[remisao]

I am a Brazilian resident, and purchased some months ago my ticket online for the following trip: GRU/JFK/MIA/ATL/GRU. While in New York, I had to change my itinerary and fly straight back home (Sao Paulo). During checkin at JFK, I was told that my bag was overweight and that I had to pay excess weight in the amount of $150. My bag was 64 LBS. I replied that that was not the case, as I had purchased my ticket in Brazil, and as per regulations, I was allowed 75 LBS per bag, instead of the 50 LBS per gag had I purchased my ticket in the US. I explained to the ticket agent that I am a Brazilan resident, that I purchased my ticket in Sao Paulo, that I began my trip in Sao Paulo... all to no avail. She said that their system shows that the ticket was purchased in the US, whereas I repeated that it was purchased in Brazil, and I asked to speak to her supervisor. The supervisor in a very disrespectful way repeated what the agent said and informed me that if the ticket is purchased online, then its the same as if purchased in the US. I did complain to the airline requesting a refund, but so far I have not heard from them.
If in fact its true that if a ticket is purchased online its the same as if purchasing it in the US, then Delta (as well as any other airline) should NOT sell online to overseas residents, or at the very least put a disclaimer that states that at the time of booking.
Sincerely,
Rahmo Nehmad
Sao Pualo, Brazil

[jimworcs]

The other question is.. why would Delta allow Brazilian residents to have 75lbs and US residents only 50lb.. what is that all about@?

[The_Judge]

Bummer that you got played like that. I have never heard of a policy where it matters where you bought a ticket allows a different luggage maximum. It may be the case it's just I've never heard of it.

What I have heard of and this is maybe what you're getting at is when I worked for NWA, there were certain international destinations that did not have to observe the 50lb maximum. Their max was 70lbs, to and from the U.S. and Manila and certain Chinese destinations. When we went initially from the 70lb max down to 50lbs many years ago, these cities were included but apparently there was such an outcry from either their governments or the passengers that it didn't last very long.

Anyway, this may be what you're referring to. In either case, yours or mine, it sounds like the OP was taken advantage of. Keep trying for your money back.

[wkharris2001]

Exception:
Baggage exception for tickets purchased in Brazil and Japan:
Two checked bags up to 70lbs/32 kgs are permitted as the free baggage allowance for tickets purchased in Brazil .
For tickets purchased in Japan traveling to/from Brazil only, two checked bags up to 70l bs/32 kgs are permitted as the free allowance.

it doesn't really say "tickets purchased online" I would assume that if you purchased this at a ticket office or airport, or a travel agency in brazil that is when the exception would apply.

I would try writing to customer care and see what happens, you may get a refund of the charge.

[jimworcs]

The purchase took place in Brazil, I think if you sued in a Brazilian court, you would have a very good chance of winning.

[The_Judge]

I think we first have to decide where the purchase was made. To do this we need more info. Was the purchase made directly from the website of a U.S. airline or from a U.S. based wholesaler.....Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. Or was it purchased truly in Brazil from a ticket counter or travel agent? OP says it was purchased online. Was the price shown as U.S dollars or was in Brazilian real?

If it was U.S. dollars, the OP may have a tough case as U.S. tax was probably paid cuz the transaction was done via the U.S. If real was collected, then the OP should have an easy case. Just look at the receipt of purchase and that should really solve this issue.

[Suga00]

If the ticket was bought online on delta.com or any site it shows the city in which the company is based in. So you could have been in brazil at the time of purchase but say if you buy it on delta.com when the agent pulls up the reservation it will show Atlanta, GA USA. We're told to go by what city is in the RES but if you explain it to customer care and they see you were traveling from brazil as your first leg they might refund it. But knowing how delta works, probably not going to happen.

[jimworcs]

A Brazilian citizen, travelling from an originating city in Brazil, paying from a Brazilian bank account should have a reasonable expectation that the rules in Brazil will apply to him. If Delta pretend that they can't know where the customer is, they are lying. Europeans have discovered that airlines often offer US customers different rates to those available to Europeans and attempted to bypass this by buying their tickets via the US websites. This was foiled by the airlines themselves blocking the purchases from Europe. For example, last year I attempted to buy a ticket from Chicago to Asheville, NC on United.com. I was blocked from doing so because I was in the UK. They clearly know where the customer is. Delta are lying, dishonest thieves and have no right to remain in business.