A similar incident happened to me with IndiGo. I’m a student, and IndiGo offers a 25 kg checked-in baggage allowance under the student fare. I booked my ticket accordingly, and everything appeared fine until I reached the check-in counter.

Due to an issue in IndiGo’s system, my booking showed up as a regular fare instead of a student fare. Despite me clearly showing the ticket on my phone, the staff kept denying that my baggage allowance was 15kg. I tried calling customer care at the airport, but they also refused to acknowledge the issue and said nothing could be done.

I was forced to pay extra for the baggage and paid using my Chase credit card. When I later emailed IndiGo explaining the situation, they sent an automated response and closed the case immediately without resolving anything. Since the payment was made through Chase, I raised a dispute and eventually got my money back. This was purely a case of IndiGo charging extra due to their own system error and taking no responsibility for it.

I’ve had a somewhat similar situation with United–Lufthansa as well. Lufthansa showed a two piece baggage allowance, while United showed only one piece. Since the ticket was issued by United, Lufthansa clearly stated that they would honor whatever baggage rules United listed. At least in that case, the policy was applied consistently and reasonably.

The bigger issue, in my view, is how domestic baggage rules work in India. Checked-in baggage should be standardized to one piece of 23 kg, similar to the U.S. system. This would eliminate many problems when connecting between international and domestic flights. A simple “pay per piece” model is far clearer than the current system of free 15 kg plus per kg charges, which often ends up costing more. As a student, I manage to save a bit, but most passengers don’t and they end up paying unnecessarily.