In Reply to: a story about excess baggage posted by smurf on Saturday, 27. January 2007 at 16:15 Bali Time:
you CAN ask for a discount - when you get to the window where you pay, tell the cashier that you are a regular traveller with Garuda and any chance of a discount? She will send you to the 'manager's office' where he will usually knock down the excess charge by 50% without batting an eyelid. Biggest thing is to not make a fuss - Indonesians abhor public displays of rudeness - your friend might have got away with it, but probably because the staff were so extremely embarrassed for her lack of manners.
Your friend was lucky. I've seen time and again people try to make a fuss over excess luggage charges. The usual reaction from Garuda is to remove the bag from the scale, tell the person that in order to fly they must pay - end of story, and call 'next'.
You will also find that if the flight is full, they will be pretty stict on excess, if it's not full you can sweet talk your way through.