The rule that overrides everything else
The allowance that applies to you is the one on your ticket, not the one on the airline’s marketing page. Two people in the same row can have different allowances because they bought different fare families.
There is a second layer when more than one airline is involved. Under a US Department of Transportation rule, baggage rules across an itinerary that touches the US follow the Most Significant Carrier, usually the airline listed first on the ticket, rather than switching to whichever airline operates each leg. Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines both state this on their own baggage pages.
So read what is printed on your own ticket. If it does not match what you expected, resolve it before you leave for the airport. A check-in agent applies what the ticket says.
Air India
- Economy Value: 1 checked bag up to 23kg, which is 50lb.
- Economy Classic and Economy Flex: 2 checked bags up to 23kg each.
- Business and First: 2 checked bags up to 32kg, which is 70lb, each.
No single bag may exceed 32kg on any Air India route, whatever the cabin. Economy and premium economy cabin baggage is one bag up to 7kg at a maximum 55 by 40 by 20cm; first and business get 10kg. India’s one hand baggage rule permits a single cabin bag alongside one personal item, and it is enforced more strictly on departures from Indian airports than travellers expect.
Economy Value is where the surprises happen. It is frequently the fare that appears in a cheap search result, and it carries half the checked allowance of the fare above it. Price Classic against Value before assuming Value is cheaper.
United
Standard economy is 50lb, or 23kg, per checked bag, with maximum linear dimensions of 62 inches, which is 158cm. Carry-on is capped at 9 by 14 by 22 inches, with a personal item up to 9 by 10 by 17 inches.
Basic Economy on India routes includes no free checked bag, and a bag is charged each way. That differs from United’s Basic Economy on some other long-haul markets, so experience elsewhere is not a guide. We are not quoting a fee, because the figure we found came through secondary reporting rather than a live fare rules page. Check united.com, or ask us to read your fare rules.
Comparing Basic against standard economy on the same flight, add two checked bags each way to the Basic price first. On a route where most passengers check two bags, Basic Economy is frequently the more expensive ticket.
Emirates
Emirates applies the piece concept, a fixed number of bags rather than a pooled weight total, for the whole ticketed journey whenever either end of the itinerary is in the Americas. That covers routings through Dubai.
- Economy Special: 1 piece up to 23kg.
- Economy Saver, Flex and Flex Plus: 2 pieces up to 23kg each.
Each bag has a hard ceiling of 32kg and maximum dimensions of 150cm. Economy cabin baggage is one bag up to 7kg, at 55 by 38 by 20cm, plus a personal item. The piece concept is what people miss: you cannot put 30kg in one suitcase and 16kg in the other and call it even. One secondary source reports that passengers boarding in India are limited to a single cabin piece, which fits Indian hand baggage rules, but we could not verify it on emirates.com.
Qatar Airways
Qatar publishes an official fare table, and the row that applies to a US or Canada to India itinerary is the Americas row, because the journey touches the Americas.
- Economy Lite: 1 piece up to 23kg on flights to and from the Americas or Africa, against 20kg on other routes.
- Economy Classic, Convenience and Comfort: 2 pieces up to 23kg each on Americas routes.
- Cabin baggage: 1 piece up to 7kg across all economy sub-fares, maximum 50 by 37 by 25cm.
The Americas row applies to the whole ticketed journey, not only the long-haul segment, so the Doha to Delhi leg carries the Americas allowance and a layover in Doha does not reduce it. Qatar’s cabin dimensions are tighter than several competitors, and the 50cm length catches out travellers using a standard 55cm European case. Measure before you fly, not at the gate.
Etihad, Lufthansa, Turkish and Air Canada
Etihad. Economy passengers on US flights, excluding the lowest Basic fare, can check 2 bags up to 23kg each. Basic includes no free bag. Cabin baggage is one bag up to 7kg, with no separate personal item, which is unusual. We could not load Etihad’s own pages during research, so confirm on etihad.com before you pack.
Lufthansa. The free allowance each way in economy is 1 bag up to 23kg, maximum 158cm. Carry-on is 1 bag up to 8kg plus a personal item. Travellers used to two bags on Gulf carriers get caught by the single-bag European standard.
Turkish Airlines. On tickets touching the USA, economy checked baggage is either 1 bag at 23kg or 2 bags at 23kg depending on the route and fare shown on the ticket. Business is 2 bags at 32kg. Cabin baggage is 1 piece up to 8kg plus a personal item up to 4kg.
Air Canada. We could not confirm current India-route figures during research, so we are not printing numbers we cannot stand behind. Check aircanada.com, or ask us to read your booking.
23kg, 32kg, and why you cannot pool two suitcases
Two numbers do most of the work. 23kg, or 50lb, is the standard economy per-bag limit across these carriers. 32kg, or 70lb, is the ceiling: industry-wide, a single bag above roughly 32kg is refused as checked baggage on handler safety grounds and must travel as air cargo. That is a refusal rather than a fee. Finding out at the counter with a 40kg suitcase is a bad start to a trip.
Pooling is the other misunderstanding. On piece-based tickets, which these itineraries almost always are, each bag is assessed on its own, and two bags at 23kg each is not permission for 46kg spread as you like. Some airlines allow pooling for passengers on one booking, but that is a concession to agree in advance. If you are consistently over, prepaid excess bought online is cheaper than paying at the airport.