airline weight issue

there is also the potential for heavy objects becoming projectiles in times of turbulence... I remember at one time travelling with a small carryon full of 6 wine bottles. During the take-off roll the overhead locker de-latched itself, and it was only the quick thinking of a bloke deflecting it's travel that it didn't severely scone the unfortunate sat underneath. Thankfully no-one took offence and none of the bottles were broken!

Lowner wrote in post #14895274
I'd be packing the batteries/grip ... into the suitcase, as well as any/all books, manuals etc.

You aren't allowed to put spare lithium batteries in checked baggage unless they are installed in "equipment" (I guess the grip would qualify). See

http://www.casa.gov.au …D:1706704273:pc​=PC_100484

(the PDF poster is a lot easier to understand, as is the page at Virgin). The reason is that there's no way to put the fire out if they catch fire - I think a cargo plane was brought down a few years ago because of that.

I am curious how long before they start weighing passengers. What burns more fuel - and extra pound in my carry on or the 450 pound guy I always end up sitting next to?

hollis_f wrote in post #14895471
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.

Exactly, great point.

I asked the lady on the phone how an over weight person fairs against my 1.5 extra kg........she paused as I waited for the answer.

Well all sorted, my friend will carry the 70-200mm in the case canon supplies and I will have the rest.

Lensy,
Any time I travel by air, ALL my bodies and lenses come on board with me.
That's 300/2.8, 70-200, 24-70 and 2 bodies/grips and I usually have one body and lens hanging over my shoulder.
I pack it all in the one travel case and even though it weighs way more than the 7kgs, I've never been asked to weigh it - and that's been on QANTAS, Virgin and Jetstar - I've never had the honour of flying with Tiger.
The trick is not to look like it's that heavy.
The rest of my stuff - flashes etc get wrapped up in clothes and packed in my check-in luggage.

Justaddwata wrote in post #14895579
I am curious how long before they start weighing passengers. What burns more fuel - and extra pound in my carry on or the 450 pound guy I always end up sitting next to?

If they try to charge him more then it'll take about 5 microseconds before the words 'discrimination' and 'lawyer' start getting used. And I'd be one of the first to complain.

They already discriminate against us tall people by making us squeeze into tiny spaces. And if you try to get a seat with extra legroom they've almost certainly already been booked by some waif-like young thing. Or they want to charge you extra for it!

hollis_f wrote in post #14895471
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.

Exactly what I was thinking. I think this is one of the airline's new ploys to get more money out of you. I bet they also charge you for checked baggage. So now even if the bag fits, if it weighs a certain amount, you still have to check a bag and pay.

But really I'm thinking you need to check your scale. Is it starting at zero? You said your bag empty is 3kg which to me is 6.6 pounds. That's a REALLY heavy empty bag. My empty lowepro 202 weighs in at 1 pound which is about .45kg. Your limit in pounds is 15. My 7D with a 17-70 on it is 3.5 lbs. The 70-200 is 3 lbs. The battery grip is 1 pound. So total with a similar setup as yours for me is still under 8 pounds.
If I weigh my regular carry bag - Lowepro 202AW, 7D, Sigma 70-200 f2.8 OS HSM, SIgma 17-70 f2.8-4. Sigma 10-20 f3.5-5.6, Canon 50mm f1.8, Sigma EF 610 super DG speedlight, 2 spare batteries, flash cable, stroboframe bracket, 8 spare AA batteries, RF remote shutter release, filters, rocket blower, rain cover I still come in at less than 12 pounds which is less than 5.5 kg.

Sounds like one of our scales are off.

hollis_f wrote in post #14895471
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.

You're right and wrong at the same time.

You're right in that for each specific passenger, how their kilograms are distributed between carry-on and checked luggage is completely irrelevant.
The catch is that, more generally, a policy like this will discourage pax from bringing more kilos on board than they need to.
If the OP had not been flying with a friend and decided to leave his 70-200 at home, the discouragement would have been successful.

The cost of fuel is one of the single largest worries that airlines face. If they can bring their fleetwide fuel loads down by 0.2% with policies like this, then they'll jump at the opportunity.

