I am a frequent flier. I travel each month from my home in Spain, often with other family members, regularly using Monarch, and I an completely ‘au fait’ with Internet bookings.
On this occasion I found myself forced to stay in England for an extended period, due to the the illness of both my elderly parents, and made an unusually large amount of purchases, so whilst booking I booked an extra case to accommodate them and allow me a worry-free passage through the airport. As a regular traveller, I am generally knowledgeable about some of the pitfalls of economy airline rules and regulations. By booking an extra bag, I believed I had plenty of space and even included my hand luggage into the 2 suitcases.
Whilst packing for my flight on Saturday evening, I tried to call the customer service number to clarify the exact packing amount. However, the office was closed. I find it extraordinary, as it is a 7 day a week industry. I should have been able to ask that question, and have got a simple answer, at 8pm on an evening prior to departure.
I was very relieved when I printed my Boarding Pass to see clearly printed 2/20kg bags, which I took to mean 2 x 20kg bags. I did not expect it to be 1 x 20kg bag and 1 x empty bag or 2 x 10kg bags. I regard myself to be of fairly average intelligence and, in the absence of clarification, took the Boarding Pass to indicate I had successfully booked 2 x 20kg bags. After some research I believe this is a very regularly (not occasionally) perceived misconception by other travellers and although your ground-crew were very well versed in explaining that some people prefer 2 lighter weight bags, it would seem that this is a pit fallen into by an unreasonably high percentage of your customers and constitutes stealth income.
I have just paid a £200 excess baggage charge for 20kg of luggage and just £165 for me (via my internet booking) and 20kg of luggage (plus of course an empty bag). It would have been more prudent to have booked a seat for my case!