Booked the wrong date on Vietjet’s system? 360 kg of luggage hit with NT$66,000 overweight fee

▲ Vietjet charged NT$66,000 in overweight baggage fees for 360 kg, sparking complaints online. (Photo / Provided by Vietjet)

Reported by Chen Ruizhong / Taipei

Many travelers familiar with budget airlines know that most require you to “purchase baggage separately,” and if your luggage is overweight, you’re expected to buy extra weight allowance either in advance or at the airport. But one passenger surnamed Peng took to Facebook and the Taiwan whistleblowing group Blowing Whistle this morning to say that although she had purchased baggage allowance for her August 18 Vietjet flight from Thailand to Taiwan, she only discovered at the airport that the allowance she bought was for the flight on the 14th, which she had already taken. The cost to purchase baggage at the airport was NT$66,000, which left Ms. Peng extremely upset. She also asked others to help share her story.

In Ms. Peng’s post, she wrote:There were five of us, and each person was allowed to purchase up to 60 kg. We were taking a flight at 1:00 a.m. on the 19th, and we bought all our baggage weight on the Vietjet website on the afternoon of the 18th. But when we checked in at the airport, the counter staff told us each person was only entitled to 15 kg, which left Ms. Peng very confused.

After an employee logged in to check, they found that Ms. Peng had actually purchased baggage for the flight on the evening of the 14th, which she had already taken. Ms. Peng wondered, “How can you purchase baggage for a flight you’ve already taken?” Moreover, the Vietjet order details didn’t specify which flight the extra allowance was for, and the cost to purchase baggage at the airport turned out to be NT$66,000.

In the end, Ms. Peng was so angry she decided not to take the flight. She had everything else sent instead, and the total extra cost—including wasted and additional tickets as well as shipping fees—came to NT$40,000.

Vietjet spokespersonTang Dun-taiexplained that after purchasing a ticket, each passenger receives a PNR booking record, which can be used to purchase personal baggage and other services. Because the passenger’s PNR code included both the outbound and return flights, modifying the return ticket did indeed also allow modification of the outbound ticket. However, under normal circumstances, whenever a passenger makes changes, the system also shows the value-added services and time period purchased. Vietjet also displayed the general booking interface available to passengers, where add-on information for outbound and return flights is clearly separated into two distinct sections, one above the other.

▲ Ms. Peng shared her complaint about Vietjet on the whistleblowing group. (Photo / Screenshot from Blowing Whistle)

Tang Dun-tai also pointed out that according to Thai ground staff,Ms. Peng and her four travel companions had a total of 360 kg of luggage, which had already exceeded the individual limit of 60 kg per person and the combined limit of 300 kg. In addition, after subtracting the 15 kg of baggage allowance included with each ticket, there was still an excess of 285 kg. Even after subtracting the additional 15 kg per person that could be purchased on-site for NT$1,200 each, the total weight was still 210 kg over the limit. At NT$300 per kilogram for overweight fees, along with the cost of purchasing additional baggage, the total came to NT$66,000 for the five passengers’ luggage—making it a rather unique case.

▲ Vietjet says that when the public purchases extra baggage, the flight and date are always clearly indicated.

In response to situations where passengers “purchase baggage for the wrong flight date,” Tang Dun-tai also said that if travelers realize they’ve mistakenly bought baggage allowance for the incorrect date,they can go ahead and purchase the baggage and pay the overweight fee on-site, and then, after returning to Taiwan, they can apply for a refund from Vietjet using their purchase records. Vietjet will refund any overcharged fees,and does not intentionally overcharge.

Tang Dun-tai also said that compared to traditional airlines, the baggage fee structure of budget airlines is actually quite reasonable. For example, if a passenger already has a 15 kg allowance, they can prepay NT$1,800 to get an additional 45 kg, bringing the total to 60 kg. Tang Dun-tai added that in the future, the system plans to introduce a foolproof mechanism to prevent such booking mistakes from happening again.