Avianca Checked Baggage

Avianca check-in baggage tops out at 23 kg per piece in economy. Business class gets 32 kg. Every bag also has a 158 cm linear limit.

Going past either number does not get your bag turned away. It gets you charged, sometimes twice, and the second charge is the one that surprises people at the counter.

This page covers the checked side of Avianca in full. It explains what each fare includes, what the counter does with an overweight or oversize bag, and what cannot ride in the hold at all. It also covers which cases fit the weight cap without wasting it on the case itself.

For the cabin bag and the personal item, see Avianca’s full baggage rules and the carry-on size page for this carrier.

Checked allowance by fare and cabin

Avianca sorts checked baggage by fare, not by route length. Basic fares, sold mainly within Colombia, include no checked bag at all. Everything above that gets at least one.

The 158 cm figure is length plus width plus height added together. It is not any single side.

A bag that clears the weight cap easily can still land an oversize charge if it runs unusually deep or long. Measure the whole case before you leave for the airport.

You can read the current numbers on Avianca’s own baggage page. Our checked baggage weight limit guide explains how airlines set these bands in general.

What cannot go in the hold

Avianca pulls spare lithium batteries and e cigarettes out of checked bags entirely. Both have to travel in the cabin with you. A bag found holding either can be delayed at the ramp while ground staff remove it.

This sits on top of the standard restricted items list that applies to every flight. Pack power banks, spare camera batteries and vapes in your carry-on. Never pack them in the suitcase you hand over.

Smart bags with a built in, non removable lithium battery face the rule most international carriers apply. The battery has to come out before the bag can be checked. Otherwise the bag stays with you as a carry-on.

Firearms and sporting equipment such as skis, golf clubs or a bike travel as checked baggage on Classic, Flex and Business fares. Those passengers can swap sports equipment in for their included first bag instead of paying for both.

Declare a firearm at the counter, not the gate. It needs paperwork and a locked hard case before it can be accepted.

The connecting flight rule

On a single Avianca ticket with a connection, the airline that checks you in at your first airport charges any excess baggage fee through to your final destination. It charges you once. Keep the receipt.

Where your itinerary mixes Avianca with a partner airline, the rule gets murkier. Avianca says the policy that applies can vary by partner. In practice, the airline with the more restrictive checked allowance often governs the whole trip.

Our guide to checked bags on connecting flights lays out how the most significant carrier rule works. Read it before you book a codeshare itinerary through Bogota.

Overweight and oversize fees

Push a bag past 23 kg in economy and Avianca does not reject it. The counter weighs it, applies a tiered overweight charge, and lets it fly.

Reported charges run about USD 160 for bags between 25 and 32 kg. Bags between 33 and 45 kg run about USD 200 on North America routes. Above 45 kg, Avianca stops treating it as checked baggage.

On flights to and from Europe that cutoff drops to 32 kg. Past that point the airline points you toward Avianca Cargo instead, a separate shipment with its own paperwork.

Oversize works the same way in bands. Roughly USD 160 to 185 covers a bag between 158 and 230 linear cm on North America routes. Past 230 cm the bag will not be carried as checked baggage at all.

Avianca’s own pages do not say whether you can shift weight into a second, lighter bag to duck the fee. Do not count on pooling working at the counter. Weigh each bag on its own before you leave home.

Run your route through the baggage cost calculator before you fly. It helps you see whether prepaying online beats paying overweight fees at the counter.

Packing to the weight, not just the size

Avianca check-in baggage is priced in clean weight bands. The smartest move is buying a checked case that weighs little empty. More of your 23 kg allowance then goes to what you pack, not the shell carrying it.

The Travelpro Maxlite 5 29 inch is one of the lightest large checked cases sold, which matters directly against a 23 kg cap. For a smaller bag under the same logic, the Travelpro Maxlite 5 25 inch expandable spinner gives up less of the allowance to its own shell than a heavier hardside of the same size.

If you prefer a hardside for the extra protection, the Samsonite Omni PC 24 inch and its larger sibling the Samsonite Omni PC 28 inch both stay well inside the 158 cm linear limit. The 28 inch case is large enough that the 23 kg cap becomes the real constraint, not its dimensions.

Budget travelers checking one big bag often reach for the Amazon Basics 30 inch hardside checked luggage. Note this before you buy: a 30 inch case can push past the linear size limit on some carriers, so measure it before you check it on Avianca.

Whichever case you pack, weigh it before you leave the house. The Etekcity digital luggage scale takes a few seconds to hook, lift and read, and it costs far less than the overweight fee it prevents.

How the fees compare

Avianca’s overweight bands sit close to what other Latin American carriers charge. Our checked baggage fees overview compares Avianca against carriers like Copa Airlines. Avianca’s own baggage fees page on this site breaks down the full carry-on and checked fee schedule by route.

The bottom line

Avianca check-in baggage is straightforward on paper. It is 23 kg and 158 cm in economy, 32 kg in business, one bag free on Classic and Flex fares, and none on Basic or Light unless you pay ahead.

The real cost sits in the overweight bands, where a few kilograms over the line adds a charge most travelers did not budget for. Weigh your bag at home, keep your connecting flight receipt, and Avianca check-in baggage stops being a counter surprise.

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