Can you get away with overweight baggage on flights from Nha Trang?

A group of three travellers with two suitcases, each about 1 kg overweight, was let through without paying. However, on international flights carry-on was weighed twice — once at check-in and again at boarding — with even the slightest excess triggering a fee.

On a South China Airlines flight, both suitcases were over 1 kg overweight each, and three stuffed backpacks carried as hand luggage were also overweight — no issues arose in Cam Ranh or Guangzhou (baggage just had to be re-checked due to a flight cancellation). Takeaway: strictness varies a lot by airline, it's a lottery, so be ready to wear extra clothes, discard items, eat food, or pay.

On departure from Cam Ranh, nearly 10 kg of excess checked baggage was charged at $70: a suitcase close to 20 kg instead of the 10 kg allowance. Payment was made at a desk next to check-in and USD cash was accepted; cabin-bag dimensions were not checked in a sizer.

A recent Cam Ranh experience was strict: all cabin items, including small handbags, were weighed. Passengers with a total 3 kg excess were told to pay for baggage. Enforcement may vary by staff member.

On an Azur Air flight from Nha Trang, a passenger was still allowed through after check-in with a 12 kg checked suitcase against a 10 kg limit and 9.2 kg cabin baggage against a 5 kg limit. This is another example of inconsistent excess-weight enforcement.

Aeroflot’s hotline reportedly confirmed that in addition to 10 kg of cabin baggage, passengers may take a separate bag or backpack up to 5 kg, provided its total dimensions do not exceed 80 cm. This can help when the main cabin-bag allowance is already used.

For Red Wings charters with a 10 kg allowance per person, travellers recommend obtaining written confirmation from the airline before travel if you want to pool allowances. Russian carriage rules provide for pooling free checked-baggage weight allowances upon passengers’ request, but an official reply can be useful if there is a dispute at the Cam Ranh check-in desk.

On an Aeroflot flight from Nha Trang, two large fruit baskets weighing about 12–13 kg each for two passengers were neither weighed nor separately checked.

On VietJet from Nha Trang, a recent traveller reported that bags were not weighed at all, despite a 20 kg allowance shown on the ticket.

On an Ikar/Pegas flight from Cam Ranh to Irkutsk, carry-on was neither weighed nor put in a size sizer, and fruit baskets were not checked either. Only checked suitcases were weighed.

At Cam Ranh, a couple were sent to pay about RUB 2,500 for 2 kg of excess cabin-bag weight: their small case met the size limit but was over the weight limit.

In one recent case, the 10 kg checked-bag limit was enforced strictly: RUB 2,400 was paid for a suitcase weighing 13 kg.

On Azur Air, excess baggage could be handled at Cam Ranh airport even when adding baggage in advance was not possible: staff calculated the total excess at check-in and sent passengers to a separate desk, where the fee was $25 per 10 kg. Payment was accepted in USD cash, VND cash, or by QR code via the Azur site.

On an Aeroflot flight from Nha Trang to Moscow, hand luggage was barely checked: passengers got through with backpacks weighing about 10 and 7 kg, plus fruit baskets of roughly 8 and 6 kg. No hand-luggage tags were added, and the baskets were not separately inspected.

On Ikar at Cam Ranh, nearby passengers were reportedly allowed through with up to 4 kg overweight per suitcase without paying extra, while hand luggage was not checked at all. That is noticeably more lenient than cases where even 1 kg triggered issues.

Azur Air can also be very strict: with baggage limits of 10/10/25 kg, one set of bags at 10.4 / 10.8 / 24.7 kg was accepted, but a nearby passenger was told to pay for just 200 g of excess. Backpacks in cabin baggage may be weighed together, while small personal bags are usually ignored.

On Nordwind on 27 June, it was possible to pre-purchase an extra 10 kg of baggage for a little over $60 one day before departure. The same passengers were also allowed onboard with 10 kg of hand luggage plus a fruit basket of about 10 kg, even though this airline is often described as strict on other flights.

On an Azur Air flight in April, fruit baskets were treated as a separate item and charged separately. To avoid extra fees, it was better to repack the fruit into checked baggage or cabin baggage within the normal allowance.

On a VietJet flight with a 15 kg allowance, three passengers each had 2–3 kg overweight — no one said anything and they all flew without issues.

On Air Astana, a fruit basket weighing 8 kg was taken as carry-on and passed without issue. On VietJet the previous year, a 1 kg suitcase overweight was not allowed through and items had to be redistributed.

On an Ikar Airlines flight from Nha Trang, a 1 kg overweight on each of two suitcases was waved through without issue. Carry-on was X-rayed but not scrutinised for weight or contents.

On VietJet, carry-on luggage (a backpack clearly over the limit) was not weighed on departure from Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) to Cam Ranh.

On a Pegas / Nordwind charter, the allowance was 10 kg checked + 10 kg carry-on, and overweight was enforced strictly — passengers ahead in line were sent to sort out excess weight. Extra baggage could only be paid for if seats remained available after check-in closed. That said, one traveller managed to bring two backpacks totalling ~16 kg as carry-on, since staff at the gate weren't closely counting bags — just avoid drawing attention.

A small backpack can be worn on the shoulders and covered with a jacket at the checkpoint — some passengers got through unnoticed this way without the bag being weighed or counted.