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From Times Online

May 31, 2007

Are airport bag scales accurate?

Andrew Godfrey says the Stansted Airport scales never measure the same as his scales at home

Indian luggage porters push trolleys laden with the suitcases of British model and actress Elizabeth Hurley

Sunday Times readers’ rants

In Manchester my bag weighed 20K and my wife's 23. Flew down to Heathrow and checked in and the bags both weighed 2.5K more and we got charged!

You can't tell me it wasn't a fix. Trading Standards and the CAA needs to clamp down. A communal scale somewhere would be good wth a printout.

Anthony, Oswestry, UK

This doesn't appear to have improved. I went on Ryan Air Liverpool just before Christmas and I expected 17kg and was told it was 23kg which I cannot believe. Coming back with almost as many presents as we took it was 13kg. I think this should be taken up by Trading Standards.

J Fraser, Lytham St Annes, England

We had a similar experience to Jay, London this year in the US with different airlines, and horrors at Ryan Air check-in at Liverpool airport in October where almost every passenger had to pay 'excess' baggage which took forever to process. Why can't communal scales be provided in airports as they do for checking your hand baggage size?
Sheila Glasgow

Sheila Hayes, Glasgow,

I have often taken a journey which involves changing flights and having to recheck in my luggage at a 2nd airport on route. I will not have made any changes to my suitcase but will simply take it off the luagge belt and bring it straight to the next check in desk. Magically, my case will often weigh something completely different at the second desk compared to the original weight at the first desk.

On a similarand more worrying note, sometimes when going through the metal detectors at the first airport, I might not set off the detector. At the second airport I have often set off the detector dispite making no change to what is on my person. Is there no set standard for metal detectors in airports either?

Jay, London,

Seems to me that Stanstead's statement is a little too flowery. I am reminded of the common butcher's trick: pile on the wrapping paper before the meat is weighed.

Paul S. Webb, Alicante, Spain