Luggage Weight Limit

Its all what the airline requires. Have you asked your airline, or checked their website?

Lufthansa has a 17.6 pound limit (8 kg). Most other European airlines are similar.

That's for carryon, Lee. I believe the OP is asking about checked luggage.

Each airline is different. And, there can be different rules for a transatlantic flight and an intra-European flight, even on the same airline. So, you have to look at the website for each airline (or call them) for your situation. As long as you're prepared, you can usually accommodate the rules, but if you show up expecting one thing and find another, it's a major pain (at best). Another wrinkle is that some airlines allow one carry-on plus a personal item (purse, laptop bag, etc), while other airlines allow only one bag - PERIOD, no personal item in addition. Again, this is a problem only if you show up at the airport expecting one thing, and run into another. Real example: Turkish Air from the US to Istanbul allowed me to take a carry-on of any weight (just up to the size limit) and allowed my mother to take her 21 inch wheeled suitcase as well as her purse as carry-ons. But Turkish Air in Turkey had very different rules; she had to check her suitcase, and my carry-on was far too heavy to meet the 8 kg limit, so I had to check it too. The first time, I wasn't prepared, and my netbook ended up checked (it was a 45 minute nonstop flight, and everything turned out OK). After the first time, I knew to have a smaller bag for the cabin with the electronics, and that I'd have to check everything else.

I thought 50 lb was fairly standard for most US based airlines. I know it is for US Air out of Philly. On this site you will probably get beat up for asking the questions since many here think anything over 25 lb is excessive. Do you really need that much stuff. Hard to handle once you are on the ground.

"I believe the OP is asking about checked luggage" Why would you assume that? That's not what she said. I checked with 4 US flag airline websites (UAL, USAir, American, and Delta). All have carry-on size limits; only one has any weight limits for carry-on, USAir at 40#. So, if those three without carry-on limits have checked luggage weight limits, and you are above it, I guess you have to carry-on.

I assumed that because 50 lbs. is a standard weight limit for checked baggage. Because he mentioned that number, I guessed that he (who is "she"?) was asking about weight limits for checking, not carryon. The airlines you checked all give 50 lbs. as their limit (except USAir, which curiously gives an overweight baggage fee beginning at 71 lbs for flights to Europe, but also says bags above 70 are not allowed on flights to Europe). If the OP was asking about carryon limits, he wouldn't have specified the 50 lb number since it's not associated with carryon bags.

Check the airline that you are flying to make sure, but European airlines tend to be sticklers for the 8kg carry on limit and 23kg (50 pounds) for a checked bag. 50 pounds is the limit on mainstream carriers (checked UA, LH, and SK for you), but budget airlines might see things differently. For example, Ryanair has a 15kg or 20kg limit... for 50 and 70 quid round trip, respectively! As a side note, if you go over 50 pounds, it's $200 for a lot of the carriers. Weigh your bag before you go. As a side side note, food carried for consumption on board does not count against your personal item limit on some airlines.

Ryanair's price for a 15 kg checked bag, booked with the ticket, is 15 GBP, not 50 GBP. A bag weighing 20 kg is 25 GBP, not 70 GBP.

Actually both Nicholas and Nancy are right. The price on Ryanair varies depending on whether you are traveling in low season or high season and whether you pay in advance or at the airport. Ryanair charges anywhere from 15 GBP to 40 GBP if you book in advance and a whopping 130 GPB if you wait to pay until you get to the airport on some flights during high season. www.ryanair.com/en/terms-and-conditions

Perhaps it varies based on something I'm unaware of, but it shows 50 pounds r/t for me for 15kg and 70 pounds r/t for 20kg (although at first I mistakenly thought that was one way). Perhaps RyanAir is offering that flight with a special on checked baggage. http://tinypic.com/r/eficjo/6 http://tinypic.com/r/2zogf93/6 http://tinypic.com/r/2weapzn/6
http://tinypic.com/r/2rqf0o7/6

Could have something to do with the date - you chose September, I chose October. Your one way rate isn't that much more than the one I got.