Now when airlines start implementing the absolutely vile & despicable policy of charging to check-in luggage.. don't get me started.

FWIW, I do 50-60 flights/year, the majority on airlines that allow 23 kg carry-on + a laptop or camera bag, and 23/32 kg to be checked in. I fly hand luggage only, unless I'm going to be away for more than ~15 days. I never put my laptop or camera gear in luggage to be checked in. I think the 7 kg carry-on limit is far too low to be reasonable.

OK, I travel in Au all the time with my kit. If I am going to have to go to the counter to check in, like with Virgin, I firstly put anything not too frail in my checked luggage. Then you are allowed to carry a coat etc as well as a bag, so you can put smaller lenses in the pockets. I also carry my charger, cable and cards in my pockets so if my checked luggage gets lost I can still use my gear. Then weigh my bag and usually manage to get it down to pretty close to 7kg. If I travel with my wife it is easy, half my gear goes in her carry on bag. I have never had my carry on weighed, but have seen it done and then the trouble starts haha. The other thing is I use a backpack that only weighs a couple of kg empty. Then when you have checked in simply out it all back into your bag. The people at the gate don't care what your bag weighs. The other option if you fly Qantas (which I prefer) is do the self check in thing and then you actually put your bag on the conveyer and nobody even looks at your carry on bag at all. Again, when you get to the gate they simply don't care. I have done that before and just left everything in my backpack, no problems at all. Good luck and enjoy it up there.

kfreels wrote in post #14897227
Exactly what I was thinking. I think this is one of the airline's new ploys to get more money out of you. I bet they also charge you for checked baggage. So now even if the bag fits, if it weighs a certain amount, you still have to check a bag and pay.

But really I'm thinking you need to check your scale. Is it starting at zero? You said your bag empty is 3kg which to me is 6.6 pounds. That's a REALLY heavy empty bag. My empty lowepro 202 weighs in at 1 pound which is about .45kg. Your limit in pounds is 15. My 7D with a 17-70 on it is 3.5 lbs. The 70-200 is 3 lbs. The battery grip is 1 pound. So total with a similar setup as yours for me is still under 8 pounds.
If I weigh my regular carry bag - Lowepro 202AW, 7D, Sigma 70-200 f2.8 OS HSM, SIgma 17-70 f2.8-4. Sigma 10-20 f3.5-5.6, Canon 50mm f1.8, Sigma EF 610 super DG speedlight, 2 spare batteries, flash cable, stroboframe bracket, 8 spare AA batteries, RF remote shutter release, filters, rocket blower, rain cover I still come in at less than 12 pounds which is less than 5.5 kg.

Sounds like one of our scales are off.

They are digital scales and yes I will check them as the bag is listed on lowepros site as 2.1kg but my digiatal is giving me 3kg, LOL the wife will be happy if there is a calibration issue with my bathroom scale!!!!!!

In the last 7 years I (conservatively) estimate I've been on 350 flights all over Australia and internationally.

I've had my carry-on weighed maybe 3 times in all that time, and they were only ever on regional flights on turbo-prop aircraft.

Never had a the slightest query on one of the majors (Qantas, JetStar, Virgin).

Just keep your backpack on your back and don't act nervous when you're checking in. If you're really worried ditch the grip and get your friend to hang onto the 2 short lenses while your putting your bags through.

Once you're past the bag drop you're home free...

I just added all the weights of every item from the manufacturers website and they all total 6.5kg with a 580exmk2 and 4 batts included.

Will take the kit to another weight scale and see what comes up.

never had an issue with a camera bag complete with 40D (now 5D3), 70-200, 24ii, 85ii and all the crap that goes with it. This is flying in the US, Europe and australia too.

Turbo props and rent-a-budget paper airplanes that go by weight of passengers before assigning seats is a totally different scenario though.

oh, and sometimes it pays to pay that $50 more for a decent airline that will treat you and your camera/possessions a little better.

There are plenty of airlines I will happily avoid at all costs.

There is this list, and it has one airline with 6Kg limit, about eight with 7 Kg limit, about six with 8 Kg limit.

http://www.airfarewatc​hdog.com …ne-carry-on-bag-policies/