You would need to request for special assistance from the airline, which is best done way before your intended date of departure.
Budget airlines 7kg limit.
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You would need to request for special assistance from the airline, which is best done way before your intended date of departure.
Remember the old days when all the heaviest stuffs are stuffed into carry-on bag, weighing MORE than the checkin luggage..lol
No la.. Must use guanxi.
Can nudge and wink and say "I'm that famous professional from CS who climbs trees, I'm sure you know me".
Actually i welcome the idea of stricter enforcement. I've seen many (especially those anuty) carry what's suspose to be check-in standard baggage onboard. this cause the overhead storage to run out of space, all these for saving $20.
Hope they are really serious about this.
Hope they are really serious about this.
Basically early early declaring that am a photographer and the carry on exceeds the weight limit but not to the extend of more then 20kg however 95% inside is all photo gear and cannot risk to check in. Does anyone have experience with negotiating with a budget/commercial airlines to allow this on the reason of being a working/famous/etc photographer? A 400mm 2.8 is already 6kg alone and i doubt anyone would check it in.
Would paying more make them more flexible?
be creative. if you know that you're going to have to carry more than 7KGs of equipment....
pay for the tickets of another 1 or 2 more people to just carry on the gear for you :bsmilie:
Actually it was rather beneficial. I learnt the skill to shoot from moving speedboat as well as motorbike and often am the goto guy when organisers need such shots from those viewpoints. And all it started from climbing a tree to take a shot. Its all because i got inspired by a guy who took a shot from a helicopter which is what i am planning to do in future. With the increase in sports activities in asia, am pretty sure the demand for sports photographers who have specialized experience will be in demand.
my vacation trips were mostly with my family members and quite a number of them(especially my father and bro-in-law) do not have any carry-on baggage.
the combined weight of all my carry-on stuffs hovers around 10kg.
so i always sprung on this opportunity and ask my father to carry my backpack with lenses and accessories in it when we check into the flight.
i myself will carry my sling bag with my camera bodies and go-to lenses plus other nitty gritty personal items.
if i were to travel alone, i think i really need to pack to the limit already.
PS: yes, i bring a lot of photography stuffs for vacation, partly due to the fact that we always have our own chartered bus, so moving my stuffs around is really not a problem. transiting between hotels may be a lil' troublesome but it's nothing to lose sleep over.
the combined weight of all my carry-on stuffs hovers around 10kg.
so i always sprung on this opportunity and ask my father to carry my backpack with lenses and accessories in it when we check into the flight.
i myself will carry my sling bag with my camera bodies and go-to lenses plus other nitty gritty personal items.
if i were to travel alone, i think i really need to pack to the limit already.
PS: yes, i bring a lot of photography stuffs for vacation, partly due to the fact that we always have our own chartered bus, so moving my stuffs around is really not a problem. transiting between hotels may be a lil' troublesome but it's nothing to lose sleep over.
I see 2 scenarios.
1. You carry the usual photographic equipment (nothing extraordinarily large, bulky or heavy) and exceeds 10kg. In this case, a quick email to your airline will do. Most full service carriers will be able to assist. As for low cost carriers, well, let's just say if you want additional special services besides just a seat for your butt in the plane, fly full cost carriers. LCC may assist, or may charge. That is really up to the airline's policies.
2. You are a "National Geographic" photographer, with massive amount of specialized equipment, like the 400mm f/2.8, maybe the new 800mm f/5.6 or even Canon's 10000mm, along with the full suite of tripod and other equipment. In this case, get good transportation cases, pack the lens in with the usual protection and mark it as fragile and check in as hold baggage.
I know people say lots of horror stories about baggage being tossed around etc. I have 2 different observations to dispel that:
1. The nature of my current job allows me the privilege of observing Hold Baggage operations at several reputable international airports, including Changi Airport, Hong Kong International Airport and Incheon International Airport. No such incidences.
2. I know for a fact that various entertainment and light logistics companies transport their important cargo, including lighting and laser equipment, hard but brittle components like fiberglass and many other just as fragile and delicate items via air cargo and indeed, for lighter objects, hold baggage in a commercial flight. No issues either.
While the method in which they use to handle the hold baggage may not be the most desirable, proper packing and protection will ensure that your "precious" lenses are safe.
Of course, different airports, different ground handling agents, different airlines and indeed different personnel handling your baggage may have different standards. If in doubt, insure your equipment.
One thing is for sure - these sort of equipment should not be in the cabin.
I suppose mostly are budget airline which impose this kind of rules strictly. I back from HK, with my camera bag which quite big and I got 2 BIG bags of stuffs. I still allow to board and no one stops me. Maybe due to my size? haha! Anyway, I also try not to be "hero" and carry so much things onboard la, heavy and troublesome and still have to look after your "important" belonging like passport, wallet etc. Anyway, just pray for a safe trip will do, I don't mind to pay if requested.
Why not just check-in your lugguage? I do not understand why some people are in such hurry to get out of airports? Nowadays, check-in luggage are unloaded pretty quickly. I am fully supportive of the 7kg limit. I wouldn't want overhead compartments to be stuffed to such an extend that it may pop open during a turbulence and risk my head being smashed by whatever unneccessary stuff others carry onboard. Bear in mind, most budget airlines are using planes that are not new.
My recent Tiger flight to Bali (Mandala airway code share), I was pleasantly surprised that the handcarry allowance is 10kg instead of 7kg. With all my gear, I weigh in at 8.7 KG.
On safety side, the compartment above all the heads is designed to hold a certain amount of weight. I saw this sticker "Maximum weight in this compartment 30/40kg" inside an Air Bus A320, which is about 10kg per bag for 3 bag that sit nicely inside the compartment following the dimension of hand carry luggage. There should be some safety factor in the design, but if that is the weight allowance given to the airline by Air Bus/Boeing so the airline also try to impose the same on the passengers.
So far for my travel with budget airlines, those who were ask to weight at gate are carrying trolley hand carry. If during boarding time, they will ask the hand carry to be stuff with the check in luggage (without charge from what I see), so I think its because of the compartment capacity. Then nego nego, end up the air crew help them to store at some secret compartment inside the plane and ask the passenger to approach them after the plane has landed. They close one eye on backpacks.
So far for my travel with budget airlines, those who were ask to weight at gate are carrying trolley hand carry. If during boarding time, they will ask the hand carry to be stuff with the check in luggage (without charge from what I see), so I think its because of the compartment capacity. Then nego nego, end up the air crew help them to store at some secret compartment inside the plane and ask the passenger to approach them after the plane has landed. They close one eye on backpacks.
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