@roscoe62: from what I understand, Unilever has the license to the name "Persil" in the UK, but their formula is not the same as Henkel's. An excellent product, but apparently not just a rebrand of the German product. In fact, Unilever sells "Ariel" in Germany to compete against Persil, so I would not be surprised if UK Persil is closer to, or resembles "Ariel". Unilever sells its Persil formula under other names in other countries, examples being Skip (France), Via (Sweden), Omo, etc. The Via package design and advertising is identical to the UK Persil, other than language used.
@PhotonPanda: an acquaintance of mine bought a box of UK Persil for me, but was two pounds overweight on her checked luggage: current free checked allowance in Economy Class is one piece up to 50 lbs/23 kgs. You pay $50 for being overweight (up to 70 lbs/32 kgs) or for an extra piece. I suppose if you have a second piece of luggage that is close to 50 lb/23 kg, full of stuff you bought in UK, it's worth the $50 extra because you'd never be able to ship it via same-day air freight for $50. However, she was using only one piece of checked luggage and trying to avoid the charge, so she had to remove the box (and give it to her relatives in the lobby) in order to make weight.
Given the new lower luggage allowances, I ALWAYS travel with a portable electronic luggage scale to check my weights before the airport. The scale is surprisingly accurate, usually within 0.2 kg of the airport scale, and has saved 100s of dollars over the years in excess baggage charges. In additional, while in North America the airlines regulate the SIZE of cabin luggage without looking closely at the weight, within Europe many airlines--particularly the low costs ones but now even some of the "majors"--limit the weight of one's cabin baggage. I have seen limits as low as 8-10 kgs.
Last year, I flew from California to Kiev via Houston (Continental), Paris (Air France) and Kiev (Ukraine Airlines). This itinerary was operated by airlines within a single (SkyTeam) alliance, so ticketing and boarding passes were streamlined: the bags were checked from California all the way through to Kiev and I received all three boarding passes upon check-in in California.
However, I was unaware that my cabin bag had to meet each of the airlines' requirements. Continental and Air France basically just regulated the size (45 inches all three dimensions, no longer than 22" long, etc.)...as long as it fits in the bins, it's allowed. Ukraine Airlines however regulated the weight to 12 kgs, and at the boarding gate in Paris, there was another check-in process whereby the cabin bags were weighed. My bag was 17 kgs and, while legal on the first two airlines, was barred from the cabin. I was told I had to check the bag after removing valuables/essentials into a small tote that I could carry on board.
Because I had already checked two bags in California, had I been in Economy they would have charged me 10 euros/kg for these "excess" 17 kgs, i.e. 170 euros. Fortunately, I had upgraded to business class eastbound using miles, so I was entitled to a third checked piece, so my cabin bag was checked without charge, but had I been in Economy, I would be shit out of luck and 170 Euros poorer.
The lesson of the story is that when traveling an itinerary that involves more than one airline, the checked bags and allowance follow the rules of the airline for the first segment flown. For example, Lufthansa allowed two bags for over a year after US airlines dropped the allowance to one bag. For passengers traveling on a combination of United Airlines/Lufthansa (Star Alliance partners), that meant two bags from Germany, one bag from USA (if the customers had US friends who needed Persil, fine and dandy...).
But the cabin bags are subjected to the rules of each individual airline along the way, and just because the bag was "legal" on airline #1 doesn't mean it's allowed on airline #2. The same issue hits many passengers who fly a combination of American Airlines and British Airlines, which are partners: e.g. a trip from US to London on American, with a continuing flight to Europe, Africa, or Middle East on British Airways. The UK defines "22 inches long" as INCLUDING the wheels and handle, while in US "22 inches long" is defined as the length of the body of the bag, excluding wheels/handles. Many connecting passengers (I was one of them) are intercepted during the transfer from an American to a British Airways flight in Terminal 5 Heathrow. The BA people are aware of this issue and seem to understand the confusion, since passengers who originate on American Airlines will arrive with a "legal" (in USA) bag which is a bit too long to fit flat in the Heathrow screening trays. When it happened to me, they gave me a free zippered tote, asked me to remove valuables and essentials from the wheeled cabin bag to the tote, and then checked the cabin bag (free of charge; I was in Economy and it was my third checked bag, which they knew). So when I reached my destination I had three bags to claim at Baggage instead of two.
T(the) F(loor) L(aughing) M
A(ss) O(ff).
