www.qantas.com/au/en.html

As a General Rule Qantas are quite generous with sporting equipment. They do not charge excess baggage for kitesurfing stuff. Simply say it is kitesurfing equipment and that the only thing you have in it is the actual "sporting equipment". So only pack the kiting equipment in the kite bag. ie bars/lines/kites/pump/harness. Put the rashy/sunnies/boardies/towels etc in ANOTHER bag to check-in for non sporting equipment. Take both bags to the check-in counter. They will tag and weight them. After that theyll ask you to take your kite bag down to the oversized baggage counter and then its simply a matter of placing it on the belt.

I travel every few days with Qantas with my kiting equipment and have never had problems. You may have complications if you fly with other carriers due to different policies and procedures. ie. Forget Jetstar they'll try to charge the S#hit outta ya!

You may have noticed some Kite brands have the split rolling bag options. This is convenient because you can put your clothes, toiletries or other items in one bag and sporting equipment in the other. Simply split the bags into 2 when you check in and check them in Seperately. Most bags are over the 140-150 limit in length/dimensions so you will then have to take them down to the oversized baggage check in counter. All you do then is dump them onto the belt. When you collect them from the baggage carousel at your final port of destination zip them back together so you can wheel them easily away.

The Golf bags are probably a better option for travel in the USA and on American carriers because Golf equipment is exempt from charges. Having a Bag that looks like a golf bag tries to mislead the check-in staff into thinking you have golf equipment. Not all check-in staff are that dumb though, and you could get caught out. There are also serious penalties for lying to check-in staff about what you have in your bag.

If you are travelling oversease...please remember...keep the bag locked, pack it and check it yourself before you check it in!

Thanks for your tips.
i just got one bag. that means a bag with my kitestuff and my clothes. is this not a good idea?.

yea it is supposed to but I have never had it weighed on international flights.

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Originally posted by Rich_76

one bag is great but if you are doing day trips you will need a small bag to take camera, water, book etc. If you have come from Zurich (profile) then go with the flow.

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The Qantas policy is that you keep only sporting equipment in the one oversized piece of luggage. I have often put some extra clothes etc in the kite bag without telling them but I know that if I got caught I would have to pay for excess luggage. You could probably get away with a couple of shirts and boardies in your kite bag. Just keep it concealed in another sports bag inside. I suggest you just borrow or buy a cheaper duffel/sports bag that can be 'padlocked' for clothes and other items etc. This can be combined inside the kitebag once you have collected your kite bag from the carousel so that you only have one checked bag to carry. The extra bag will always come in handy espeacially if you want to take a bag to the beach when travelling.

I suggest a good size cabin bag for all the important items ie digital camera, passport, phone, wallet, keys. It's always handy to take a extra t-shirt and shorts in case your checked luggage is misplaced. Again keep this bag locked if you are travelling internatinal. Digital locks are great!

Hey Andrew

Emirates are a popular new Airline for many passengers world wide because they are very 'bling bling' however they are notorious for slamming you with VERY expen$ive excess luggage charges! They dont have the biggest limit on luggage because the bulk of their type of customers are always carrying oversized and overweight luggage!

Hand luggage is a bit of a fickle thing. You always see heaps of people board from international terminals with bags and bags of duty free and end up becoming over the limit! I travel almost on a daily bases and prefer not to check in anything if I only spend one night away and just use one standard sized cabin bag. You avoid the lineups and baggage carousels and just walk on and off the gates which saves you heaps of time. My bag would probably weigh about 13kgs on average and the limit is 8kgs. I have actually carried my kite in my cabin bag! I never get asked to have my bag weighed unless Im flying a domestic sector ie Brisbane to Sydney on a flight departing and arriving at International terminals. International Check-in staff in the Qantas Brisbane port are much more vigilant when it comes to weighing luggage. I remember days when I used to strap a bag to my waist and fill my jacket pockets up to keep that bag down but now I just dont bother. If you look like a regular flier they tend not to ask you for your bag to be weighed. Just walk up and wack that checked luggage straight onto the scale when you walk to the counter!

If your bag isn't too heavy the oldest trick in the book is to have someone hold your cabin bags for you away from the counter then check your luggage in. Upon recieving your boarding pass you just go back to your mate with your carry on luggage and bingo you avoid it getting weighed! Just make sure you stow it yourself in the overhead locker because cabin crew may possibly bag tag it as excess luggage.

Some new domestic carriers (Ozjet) now allow you to carry 20kgs onboard the cabin with 3 pieces of luggage! That's more then enough for a short kiting trip within Australia!

Hi Sly

If you were travelling between Australia and New Zealand just for snowboarding or leisure I'd sugges to people to check FreedomAir. They have probably the lowest rates and most generous baggage allowances. They are generally quite chean and competitive.

I agree that Qantas should change the name from 'Spirit of Australia' I think they are completely %@#%#!! to their own staff and the australian public!!! Soon theyll probably sack or make their own aussie staff redundant and youll be making bookings and phone calls to their call centres in India and having your aircraft serviced and maintained offshore in places like China on aircraft leased from Malaysian/Singapore Airlines!!!