Julie9

Hi all
We were in the process of booking flights for our move to the gold coast in Sept and whilst on the phone to a sales rep we were told that as we had validated our visa last Aug we had used up our extra baggage allowance on that trip, we explained that we only went for 2 weeks and it wasn't a permanent move at the time but he said as we had permanent residents visa's it counted and our only option was to fly via LA because the allowance is bigger ,surely this cant be true?
Julie

Rossi

Yep,
'tis true I'm afraid........
You need an unvalidated visa in order to get your double baggage allowance as a migrant traveller.......which a lot of airlines have stopped doing anyway

Julie9

no way we booked with southall travel and he assured it could be done as we had return tickets!!!!!

medwaymark

We went with AirNZ, upgraded to premium economy and had 46kg EACH...plus twice the usual hand luggage (I think) and loads of room....and I mean loads of room! Was quite a bit longer flight, but the extra space makes up for it

Julie9

My OH is calling them now to try and sort it did it cost a lot more to upgrade?

bcworld

You don't need to upgrade to get 46kg flying Air NZ.....you just need to fly via LA and not Hong Kong. Be prepared for a longer flight to Aus though as you must also go via Auckland.

Rachel13

Hi

If you've got an account with HiFX they will give you a special phone number and password to book your one way flights with Qantas and you will get the 40kg baggage.

We had already validated and they didn't even question it.

Rachel

movingaway

Rachel, did you manage to get a good price by doing this? The one they gave me was more expensive than quite a few others.
Thanks

lerato

I'm in a similar situation as my initial visa is for 1 year, therefore no extra baggage available for me on normal flights. Then I find out about Air New Zealand luggage allowance via US. It's a no-brainer for me, packing up my suitcases it 46kg is just so much more realistic than 20kg - which is closer to what I'd take for a 2 wk holiday...!

Pollyana

Note that if you go via the US you have to go through US Immigration and colect your bags en route before boarding the next sector of the flight.
Rules for transiting/entering the US on the Visa Waiver have changed recently.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=583018
and
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...66&postcount=5

Rachel13

At the time I booked I think £588 was the cheapest I could find anywhere else and Qantas was £613. I had looked into sending an extra 40kg (2 of us) by air freight and it was about £180 so I thought £50 extra for the flights was worth it. It was also cheaper than going via US or NZ and obviously a shorter route with only one change.

Rachel

lerato

Thanks Pollyana, I'd read about the visa changes for US but didn't know you had to collect bags. I will have to see what flights are available when my visa is authorised, so I might not have a choice which way I go anyway...

perksy

We are going with Malaysia Airlines via Kuala Lumpa. Only got the standard 20kg limit when I rang them to see if we could get any extra allowance they said no. I also asked them if I go over my 20kg allowance how much extra I'd have to pay. The mrs had to pick me up off the floor because the airline said it will be £39 per kg!!

Me thinks our cases will be weighed and double weighed before we leave for the airport

UsLot

We are flying with Etihad on Saturday. Because we are members of their loyalty programme we get an extra 10kg per person, so total 30Kg, plus 7Kg hand luggage allowance.

Mandy x

lerato

30kg doesn't sound too bad. I may now be resorting to the 20kg - checked prices again and ANZ from Teesside/Leeds/Manchester is £1,170 average. But I've now found some Emirates flights from Newcastle for £690...

Nearly £500 cheaper! But depends again on availability, and also Thomas Cook gave me some quotes for ANZ for approx £800. I guess it's working out if the faff and length via US is worth the extra money...