MUMBAI: Dubai-based Emirates is set to introduce fare-based check-in baggage allowance, solely for its economy class. The new regime, which apply to tickets bought on or after February 4, is expected to hit bargain hunters , particularly those on the India-US route as baggage allowance for cheaper classes of fare has been cut by as much as 50 %.Currently, the most popular route out of India to the US is via Dubai with Emirates being the top carrier on the India-US route in terms of passenger traffic. Under the new baggage allowance structure, the free check-in baggage allowance for a passenger who buys a cheap economy class ticket on, say, the Mumbai-Dubai-New York flight will be one piece of bag, not weighing more than 23 kgs. Currently, all Emirates economy class passengers on the India-US route can check-in for free two bags, each not weighing more than 23 kgs.Emirates divides its economy class into four different fare categories: Special, Saver, Flex and Flex Plus. Special is the lowest category with the cheapest fare, while Flex Plus is the one with the most expensive economy class tickets. The reduction in baggage allowances apply only to Special and Saver categories of fares.TOI sourced information from travel agents to get an idea of what constitutes a cheap economy class fare on Emriates. For travel in the last week of February on the Mumbai-Dubai-New York route, the cheapest one-way, economy class fare was Rs 34,525 (``Special’’ category of fare). For bookings done from February 4 onwards, on this fare, a passenger will be allowed only one 23 kg check-in bag for free. The fare that allows a passenger to carry two 23 kg check-in bags for free is the ``Flex’’ fare which began at Rs 51,448 for this route. The highest fare, the ``Flex Plus’’ fare was Rs 84,442.Similarly, on the Delhi-Dubai-New York route, the cheapest, one-way fare was Rs 33,6658. The fare that allowed two check-in bags of 23 kgs each, was priced at Rs 50,867. The highest fare on this route was Rs 83,973. Similar reduction in baggage allowance applies to routes to Europe and other US destinations. Excess baggage fee is a flat USD 200 for a 23 kg extra bag, with a 20 % discount thrown in if the excess baggage is bought online and not at the airport.On the Emirates Mumbai-Dubai flights though, the baggage allowance has been reduced by 5 kg or 25 %. Earlier, the cheapest economy class tickets came with a baggage allowance of 20 kg, which from February will be 15 kg.An Emirates spokesperson said the decision was taken `Fare-based categorization of economy class passengers in order to reward those who buy pricier tickets has been a growing trend in the airline industry. Etihad introduced fare-based baggage allowance last year, but unlike Emirates, the reduction in baggage allowance for those with cheap economy class tickets was only 5 kgs. Then again, it doesn’t seem to have gone down well in the Indian market as Etihad did away with the staggered baggage allowance structure on the India-UK route on January 10. It now has a flat 40 kg free check-in bag allowance for all economy class passengers on its India-UK route. However, on the UK-India route, the baggage allowance continues to be staggered with those buying pricey economy class tickets allowed to carry 35 kg check-in bag for free, while the cheap tickets come with only 30 kg free check-in bag. Passengers generally book return tickets and so one can imagine the confusion there.Over a year ago, British Airways became the first carrier to introduce class divisions into the economy cabin with a fare-based boarding preference for all its flights. The London-based airline has continued with the practice which has those passengers who have paid higher fares called in to board first.