Just wondering if anyone has had any problems traveling with their gear. I'm not worried about the weight just the length, never traveled with gear before just wondering how lenient they are. I have a travel bag for my kites and board or boards that's 165 cm. Just looking for other peoples experience on this issue, Qantas site says max length of 140cm.
oh yeah for the one thinking use the forum search done that not much about length of stuff.
Qantas
Australian Domestic Weight Allowance
Economy: 1 piece 32kg (70lb) per piece
Piece Allowance and Dimensions
Total dimensions* of each piece must not exceed 140cm (54in)
Have a look here at the website. Good luck
www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/sporting-equipment/global/en
qantas & jetstar + gear = bad
trust me they will try and charge you extra for anything they can, especially if you go over their allowance which is f...all.
I once flew to Hawaii with jetstar and before hand my mate told me that they will charge me for meals so asked them about it and they said they are included, so I was supposed to get free meals as with any international flights but once I got on board I was told I had to pay, they charged me about $7-8 for a sandwich and $15 to use a blanket!!! Never again!!!
I can’t comment regarding Qantas and Jetstar, but my kite bag is about 165 cms in length including the handle, I travel with it frequently in Asia and have never been questioned regarding the size. (Mystic ‘Golf’ bag)
qantas are ****s and i was well dissapointed with the last time i flew with them...
when i booked flights i said I am going to a kite comp and i will have a sports kit weighing about 30kg plus clothes, the lady books me onto virgin one way and qantas other..
virgin were frikin awsome, ddnt even weigh the sports kit kos i had the good ol golf bag so i weighed in at 10kg all up (had kit in my hand luggage to reduce weight but aparantly was too big so had to swap clothes with hand luggage..
then on wya back qantas just tried to fist me left right and centre.. i had a gran total of 23kg max, no extra allowance for sporting equipment, just a stupid old bi*ch of a woman argueing saying sport gear shouldnt get extra allowance and **** n me tellin her that i was told that i get atleast a extra 5kg for sports and apon booking tickets i was told i will be fine flying with this kit etc... just got absolutely smashed like paid a extra 100 ontop of the 130 to change my flights and me wearing 10, i kid you not 10 shirts a jumper, 3 shorts and jeans, threw away all towels, trackies n ****...
oh and dressing like that at 7 in the morning still completely drunk and hung over at the same time is not cool 
I've taken upto 6'4 surfboards to Indo, Tahiti, and Chile, and never had a problem. Some of those legs were Qantas. Just be careful if you have to get little tiny connector planes places because sometimes the big luggage has to wait for the 'big plane' which only goes once every 3-4 days some places! by which time you are obese, hungover, and have missed the epic swell/wind
If you can always fly Virgin. I have never had to pay extra for my kit. I usually travel with my a twin tip, 2 kites, bars, harness, pump, and wettie ect all shoved into a snowboard bag.
Hi Skimnur
The length of your bag will not be a problem on any jet aircraft you are likely to fly on, but if you want to take you kit for free the only way to do that is to include it in your baggage allowance. So if your baggage allowance is 23KG and your cabin baggage allowance is 10Kg you have 33Kg total for your clothes kite camera and board. Some airlines will allow you to go over this slightly but it will depend on a number of factors these being, The airline, whether a contractor is doing the check in, what the loads are and how nice you are to the check in staff.
You will have to sign a limited liability for the kite and board and most likely have to take your kite bag to the over sized check in counter.
We are lucky that on most airlines in Australia we can still get away with including sports equipment in our baggage allowance, in the US and Europe as soon as they see any sports equipment they charge extra for it, but then they do not include it in your baggage allowance.
So to travel for free you have to pack very little else other than your kite gear, wear all your heavy clothes, put small heavy items in your hand luggage and carry it like it is really light(this does not always work cos some airlines will also weight hand luggage) turn up with plenty of time at check in, smile and be polite to the check in staff. If you are over you allowance don't act like those idiots on that TV show, if you have to pay extra suck it up then ask if you can reduce the weight of one of your bags by taking some heavy clothes out and wearing them, if you do this with a bit of humour they are more than likely let you make a half hearted effort at it then let you off.
Good luck and have a good holiday
I vote for Virgin Blue-they are SO MUCH BETTER than Crapstar-I will ALWAYS choose Virgin Blue over Crapstar if the choice is available-going with Garuda to Indo this year-they are way better than Crapstar with luggage etc.
What annoys me is when some airport nazi argues over a few kgs like it makes a huge difference to thier fuel costs and then you see some fat person at the next counter that weighs 30kg more than you do.
"Rules are rules they parrot, I dont make them I just follow them".
Makes me feel like telling them a BOMB joke to get them really excited
Its funny how people don't like Qantas... I have flown to London and back with them, checking in a Dakine Golf Bag weighing close to 29kgs both times and there has never been a hassle. The check in guy even put it through on business class for me when I flew back from London to Melbourne in January!
I think the trick is to only have the one bag to check in, and be prepared with your eticket, passport etc in your hand when you get to the desk. Be the guy that takes 30 seconds to check in and they will love you.
My tip, particularly when you know you're close to (over) the limit,
always remember to get there somewhat late-ish, and when you lay your gear bag down on that weighing conveyor belt next to the check-in desk, to accidentally let the end furthest away from you be resting on the metal sides of it.
sure, it's cheating.. but usually they're more pressured about speed at those counters close to departure, and the attendant would literally have to get up and swivel their neck round a full 180 degrees to properly have a look to see whether you've put the other end of the bag down correctly - and even then, if they did actually notice it, they'd then need to be incredibly pedantic to cause a scene in front of a big queue of people frantically trying to make their flights, just to make you re-lay your bag in the 'officially correct' manner..
And hey, if you do get caught, well that's just when you smile and bat your eyelids a bit..
"Oh shux, did I..? "
Thanks for the info, think i just use the bag i have and see what happens from what i have seen i think ill be ok.
cheers
If you try all the sugestions here and end up having to pay some exorbitant excess charge, you may be better off ditching anything of low value, eg you may find you have old clothes towels toiletries that are not worth $10 / kilo.
sometimes when I stand in check in queue, if airline load calculations factor in the increasing waistlines of passengers + majority of passengers have now have computer with them.
