Foreign Travel with all your equipment..

BennyBoo

BennyBoo

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Ben
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Hey all, not for me, but my step dad..

He's flying to Australia in a few days and has just told me of their (his airline) strict on flight baggage allowance..

He's fine with hold luggage, but hand luggage is 7kg. His backpack with what he has in there is 13kg..
I suspect he has all his kit in there.. 2 bodies, 100-400 F4L, few sigma primes, bits and pieces and an extra bag with a laptop..!

He's never had a problem, but he's fearing the bag will go into the hold..

I say he should buy at least a hardback pack, half small suitcase on wheels, half back pack, but he's not sure.. He's going to try and wear a few items to keep the bag weight down and put them back in once on the plane..

What would you do..? Are there any decent price hardback packs around..? I always see people wheeling along small suitcases for hand baggage, so I cant see a problem personally.. I just dont want him to put a soft backpack in the hold and it damages his gear, he's going away for 5 weeks on a photography trip.

Cheers, Ben
 
Pelican case 1510, it's hand luggage size. If it gets pass without problem he's laughing. If he doesn't, it should survive the hold.
 
I've flown about 350 times and never ever had my hand luggage weighed and I usually carry a bunch of gear. Unless he's flying one of those £ pinching budget budget airlines then as long as his camera bag isn't particularly big or he can't pick it up without a struggle then I doubt the weight will matter.
 
Not international, but I fly around Australia with all my gear. Off to Brisbane for a shoot on the weekend; I take a (Think Tank) roller bag which fits in the allowable dimensions, just. But is usually way over weight. We got stopped last time coming back from Adelaide, because we were on a prop plane which has less cabin space. They said, "we'll have to put them in the hold", we said, no thanks they have 10s of thousands of dollars of fragile equipment in them - then they let us on with it in the cabin. So luck of the draw I think, sometimes they're pretty laid back about it.

He can carry one of the cameras separately as well to take the weight down. You can take a handbag / laptop / camera over your shoulder in addition to your carry on. Stupid rule, but that should get him closer to the weight allowance.
 
Thanks all :)

He's never had a problem in the past, carrying ALL of his stuff in hand luggage, he's just getting abit itchy reading about their strict policy..

I'll find out who he's travelling with, I've told him about the Pelican 1510, thanks Raymondo :)
 
BennyBoo said:
Thanks all :)

He's never had a problem in the past, carrying ALL of his stuff in hand luggage, he's just getting abit itchy reading about their strict policy..

I'll find out who he's travelling with, I've told him about the Pelican 1510, thanks Raymondo :)
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Remember to get a set of TSA locks. :)
 
Ware a coat with big pockets if they moan empty bits into pockets until under weight then put it all back after check in.

Flown dozens of times in recent years and other than scum air and the likes never had a piece of hand luggage weighed!
 
The holiday airlines are the worse by far, I've had problems particularly with Thomas Cook and once with Thomson weighing hand baggage. I've never had a problem with a proper long haul airline despite often being way over their hand luggage allowance. Tell him to get a waistcoat with decent pockets and work out what to put in them if stopped and weighed. They then let you through with the gear in your pockets because they can't legislate for that, nuts really but thats how it is! In reality once you're past check in you've won, with the exception of Thomas Cook who love to do impromptu bag checks at the boarding gate as i found out last year flying to Gambia, the waistcoat won though!
 
As long as you don't fly Ryan Air or Easy Jet you will be fine on any of the proper airlines.......
 
Who is your Dad flying with?

I thought the majority of long hauls allowed 2x carry ons. One full size carry on, and one the size of a small handbag / laptop bag? edit- have re read, is the 7kg for both bags together?

I have once flown (short haul) with a 7kg allowance, they pulled me on it at check in, took out a large body and 70-200 2.8 and put it round the neck, books into girlfriends bag, reweighed it and it was fine. Soon as I walked away I put it all back into my bag again, cleared security, passed the gate, and got onto the plane with no problems... Not sure if some airlines check at the gate too?
 
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J H Foto said:
As long as you don't fly Ryan Air or Easy Jet you will be fine on any of the proper airlines.......
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To be fair to easyjet they have simpfied cabin baggage. As long as your bag is within 50x40x20cm and you can lift it into the overhead locker there is no weight restriction.

http://www.easyjet.com/en/planning/cabin-baggage

I would definitely have a backup plan to lighten the bag if needed. Making the bag look like its light helps not being picked on for it to be weighed.
 
BA has a 23kg limit...i don't think it is possible to hit that within the peli 1510 case unless you fill it 100% with lenses with very little foam.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Pelican case 1510, it's hand luggage size. If it gets pass without problem he's laughing. If he doesn't, it should survive the hold.
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Yes, but... The Peli case itself weighs 5.4kg and it *looks* heavy. I think having one of these would probably increase the chances of the airline staff deciding to put it in the hold. But as Raymond says, it's tough enough that it should survive that.
 
Raymond Lin said:
BA has a 23kg limit...i don't think it is possible to hit that within the peli 1510 case unless you fill it 100% with lenses with very little foam.
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But the OP's airline has a 7kg limit and the Peli case itself weighs 5.4kg...
 
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