Is Qantas still the best option for domestic flights or no good anymore? Do we get hit with huge excess baggage charges regardless? Any hot tips greatly appreciated! 
Here is where you can find the answers:
www.qantas.com/au/en/travel-info/baggage.html
They used to be good, but I haven't checked for a while.
I recently flew virgin Brisbane to cairns and purchased an extra bag (23kgs) $20 online each way which is pretty good.
I had 1 quiver bag 2 sails and a mast, 1 board bag and I taped the boom bag to the board bag, but i did found out on the return trip this is not allowed.
cause i flew there the same way they allowed it on my return trip. so really you need to pay $20 for each piece of baggage each way no matter if it just weighs 5kg or 23kg.
next time I try taking a bigger board bag and put the boom bag in the board bag.
Im not sure what Qantas is like but the airfairs were alot more at the time.
My qantas experience in feb, going bris->perth return was pretty much the same.
Its about an extra $20 ($30 at airport if you don't prebook) per bag if you prebook. I'm a silver frequent flier, so that means I get 1 x 32kg bag normally, and extra bags I think are also 32kg. If you aren't a frequent flier, it means your bags are limited to 23kg, thou they have a heavy charge which allows you to fly with 32kg bags.
I flew with 2 boards in 1 bag, and 4 sails+2masts+boom and accessories in the other bag. No idea how much they weighed, cause I managed to avoid getting weighed both ways, but based on my mates experience, 32kg is plenty enough.
Just make sure you prebook your excess luggage and arrive early, and you will be sweet. If I recall it was under $500 for return flights to perth from bris inc excess baggage.
hey swoosh what sort of bag did you use for 4 sails+2masts+boom.
Certainly help being a frequent flier with Virgin or Qantas.
Thanks so much for all this. Huge help and way more positive than I thought. Great news!!
I just got an old dakine quiver bag that I got given. I really need a new one that has wheels and padding.
I think I put the sails in rolled together as pairs so I had 2 big rolls?, I might have put em in stacked 2x2 can't remember what I did now. Boom on top, masts in the middle and wetsuit+harness wrapped around the clew of the sails to protect them a bit. I'm only carting around wave sails (5.6m is the biggest and 400 mast), probably a bit easier to lug around than the race sails you got.
This is a massive improvement on last few years. Very happy.
www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/plan/baggage/checked-baggage/?error=login_required
Pre-Purchase Baggage (Online / Guest Contact Centre)
The following table outlines AUD fees for pre-purchased pieces of checked baggage:
Travelling with: Domestic Tier 1 Domestic Tier 2
1 additional piece $12 $15
2 additional pieces in total $32 $45
3 additional pieces in total $52 $75
Only hassel now in sydney is the T2(virgin/jetstar/tiger) terminal arrivals, you cannot pickup from front, you have to cart your gear 300m up the road to the carpark which is hopeless if you have 2 boards and kitbag and no helpers as you have to move them all in one go or security will give you grief.
Cabs can pickup from the front still though.
www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/plan/baggage/oversized-fragile-items/?error=login_required
length 3m or 1.8 on ATR.
I spoke with '
Freddie' in baggage services and you can buy 3 pieces online.
If you have 2 boards and a kit bag,
option 1- spread the weight between the 3 so each piece is less than 23kgs
or
option 2- 2 boards each less than 23kgs and kit bag less than 32kgs(3 pieces $75 to PER) .
you would need to purchase an additional baggage allowance of $40 at the airport,
thus paying for 4 pieces(if you were lucky and got the right person they might not worry about it).
This is way better than b4, it used to be 23kgs then $15per/kg!
