed our luggage at
home so we just expected to pay the £40 and check in as the other piece was within limit.
We got there and we were told that the charge had gone up to £92!!!!
Yes £92!!!. The silly attendant said it was due to inflation. I had to tell her quickly that
a 100% plus increase had absolutely nothing to do with inflation. I was tempted to say it was
just pure exploitation but I somehow kept my mouth.

We now had to go through the embarassment of repacking and moving her things from the 32kg
suitcase to her hand luggage. This is what we had wanted to avoid. Thankfully, my Sister had
taken her travel scale with her otherwise it would have been a nightmare as
there were no scales in sight.

The airlines have now seen this as another money making scheme. This time last year the charge
for luggage upgrade was about £25, at least on Virgin. How on earth did we get to £92?
And they know that this is going to disproportionately affect us Africans but I don't think
they care. Notice that they timed the increase just in time for the pre-christmas rush.

For those of you looking for a home/travel scale, we got ours from Amazon for less than £10.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/TravelRight-Luggage-Scale-Baggage-scale/dp/B002L28O26
Please guys, stick to the 23kg limit and weigh your luggage before going to the airport. The hassle, the embarassment and the cost is just not worth it. Spend that £92 buying something else for your family member
in Nigeria or just give them the cash (in pounds or Naira). That's better than giving it to KLM or any of the other airlines.