Hi All,
I hope all is good and enjoyed Christmas and New Year!!
I know there are lots of threads on this but I am struggling to see what to do.
I am flying over to Aukland, NZ from Sydney in mid Jan with Quantas.
I am allowed 23k checked luggage but really don't want to pay any excess!! I currently only have the bag the kite came in and no board bag.
What is the easiest / cheapest / best way to protect my equipment and get it over without being charged.
So far I've thought ..... stripping the board of fins, handle, foot straps helps (but do I need to buy a special board bag??). Put the kite into hand luggage with the stuff I've taken off the board and the bar, lines and board into checked luggage.
Any help really appreciated as I seem to be going round in circles!!
Many Thanks
Gav
Bubble plastic would be fine for yr board (and cheapest) - you've got the carry-on part right ...
check and see if they have a sports equipment policy.. when i flew to Fiji they allowed 23kg but they only charged you 5 kg for a board bag as long as it weighed under 28 kg.. I took 2 board bags weighing about 25 kg each and i was still allowed 13 kg.. most airlines do have some sort of sport bag policy but some of them limit it to golf bags.. that's why you see so many kitesurfing golf bags..
Another trick, which was shown to me when i bought a kite from interstate, was to unscrew the pump top, and place the hose and bits and pieces inside, then re-assemble the pump again.
Goodluck
KR
You can do it easily, do the bubble wrap thing with the board. If you have an extendable kite bag put all your gear in there , wettie, harness clothes etc. Have another large carry on bag, I use an old kite bag for this. This is where you put anything heavy to keep the check in to it's limit.
Carry it to the opposite side on your back as you past the last check out. I have always done this and have never been questioned . Loads of people have oversized carry on luggage, very rarely will they ever be weighed, good luck.
Did you know that QANTAS is the only word that doesn't have the letter 'U' following the 'Q' in the word?
It's technically an Acronym for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd. and not a word.
The golf bag is the way to go - I think Naish and a few other companies make them.
when i went to cairns i only had a 20kg baggage allowance... got a simple cabrina board bag, took the fins off put my wettie gear in it... had two kite bags also... so those 3 items weighed in at 19kgs... took my clothes etc and harness as carry on luggage... problem solved :-)
I fly with my kite gear on Qantas quite regularly.
They have dropped their sports equipment allowance and allow 23kg checked luggage all up.
I have a Best golf bag and pack it with 8m and 12m, twintip, bar, harness, pump, and towel.
All up it weighs 20kgs - so I often can stuff even more crap in there.
The Golf bag is heavy duty and would weigh a few kgs on its own.
I use a duffel bag as carry on and pack it full of my clothes and bric a brac.
I also take advantage of being able to carry on a garment bag and pack that with crap to 
Just be smart with your carry on, work the garment bag allowence, and only use checked in baggage allowance for your kite gear.
Check the allowance on Qantas website, not sure if it's changed but last time I travelled you were allowed 23kg check-in plus 2 x 7kg bags carry on. I carried on two small kites (7 & 9) in 1 kite bag and my clothes, camera's, fins, straps etc in another bag, they weighed around 6.9 - 7 kg each .
Surfboard, TT, 12mtr, wetty, towel, harness etc in a board bag was then checked in and 23 kg is a fair amount of gear.
A good board bag is great to have but as mentioned bubblewrap is fine especially if the fins are removed. You can always wrap/pack your board with wetsuit, towel, harness etc first.
My mate once wore a scuba diving weightbelt onto a plane. He got some pretty stange looks when he took it off and placed it in a tray on the security checkpoint, but its all legal and legit so they couldnt really stop him. Pretty uncomfortable ride though...
I normally check in with 1 board bag as oversized luggage which has Board with bindings but remove fins, harness, kite, bar & lines, wettie & snorkeling gear which weighs in at about 20Kg.
Then a sports bag for carry on with my clothes and anything else I need jammed in.
so far no probs with Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin or Air Pacific.
I have notice when picking up my gear i have notice some bubble wrapped boards
I do a Cab board bag and a duffle bag with kites and other gear in it and it seams to work pretty well.
Having said that that I've had to stitch some tears in the cab bag up from tears put in by baggage handlers and in hold wear and tear
You should get on that show with Eddie Everywhere rloemker, you could be on your way to $1,000,000.00.
Hi All,
Many thanks for all the help on luggage - much appreciated.
Think I will bubble wrap the board and strap to my large rucksac (I am a backpacker) but take all the heavy stuff in my kite bag as hand luggage.
Also have loved the English / words discussion evolving!!
Hope to see Botney Bay kiters again, after a good afternoon today, before I go but if not enjoy kiting and hopefully be back here again one day.
Happy kiting
Gav
probably too late now, but Air New Zealand still allows golf bags of any weight to count as 5kg "Sporting Goods" in your 23kg you're allocated.
The mrs and I packed 2 wetties, board, 2 kites (14 and 10m) a bunch of scuba gear into my pro-limit golf bag and all told it weighed in at around 28kg. They still counted it as 5kg for us when we went to Rarotonga.
. When I first saw CWM I assumed it an acronym.
