JDAD84

So, my husband and I are only planning on taking what we can carry when we head out to oz in about 6 weeks. Im currently looking to work out the best flights and Emirates is good for flight costs but trying to balance this with costs of excess luggage to get the best overall deal. We're looking at 2 extra bags for checked in luggage plus hand luggage

Did anyone else go minimalist on their journey to oz and what kind of costs did you pay for excess baggage etc?

Thanks

old.sparkles

We flew out on unvalidated visas so could claim extra baggage allowance with Singapore. At the time we got 46kg each plus 7kg hand luggage (although if anyone had weighed the hand luggage we would have been over ) - plus laptop bags for free. It was hard work getting it in the hire car though - and we had a free upgrade

DML

Malaysia give you 30kg in economy - we were about 5kg each over and they didn't bat an eyelid. As the previous poster says, the bigger issue is manhandling all those bags around en route and on arrival!

JDAD84

Hey Old Sparkles, wow that's awesome, just been looking at Singapore and they seem rather expensive, did you fly in business or first class to get that allowance?

Just checked and Emirates is the same as Malaysia airways giving you the 30kg in economy, however they also only allow 1 cabin baggage whereas most others allow a laptop and handbag separate to the actual cabin bag.

Confusing!

old.sparkles

Nope - economy. It was when standard was only 23kg as well - they recently put their allowances up to 30. Migrant baggage allowance is double standard (or was anyway). I emailed Singapore and got it confirmed in writing. Heathrow allows 2 pieces of cabin luggage per traveler - not sure if that is an airline thing, or airport thing, but although there is a listed weight allowance, it went on bag size not weight. I had three pieces of handluggage - bag, laptop and handbag and had to buy bigger bag at airport to get it down to two pieces.

AJRussell

Are you off on a holiday or emigrating? We are moving in 5 weeks on Singapore Airlines and I have double allowance for my family, so 40 KG per adult and 20 KG per child.

Albeit, they took all my stuff today in the van for shipping and im not sure I will use it! =)

JDAD84

Emigrating, wow that's great how did you get that allowance, did you book directly and if you don't mind me asking how costly were your flights? When i've looked online it doesnt mention anything about type of traveler just class of travel

old.sparkles

You have to be travelling on an unvalidated PR visa and one way ticket so not cheap. Think our flights were around 800GBP back in April, and as I said, we had double allowance which was 23kg at the time, giving us 46 each.

Qantas used to have a page on their site somewhere about migrant allowances, and there's the IOM (International Organisation of Migrants or something close). I read on here about someone getting the migrant baggage allowance with SIA, so when we were looking to book I emailed them about it, and got it confirmed. If you google 'Migrant baggage allowance', you'll see that it comes up all the time

kris_cs1

Are you sure? It says on Malaysia Airline's website that you are allowed:

bcworld

30kg is pretty much becoming the new standard in economy on the kangaroo route now...Singapore recently increased theirs.

For paying to take an extra bag I think BA and Virgin Atlantic still offer the best deal but probably applies to flights to SYD only. 1 extra bag is GBP55 which would give you a total of 2 bags / 46kg.

JDAD84

Hey sorry, i meant allowance for checked baggage was the same for Malaysia and Emirates. Emirates have the restriction on hand luggage not Malaysia - sorry

HonestMan1910

You'll see a lot of references on the web to Emirates giving extra allowance for one-way ticket emigrants and my brother used it years ago. I understand they stopped offering this though.

Singapore wasn't an option for me as I'm meeting family on an e-visa while I wait for my 457 (it's a risk, but I think a small risk!), but the airline want to see a fresh working visa.

I've got 2 x 32 kg through BA but I travelled a lot with UK work and had frequent flyer extras, so not sure what the normal allowance is. One thing to watch out for is when you have multiple carriers. I have this because I'm flying out just before Xmas and booked late: BA then Cathay Pacific. This is where you get into the realms of which airline is the "Most Significant Carrier" for your trip and the answer isn't necessarily the one you might think it is. I had to call them both to clarify as the online stuff wasn't clear. They were both very good when I called them though, sorted out in a couple of mins.

JDAD84

Interesting...

I've been doing some research and came across this:

http://www.iomaustralia.org/projects...s.htm#benefits

Not sure if anyone has used this or hear of it. I've emailed them and this is the response I received 'For new migrants coming to Australia with skilled migration visa or any permanent visa, IOM offers discounted fares and concessional baggage allowance on some flights operating from/to Australia.

If you are currently residing in the UK, I would suggest you contact our local IOM office to find out if there is any concessional fare and baggage allowance they can offer you locally'

So, just waiting on hearing back from the UK email they gave me - doesn't hurt to ask.

old.sparkles

I got a quote from them, but never used them. The price I was offered was not as good as Singapores

AJRussell

2 Adults, 1 Child and 1 infant was £2014 with Singapore - booked it back in July though.