Spicejet changes policy for international connections, limits baggage allowance

The one true reason for international flyers to arrive at a major airport in India like BOM, DEL, CCU etc. and to fly to their eventual destination on SpiceJet all this while was that SpiceJet provided a liberal allowance to international travellers into India/ departing from India to carry their full baggage allowance (as designated by the international carrier) provided they had their connection within 24 hours. This excluded any baggage allowance for elite status. Here is what the Terms of Carriage used to state:

Guests connecting to / from any international destination to SpiceJet for domestic travel within 24 Hours are entitled to free baggage allowance as permitted by the international carrier, subject to the allowance being specified on the passengers international travel itinerary/ticket. The mentioned allowance would only be applicable once the proof of travel(boarding pass/ticket) is produced at the SpiceJet counter.

Now, a couple of days (or maybe 3-4 days back), SpiceJet has changed these terms to reflect the new market reality:

Guests connecting to / from any international destination to SpiceJet for domestic travel and having baggage allowance of more than 20 Kgs reflecting on their itinerary will be entitled to equivalent free baggage allowance on SpiceJet domestic services subject to the following:

a. Connection to/from any International Port within 24hrs.
b. A fee of INR 1000 flat, from 20 Kg up to 32Kgs

Baggage allowance by the International Carrier or registered baggage in excess of 32Kgs would be charged as per the normal applicable Excess Baggage charges of SpiceJet.

The above baggage allowance would be applicable for guests booked on Adult/Child fare. Infant bookings do not qualify for the allowance.

Passengers connecting to/from a SpiceJet International sectors to SpiceJet Domestic flights are entitled to a free baggage allowance as permitted on the International sector.

The essence of the policy is that if you are travelling on SpiceJet (international/domestic or vice-versa), you get the SpiceJet international allowance. However, if you are connecting from another carrier onto SpiceJet (on separate tickets, since SpiceJet does not interline), you will be able to get up to one free back (32 Kgs) by paying Rs. 1000 for the bag. The baggage over and above will be charged at the regular excess baggage rates.

Given this change, I feel it would be better for people travelling to India to start looking at booking a ticket to their eventual destination on a full-service carrier, since that ticket will give them their full baggage allowance (of the carrier they are ticketed on). Fares between low-cost carriers such as SpiceJet and Jet Airways, Air India etc is not too much anyways.

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About Ajay

Ajay Awtaney is the Founder and Editor of Live From A Lounge (LFAL), a pioneering digital platform renowned for publishing news and views about aviation, hotels, passenger experience, loyalty programs, travel trends and frequent travel tips for the Global Indian. He is considered the Indian authority on business travel, luxury travel, frequent flyer miles, loyalty credit cards and travel for Indians around the globe. Ajay is a frequent contributor and commentator on the media as well, including ET Now, BBC, CNBC TV18, NDTV, Conde Nast Traveller and many other outlets.

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  1. Please confirm how much is the check-in baggage allowance and hand bag if we are travelling from muscat to ahmedabad. Because on print out of our e-tickets it says 20kg for international travellers. Which one is correct 20 kg or 15kg?

  2. I have to travel from mucat to delhi. So how many allowed the loggese and hand loggese my flyte is spaisjet pnr A8S83T

  3. I want to travel from dubai to vijayawada by taking spicejet domestic services at chennai. .is the baggage rule stated above still valid or expired.? Can you please give me confirmation to proceed further for booking.

  4. I want to travel from dubai to vijayawada by taking spicejet domestic services at vijayawada. .is the baggage rule stated above still valid or expired.? Can you please give me confirmation to proceed further for booking.

  5. I booked ticket from delhi to amsterdam by aeroflot and Lucknow to delhi connecting by spicejet. Aeroflot is giving free baggage 46 kgs. So clear that how much I will get free baggage allowance in Spicejet. Connect within 24 hours.

  6. I have booked my ticket from MALE to MUMBAI via COCHIN. How much kgs of luggage can I carry. Please let me know as soon as possible.

  7. I will travel from Dubai to cochin. Will fly Spicejet from dubai to cochin. I would like to to carry 31.200 kg. How much should I pay for the extra baggage?

  8. I will travel from Kuala lumpur to Banglore. Will fly Spicejet from Banglore to Belgaum. I would like to to carry 30 kg. How much should I pay for the extra baggage? Should I put them in 2 luggges ( one of them should not exceed 23 kg). or Only 1 luggge of 30 kg?please reply soon as I intend to travel this sunday. Tq

  9. Go air still allows the baggage into 46kgs at no extra cost for international connections. What about indigo? Their website is silent on this. Anybody having any info?

  10. i have to travel from canada to india and when i was looking at the baggage policy it realy ruined my mood as the customer support is informing me that even though i am taking a domestic connecting flight within 7 hrs after completing my journey with international flight with 2 luggage of 23 kg each, now with the connecting flight i will be only allowed to carry total of 32 kg and will have to pay Rs. 200/kg the exceeding luggage.
    My question is that when a person is taking a connecting flight within 24 hrs why should he pay for the extra weighing as international flight allows to carry 2 baggage of 23 kg each. If you guys were international too then it could have been considered but their isno flight of spicejet from canada to india.

    • @Farzan, this would be true for all carriers in India now. They had a liberal policy earlier, but everyone needs the revenue, and hence they brought their policy in line with the market.

  11. @Devesh,

    This one came from an old mail exchange I had with them, way back in time when a friend was taking a connection on their airline. They extracted it and sent it in the email.

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