Traveling for an extended stay in a destination?

I was in NZ for 1 month and brought

- Tripod (checked luggage)
- Canon 5D
- 70-200 F4L IS
- 16-35 F4L IS
- Mavic drone + accessories
- Gopro

Air New Zealand has a (as I've heard) strict 7kg carry-on limit. If I am returning for a longer stay, I'd certainly want to bring more of my gear. But I'll absolutely be over the 7kg limit. I'd be reluctant, but I think I might be able to work with checking "all" my camera gear in a pelican-type case? But then the problem is I'll still be moving around, and not really sure I could just haul around a pelican case.

How do you guys normally deal with going to places for longer/the "need" for more gear with you?

A few years ago, for a 6-week trip to NZ from Europe and back, I booked the whole return flight (economy) with Singapore Airlines on their favorable terms, and Air NZ actually took over from Singapore to Auckland for the second half of the trip.

For the whole journey this meant a generous 30kg that could be split on 2 cases for the checked liuggage allowance, plus carry-on (then 10kg, now 7kg), plus a personal item (can be a small camera bag - no weight given on the airline website but can obviously not be a large Pelican case). I had a jacket with very large pockets that could have been used to transfer some of the photo gear (two or three lenses) from the carry-on if the staff had checked and grumbled.

I still ask myself how I will manage with only 20kg checked + 7kg carry-on for the next trips of that sort.

nordlysBW wrote in post #18398038
A few years ago, for a 6-week trip to NZ from Europe and back, I booked the whole return flight (economy) with Singapore Airlines on their favorable terms, and Air NZ actually took over from Singapore to Auckland for the second half of the trip.

For the whole journey this meant a generous 30kg that could be split on 2 cases for the checked liuggage allowance f, plus carry-on (then 10kg, now 7kg), plus a personal item (can be a small camera bag - no weight given on the airline website but can obviously not be a large Pelican case). I had a jacket with very large pockets that could have been used to transfer some of the photo gear (two or three lenses) from the carry-on if the staff had checked and grumbled.

I still ask myself how I will manage with only 20kg checked + 7kg carry-on for the next trips of that sort.

Yeah... it's kinda tough. I'd be willing to check a 2nd bag I think (despite not sure how to deal with 2 suitcases once I actually arrive!) but I have so much stuff I WOULDN'T want to check. And if I did end up checking in a pelican case or something, that'd be even more cumbersome to manage once I arrived...

We just returned from New Zealand. Planning for the trip, I was also concerned about the 7 kg weight limit for carry on baggage on Air New Zealand. In total, we had 4 flights with Air New Zeland (2 international to and from the States and 2 domestic flights between North and South Islands). I had contingency plans for my carry on camera gear as we are a family of five with multiple carry on bags to divy up the gear but carried all my gear in my F-stop Tilopa bag with ICU (5Diii, 35/f1.4, 24-70/F-2.8ii, 100-400Lii, 2 external flashes, GoPro, MacBook pro and some small accessories/chargers all weighing in at about 14 kg). Your experience may vary but my carry on bag was never measured or weighed on any leg of our travel and always taken on board and stores in the overhead bins. Good luck and safe travels!

manqvu wrote in post #18398499
We just returned from New Zealand. Planning for the trip, I was also concerned about the 7 kg weight limit for carry on baggage on Air New Zealand. In total, we had 4 flights with Air New Zeland (2 international to and from the States and 2 domestic flights between North and South Islands). I had contingency plans for my carry on camera gear as we are a family of five with multiple carry on bags to divy up the gear but carried all my gear in my F-stop Tilopa bag with ICU (5Diii, 35/f1.4, 24-70/F-2.8ii, 100-400Lii, 2 external flashes, GoPro, MacBook pro and some small accessories/chargers all weighing in at about 14 kg). Your experience may vary but my carry on bag was never measured or weighed on any leg of our travel and always taken on board and stores in the overhead bins. Good luck and safe travels!

I was on a business trip with holiday time tacked on, travelling with my wife to NZ and Australia nine years ago out of San Francisco to Aukland and return on AirNewZealand, and they very diligently weighed my carry on and my wife's, and I was forced to offload things to my checked bag achieve an actual 7.5Kg weight which they permitted me to carry on. This was all in a softsided case with my business laptop and chargers and notebooks etc. normally taken on business trips, plus a dSLR body with two zoom lenses (not even a longish tele zoom). So it was not like I was carrying a bulky and heavy looking camera kit. In the domestic legs, Qantas subjected my carry on to the SIZE test when flying from Melbourne to Sydney, which failed and had to be checked, only because the bag could not be lowered perfectly level into the size test frame, but had to be tilted a bit so it would manueuver past the feet on the bag!

manqvu wrote in post #18398499
... Your experience may vary but my carry on bag was never measured or weighed on any leg of our travel and always taken on board and stores in the overhead bins.

Wilt wrote in post #18398507
... they very diligently weighed my carry on and my wife's, and I was forced to offload things to my checked bag achieve an actual 7.5Kg weight which they permitted me to carry on.

One of the big problems with air travel is that you don't know what will happen.

A few years ago I travelled to Singapore and India several times from Canada. Carry-on rules seemed strict, so I left heavier photo gear at home. But then I discovered on a couple of occasions that all you had to do was ask nicely and they would let you carry more on board. After that I took the 100-400 along, without problems.

It was a similar thing on a trip to Amsterdam. The rules stated max 7 kg for carry-on. I complied, but nobody measured or weighed anything, so I could have taken much more on board with me.

But the thing is that you never know. So if you are taking more, always have a Plan B.

I know it's unpatriotic of me to say so, but the solution to your luggage problem is to fly American Airlines. They fly direct to here and have to compete against AirNZ so the fares are competitive. You also get 2 free checked bags instead of 1 and the US carry-on allowance based on size only.

I prefer the AirNZ experience but the luggage thing (US$500 extra last trip) makes American our first choice now.

Steve.

SteveInNZ wrote in post #18399827
I know it's unpatriotic of me to say so, but the solution to your luggage problem is to fly American Airlines. They fly direct to here and have to compete against AirNZ so the fares are competitive. You also get 2 free checked bags instead of 1 and the US carry-on allowance based on size only.

I prefer the AirNZ experience but the luggage thing (US$500 extra last trip) makes American our first choice now.

Steve.

Will definitely look into that. At least last time I booked, using AirNZ was the cheapest (I'm flying from Canada but through the USA...)

Any thoughts on getting to the south island? I think AirNZ is my only option right, in which case I still face their restrictions?

Should I plan to stop at auckland and drive/train/what down to the south?

You'd have to look at the whole picture with what you want to do and places you want to visit. You can get the ferry (with or without your car) from Wellington to Picton. I'm not sure what the train situation out of Picton is since the Kaikoura earthquake.
Both JetStar and AirNZ have the 7kg carry-on limit and then you buy checked baggage like you do in the US.

Steve.

It all depends on how much time you have. Driving down from Auckland can be a fine option if on the way you plan to stop in Taupo for some sightseeing and then perhaps go on to Cape Kidnappers. The ferry crossing from Wellington to Picton is also enjoyable on a sunny day as it gets you through the very picturesque Marlborough Sounds. Once in the south you will possibly wish to pay Kaikoura a visit. The coastal drive to that place is quite scenic and a stay in Kaikoura is really rewarding. If you'd rather aim for the west coast from Picton, the Abel Tasman is faster to reach than if you land in Christchurch and have to move north again. The same goes if you think of going Westport way. On the other hand, if your main interest is the Southern Alps, flying from Auckland will save you a lot of driving.