Luggage Weight Limits on Airlines

[The_Big_M]

What about Virgin Blue within Australia? Are they equally diligent?

 

Bflogal

 

As they now offer the ability to pay extra in advance (when you book) for an extra baggage allowance they tend to be. You might be lucky if the amount is small (1-2kg) but anything more I wouldn't expect it and they may even charge extra for any amount.

[SheilaNC]

FYI, I flew on Qantas last week and they weighed my large suitcase (which I had preweighed to ensure that it would meet the standard. They did not weigh my carry-ons but were quite strict that there be only 2. I had to put my purse in the carry-on before they would allow me to check in.

[Photogirl]

Sometimes you can be also be lucky regarding baggage. My wife (whose login this is) flew United to SFO and then NZ to Auckland earlier this week. She checked two maximum size suitcases that were never weighed. She carried on her Pelican camera case at 44lbs, her shoulder bag at 21lbs and wore her photographer's jacket with all the pockets full of cameras and lenses at over 11 lbs. Total carryon was over 75lbs! United had no problem and, because of an electrical outage at the San Francisco airport, the NZ agents were so hassled, they never said a word.

 

She had a plan B to lock and gate check the Pelican at the SFO gate. If there is a will, there is a way

[kenish]

By the way, ANZ is a bank, not an airline. NZ is the 2-letter designation for Air New Zealand flights, and the correct abbreviation for the airline is either NZ or Air NZ.

 

Correct but not the whole picture. Airlines have both a 2-letter IATA code and a 3-letter ICAO code. The IATA code is the "consumer" code used on tickets, timetables, etc....things involving the passenger. ICAO codes are "operational" and are used by air traffic control, flight ops, aircraft manufacturers, etc.

 

The 2-letter code for Air New Zealand is NZ as you state...their 3-letter code is ANZ.

[celle]

Correct but not the whole picture. Airlines have both a 2-letter IATA code and a 3-letter ICAO code. The IATA code is the "consumer" code used on tickets, timetables, etc....things involving the passenger. ICAO codes are "operational" and are used by air traffic control, flight ops, aircraft manufacturers, etc.

 

The 2-letter code for Air New Zealand is NZ as you state...their 3-letter code is ANZ.

 

Agreed (I just looked it up).

 

Nevertheless, to anyone living "down under", ANZ is a bank. And the idea of anyone flying on a bank is pretty funny.

 

Since most people on these boards seem to use the IATA code for the airlines, it would be more consistent to use the IATA code (NZ) for Air New Zealand as well.

 

If you insist on using ANZ as the name of the airline when in the Antipodes, you will get some very peculiar looks!

[mgm2001]

We just returned from Aus/NZ on the Millennium and had to fly from Auk to Syd to catch a United flight. We made separate reservations at separate times for each flight. If we had made the NZ flight as part of the return to the USA, we might have been able to check the bags through to the USA and been able to have two bags (we flew business class from Syd to SF). We had a bag scale, but it didn't help. When you are overweight by a lot (as we were), there was simply no place to put anything more. There were lots of folks with heavy bag labels so we weren't alone. The bottom line: $170 US for overweight bags. And we had shipped some things to the USA from Syd. So don't count on a friendly agent to let you get by the weight restrictions. Our agent was very pleasant but firm.

 

Like another person who responded to this question, we toured Australia before the cruise left and left a bag at the Marriott Harbourside. Great hotel and great service. No charge for the storage. We just stopped by on our way to the ship and picked it up.

 

Have a great trip.

[celle]

We just returned from Aus/NZ on the Millennium and had to fly from Auk to Syd to catch a United flight. We made separate reservations at separate times for each flight. If we had made the NZ flight as part of the return to the USA, we might have been able to check the bags through to the USA and been able to have two bags (we flew business class from Syd to SF). We had a bag scale, but it didn't help. When you are overweight by a lot (as we were), there was simply no place to put anything more. There were lots of folks with heavy bag labels so we weren't alone. The bottom line: $170 US for overweight bags. And we had shipped some things to the USA from Syd. So don't count on a friendly agent to let you get by the weight restrictions. Our agent was very pleasant but firm.

 

Have a great trip.

 

Yes, you fell foul of the system because you booked the flights separately.

 

If you had booked an open jaw San Francisos-Sydney and Auckland-San Francisco (with a code share flight AKL-SYD if necessary) you would have been able to take advantage of the "piece" system, whereby you can take 2 items of checked baggage per person when flying to the US.

 

By booking the AKL-SYD flight separately, you had to comply with the "weight" system for that leg of your journey - one piece of checked baggage, weighing no more than 23 Kg.

 

Unfortunately, in these circumstances, the check-in agents are not allowed any discretion.

 

It's tough, but maybe someone else can learn from this.