airline weight issue

Hi looking at flying out in two days to Darwin and the airline has a 7kg limit to carry on luggage. Taking my 17-40mm, 24-105mm, 70-200mm f/2.8 and 5dmk2 with battery grip, two batteries and remote shutter. the damned kit weighs 1.5 kgs over. I telephoned the airport and they said if its over 7kg it all has to be checked in as heavy baggage and has to go into the hold with all the suitcases!!!!!!!!!!!!!​!!


I have emptied my entire lowepro bag and only the above mentioned is in it.

I know they will weigh it. I really dont want any of this kit in my suitcase. I will be travelling with a friend, so perhaps get her to pop a lens in her handbag?


What have you guys done in the past. Please run the assumption that they will ask to weigh the bag.


Den

ask if they consider a camera around your neck as part of the allowance. Some airlines do - some don't.

I guess it depends on the airline and where you're at. According to Delta:

You may carry on one bag and one personal item at no charge. Please note that all items must easily fit into the overhead bin or under the seat in front of you.

Approved Personal Carry-on Items

1 purse, briefcase, camera bag, or diaper bag;
or 1 laptop computer (computers cannot be checked and must be carried on);
or 1 item of a similar or smaller size to those listed above.

OP is not in the US

I've traveled many times and puts some of my gear in checked luggage and have never had a problem. I make sure that it is in a hard sided suitcase and that it is packed properly. Those rules are there for a reason and on some flights they will weigh every piece if they are full and it is hot out at the point of departure. I worked for the airlines for quite a few years. If you are going to show up at the gate and hope they don't you better have a back up plan. I've seen some people break down when they are told that their carry on must get put below. Try taking removing one item at a time out of your carry on in its order of least importance until you reach the target weight. The grip could most certainly come off and go in your baggage.

I have run into very strict carryon requirements in flying to NZ from USA on Air New Zealand...I had to remove items from the camera bag and wrap them with clothing and embed that bundle with as much surrounding other clothing as possible, at the gate before checking my luggage. The gate agent finally let me get by with 7.5Kg camera bag.
If you have a travelling companion you can lighten their carryon with sufficient non-breakable items into checked luggage, to make room for your breakables. Leave your grip at home, pack spare batteries in your luggage and put one in your pocket for travelling about!

I telephoned and asked about carrying the camera around my neck and she said they would have to weigh it too!!!!!!!!!!! How stupidly crazy???????

Wear a jacket with big pockets, put a lens or two in the pockets, and walk up to the check in agent while wearing the jacket.

Put a lens in the front of your pants, if you want to try to impress the agent.

lensfreak wrote in post #14894609
Hi looking at flying out in two days to Darwin and the airline has a 7kg limit to carry on luggage. Taking my 17-40mm, 24-105mm, 70-200mm f/2.8 and 5dmk2 with battery grip, two batteries and remote shutter. the damned kit weighs 1.5 kgs over.

I'm wondering how that is possible. Do you have too elaborate a bag? I've seen ones that weigh 2kg all by themselves. If it's the actual bag that's the culprit you could check that but take the camera and lenses in separate cases in an ordinary carryon or light bag.

Are you also including a tripod? That should be checked in. Some people remove the head first, but I wouldn't bother. Just make sure it's padded with foam or similar. Some people put it in a suitcase.

I flew to Darwin under the 7kg limit.

For me, 7kg is as much as I want to carry around an airport terminal anyway. Both Sydney and Melbourne now have large shopping malls inside the sterile areas, which means a long walk after you've checked in your baggage.

If your ticket specifies an extra fee per checked-in bag, you can bet they will weigh carryon. They have always done so if they thought a carryon was excessive, going back decades.

Regardless of your ticket, if it's Qantas/Jetstar they will probably also want to check it against the size gauge. You should, too, because I've noticed many bags sold here as "carryon" *don't* in fact conform to our rules. (See the Qantas and Virgin web sites.) Several luggage retailers, e.g. DJ's and Victoria Station, have Qantas gauges for you to check bags when buying them.

the stupid bag is 3kg on its own!!!!

Its a lowepro 350 backpack style

I checked its dimensions and they are good, just a few cm's under the required.

I did call them and argue the point that if I consumed a meal of 1kg of food prior to flying that it alone was extra weight, the lady on the phone just paused and said rules are rules. I mentioned that I was happy to pay extra for the weight but she added it had to be checked in.


Just decided to give the 70-200mm to my friend to carry onboard in the bag that came with it and then relocate while midflight back to my backpack. Just plain silly rules

tripod is going in the suitcase

Aviation Facts:
1) More Weight = Higher Fuel Burn
2) Higher Fuel Burn = Less Profit

Airlines world-wide are (reportedly) operating on angstrom-thin margins so whatever they can do to fly as light as possible, they'll do.

I'd be packing the batteries/grip and anything else less valuable into the suitcase, as well as any/all books, manuals etc. There has to be a way of bringing it under the weight limit.

lensfreak wrote in post #14895241
Just plain silly rules

Personally I'm glad they've started cracking down recently (the 7kg/105cm rule is old). It got to the point on the Melbourne-Sydney flight that it was affecting disembarkation times because of the huge roller cases people were carrying on. If a plane can't turn around in Sydney and loses its take-off slot it affects services all over the country.

The worst offenders are families who've never travelled before, and all have too much stuff, and businesspeople, who generally travel alone. So I guess the airline won't be too concerned if your companion carries the lens; they hit their main targets.

It can't be denied that the airlines have a financial incentive to charge you $20 for a bag, but as has been pointed out it does cost them in fuel and also baggage handling costs.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #14895267
Aviation Facts:
1) More Weight = Higher Fuel Burn
2) Higher Fuel Burn = Less Profit

Sounds feasible. Apart from one question - how does it make any difference if the extra weight is carried in the hold or in the cabin?

If it's just a matter of mass then every passenger should be given an allowance of 30kg which can be split between hold and cabin baggage, with the restriction that cabin baggage must be one or two bags small enough to easily fit into the overhead lockers.

The 7kg limit is supposedly so one person (in days past, usually a young woman) could quickly lift it in and out of the overheads.