Off to Mauritius 9th september and was wondering if anyone has been with their gear
in a bag marked GOLF. Mauritius airlines conditions say you can have the normal allowance bagage PLUS one bag of golf clubs that MUST! contain golf clubs.Damm me thinks wev'e been rumbled
Or should i risk it and invest in the......aghem!! GOLF bag.
Works well - as long as you look like you might! play golf. Saved me lots of money over the years. Might not be able to check in with your mates though with their 10 bags of kite gear ..
I've flown to Reunion on Austral and then to Maurice with Air Mauritius with my Naish Golf Bag (Weighing about 28kg) Remember you are allowed 7kg carry on (which can be closer to 10, as long as you don't look like you are hefting it around. Given you'll be rolling around in shorts and tshirt most of the time you should be alright. Never been pinged for being overweight on baggage.
Just make sure you look the part. Wear a little hat with a pompom, a naff polo shirt, some dorky trousers and some shoes with frilly bits covering the laces. Works for me every time.
i flew perth to london via mauritius with (air maur) in 2008 lugging a boardbag with 3 kites & 2 boards and had no problems.
in my experience if you get to the counter early & with a smile on your face, you shouldn't ever have to pay for excess on international flights no matter what airline you use.
Good luck using that theory on Emirates 
... No one is above Emirates, anything over 30kgs and your a goner, doesn't matter what it is.
p.s. I do carry 20kg or more in carry on though haha.
The best advice I can offer is don't fly Jetstar and don't book through webjet. Just got back from a trip to mount buller and tiger claimed webjet hadn't passed on the $80 charge we payed for sporting equipment.
The Sh! T fight I had with Jetstar over luggage is a whole other story.
I went to Mauritius on my honeymoon and managed to pursuad my new wife to allow me to take my kite gear!! Awesome kiting there!!
Flight there was not a problem, kites in my suitcase and surfboard in a bag. No charge. My problem was the transfer bus we booked to the hotel refused to take my board on the bus. Apparently an issue with safety and we should have ordered transport with roof racks or trailer. Mauritians go by the rules and can not convince them to break the rules (not like Bali!!) Apparently it is the same story for golf clubs. We ended up hiring a car.
... No one is above Emirates, anything over 30kgs and your a goner, doesn't matter what it is.
^^ In my travels I have had some success getting overweight bags whisked through by smiling sweetly at the (female) check in staff and saying, "I'm sorry that my bag is a little heavy, I tried to keep it down, but the shopping was sooooo good!"
Smiling and being super inquisitive and nice works sometimes... But the more you travel the more you realise it doesn't always work. And there's no point hoping you are going to get away with being 10kgs over when on emirates for example that could cost you $700 or more...
As mentioned above, carry on is your friend.
Personally I always pack:
1. My wheelie bag (just slightly bigger in dimentions than is excepted) with all my clothes and a few other things. Yes it weights more with wheels, but I honestly couldn't be ****ed carrying 20 something kilos of carry on around airports, when at least you can wheel half of it.
2. My backpack full of cameras, laptops and various chargers and ****. This is the important one and if you have a good backpack that looks small but fits a lot you will never get questioned at the gate.
The best trick is to hide the backpack under your jacket at the check in while all your luggage is still on a trolley. When they ask for your carry on, just get the wheelie bag and let them weigh it. They won't ask for anything else.
Or better yet, if you can, leave all your carry on with someone and say you don't have any. If you have to, load up your backpack with all your laptops and other stuff, to the point where it is far too heavy, then after you check in, switch most of it back to your wheelie bag.
Another usefull tip is the jacket. Its primary purpose is to hide your backpack, but it can also be usefull if for some reason they say you are overweight. You just start pulling stuff out of your bag and stuffing it in the big pockets... There's nothing they can do about you being too heavy.
p.s.
On one occasion I just started putting on every bit of clothing I had in my bag until I had the right weight. The lady said "you can't do that" and I said "Why not, I'm cold"... this was in KL airport haha.
... No one is above Emirates, anything over 30kgs and your a goner, doesn't matter what it is.
Hawaiian Airlines simply refused to take my "golf" bag on a plane until I prove that I have golf clubs in it. I couldn't open my bag as I "forgot" where were my keys. After 30 minutes discussion "what's the difference between golf clubs, surf board, kite board, skate board and why they charge 100$ for surf/kite/wake board only" I had to pay 100$. But it's only on internal flights, flights to/from Sydney are exempted from this very strange fee.
Love this thread - reminds me of pretty much every kiting / windsurfing flight I have ever been on - the "heavy Jacket" is incredibly useful at times!
Really love th info people thanks alot. But it says on the air mauritius web site 30kgs of normal luggage PLUS golf equipment just wondering if anyone had picked up on this
I've saved a lot of money travelling with my 'golf' kite bag, on those airlines that don't charge for golf clubs. When the check-in staff ask you “What is in the bag” (Which they quite often do), just be ready to answer confidently “Golf equipment”. I quite often also throw in a 'roll of the eyes' and point to the bag when I say this, as if to say “it says 'golf' on the side, can't you read”. Most people will back down and make no further challenge. Always be super-nice though!
Good luck..
last time I tried "the pointing at the bag with golfclubs bit" the Stewardess went sure you can take put your kitegear in with the fragile.... I think the airlines learned after the past couple of years!! She didn't charge anything extra for it but they are really not that silly to mistake a kiter for a golfer.... Being there on time with a smile on your face and lifting all the heavy stuff for them works best....
Jasper
