Originally Posted by
jetsetter629
I will be traveling on Air New Zealand from Queenstown to Auckland to San Francisco in September. I have a 55L backpack but I plan to throw nearly all clothes and toiletries away (I've been backpacking for a year and NZ is my last stop) so the weight will be down to about 10 kgs. I also have a small backpack with personals such as laptop, iPad, etc, that weighs around 5 kgs - this can go under the seat.
I see Air New Zealand has a 7 kg carry on limit and I was wondering how strict they are with this policy. I only have a 75 minute connection in SFO to connect to a US Airways flight to PHL on a separate ticket and I do not want to wait for checked baggage in SFO in order to make the connection.
Thanks!
Rob
Rob,
For whatever reason, NZ are fairly strict about this, and give you ample opportunity for you to discover how overweight your carry-ons are with scales/sizers all through the checkin and gate areas!
I have just dealt with a similar trip and was quizzed no fewer than 3 times on the return leg from New Zealand. Here are my thoughts:
- The standard US rollaboard seemed to be what triggered the check-in and gate agents' attentions. So perhaps you may sneak by with the backpack.
- NZ staff were satisfied with "Yes, I have weighed it" when asked if it was 7kg.
- The AKL airport staff going into passport control did require me to weigh my bag. I failed the first time at 11kg. So I went back out, rearranged my contents, wore a bunch of things, carried a little more in my arms, and was cleared through at a little over 7kg.
All very pedantic considering air travel works just fine without the 7kg restriction in other parts of the world. Oh well.
So just be prepared to do a little work to get your bag on.
