Having a heavy bag tag or sticker placed on your suitcase when checking in at an airport means you are going to pay a premium and could be far cheaper to rather have an extra suitcase.
Having just returned home after two weeks travelling in France and the UK my biggest worry was checking in our luggage. I was always been under the impression that this was expensive and in the past have tossed away items trying to be under the 23kg suit case limit.
The family trip started out with 7 suit cases plus loads of hand luggage including a pram and car seat so getting away with 2kg's over on each suit case was going to be pushing the limits. With all the shopping taking place I was right to be concerned as my son's bag at our first check in flying from the UK to France was 30 kg's or 7kg's over the limit. After a bit of juggling moving items around and sharing the load I only had to pay in around $86 for 6kg's excess weight. This was still cheaper than what I was expecting to pay even if it was only for a 1 hour flight. The prices of travelling have risen so much I thought it would be a few hundred dollars. The check in counter operator was kid because we were way over the 6kg's we were billed for.
I was told it would be better or cheaper if we paid for an extra suitcase which was obviously the answer as I had not even stated my shopping yet. Before we had lockdowns ad the ravel restrictions I would normally travel every 4 years buying clothes which would last me to the next trip. This was mainly down to having a bigger selection with brands you never really see unless you are paying top dollar at some exclusive store.
Clothes in SA are over priced for what you are purchasing and generally the ranges are limited and more importantly the fit for myself is not great. I think once you realise and experience what a good fit feels like the that becomes the benchmark.
We purchased an extra suit case in Paris which was required as I managed to fill this up in one two hour clothing shop. When we checked our luggage in for the return trip which included an extra suitcase the cost was only 105 Euros or $114 which was far cheaper than I expected to pay. I know these fees vary between the various air lines and this would have been far more if all our bags were over weight without the extra suit case.
I know the $86 penalty we had paid when leaving London on Air France was for 6Kg's and we had heavy tags placed on 2 suit cases. The good thing is now I know the cost is far cheaper than I thought and now know the solution is just buying an extra suitcase. It just seems crazy that an entire suitcase weighing 23kg's is similar in price to an overweight suitcase of 8kg's.