pbh220

Hi All,
It's our first time flying business int'l on AirNZ: I've checked the website and appears that they are more liberal with business long haul flights. I have a United legal bag, but wondering if this will pass on AirNZ long haul business on a Boeing 777-300.
Would very much appreciate your intell and experience on this. Media reports checked bags frequently lost on long haul flights, sometimes up to 9 or 10 days. So I definitely want to carryon my roller-board and backpack.
Would the SFO AirNZ check in counter be able to confirm my carryon or is the gate staff the enforcer?
Naturally I will re-check the website, but your advise and experience is vital!
Thank you!
pbh220

nzkarit

Most probably will be fine. If you ask if it is ok, they will likely weigh and measure. As only people over or not knowing the rules will ask if it is ok.

I'm not sure how big UA carry-on is. But I would be careful to make sure it will physically fit as US bags from what I have seen are a lot bigger. Also careful with the mass. As max is 14kg across all carryon with no bag over 10kg. (For business). A big bag is likely to eat quite a bit in the 14kg.

If you are connecting on to a domestic particularly turbo prop as their over heads are much smaller and don't support carryon wheels first so space is limited. And unless status or same ticket connection will only be one bag and 7kg

pbh220

Hi NZkarit,
Oh I hope I'm reading the AirNZ website correctly...the bag size is minuscule on Econ flights, but the BzPremiere is far more liberal (see website text below). AirNZ says "Star Alliance Members" (we are) and Business Premiere (booked as Business, but we are not AirNZ Business Premiere). There is just no way I want to take a chance on losing my bag on the int'l flight...media scuttlebutt has it that AirNZ can just throw the bag off if they have weight issues: YIKES!
Your thoughts?
_____________________________
FROM THE AIR NZ WEBSITE:
Allowance

Economy fares get one carry-on bag plus one small item, like a handbag or thin laptop.
Premium Economy, Business Premier™, connecting Business Premier, and Airpoints™ Gold, Elite and Star Alliance Gold members get two bags plus one small item.
Weight

Economy carry-on can weigh up to 7kg (15lb).
Premium Economy, Business Premier, connecting Business Premier, and Airpoints Gold, Elite and Star Alliance Gold members' carry-on bags can weigh up to 14kg (30lb) in total, with one item weighing up to 10kg (22lb).
_______________________

All of the above works for us & we will definitely check our Econ flight bags.

nzkarit

The bag max size is the same, it's just business and status giving you a second item and more mass.

Offloading bags has only happened once on the first NZ1 flight. The rest of the bag issues currently is miss connects and a lot on it currently due to the miss connects after the US storms. I am not aware of many bag issues where all flights are NZ to NZ.

Kiwi Flyer

https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/carry-on-baggage

The sum of length, width and height needs to be no more than 118cm. A lot of USA carry-ons are bigger than this.

gratn

I agree with nzkarit and Kiwi Flyer .

In reality, NZ is pretty relaxed about enforcing carry on rules, and the storage bins for the 777-300 are big in Business Premiere (as an aside, this is what Air NZ calls its business class product - it’s not a separate designation within business class). As long as your bag doesn’t look like a full suitcase, and you can carry or manoeuvre it in a way which suggests it isn’t crazy heavy, you’ll probably be fine. In my experience it is rare for staff to challenge passengers about carry on luggage, especially in business.

While there is always a risk of a bag being lost, if you are doing a single flight with no connection then the risk is very low. Of course, that doesn’t help if you’re one of the unlucky few!

Kmxu

I flew twice on A320 recently, SYD-WLG and CHC-SYD. I checked my carryon on a third flight (AKL-CHC). On SYD-WLG, a female senior (age!) FA weighed my carryon (with her hands) and thought that it was too heavy. She took my boarding pass (along with my wife's BP) to gate agent. She returned our BPs without saying anything else. On CHC-SYD, check-in agent at CHC weighed both carryons on scale, 11-13 kg (I put a heavy book and two pairs of boots in my backpack to reduce the weights). She did not insist that we checked them in, but said that cabin crews might enforce the weight rule. Once on the plane, a young male FA neither said anything nor noticed the big size of the bags. So, YMMV.
Good luck.

nzkarit

Think comes down to don't have baggage that looks big. And make sure you can carry it and make it look light. If you struggle with the bag is a clear indicator something is off. Body language is important.

Thai-Kiwi

It is almost as if there is a belief the weight limit the airline imposes is meaningless (it isn’t) and it is OK to exceed this provided one can act as if a carry-on is lighter than it is to defeat this limit… as if each individual ‘knows better’ than the OEM, certifying & regulating authorities etc

No, the aircraft won't crash if one gallantly fakes their carry-on’s weight to sate fears around lost checked bags. They’ll just be eating very so slightly into the safety margins that that ‘system’ has built-in. Even if all passengers did the same, it’ll probably be fine.

I mean, hardly anything ever goes badly wrong in commercial aviation …

Markhm

A friend of mine used to travel with his precious curling stones. Too afraid of damage or being lost he carried them. Interestingly he never placed them in the locker above himself! The trick was too make them look light.

oranjemakker

If that was the case surely they would weigh passengers?

Also on that logic if one is travelling with kids since they weigh less that family can take on board more carry on weight?

Thai-Kiwi

My point was around (IMHO) the underlying selfish attitude of ‘gaming’ the rules based on an individual’s insecurities rather than simply complying…

The aviation system has deeply layered protections and margins, including statistical accounting for the the variation of passenger mass.

You may recall Samoa Air had a policy of weighing all pax https://www.foxnews.com/travel/samoa...y-their-weight Presumably because the pax weight demographic was outside the established planning parameters.


That said, when operating as captain of an aircraft in the 20,000kg class around the Pacific, performance requirements on some days made it wise to actually weigh each pax, as well as their baggage. Of course, this planning is all around an engine failure at the worst moment during take-off - which has never happened to me (except in the sim).

Aviation errors are very unforgiving …

jawnbc

Whoa (curling humour)

cavemanzk

Every NZ flight I’ve been on recently they have been supper relaxed about carry-on. Although I’m NZ Gold, and use the app to check-in.

I think at the moment, the least bags they have to handle on AKL the better. I’ve even had them suggest I could carry-on my roll aboard at Prem Check-in recently in AKL.

Now that the older a320CEO’s are gone, they seem a bit more relaxed about carry-on. Those things used to struggle on the Tasman, especially on the weekends.

N1120A

NZ are fine, especially in business. Just don't have an obviously a-hole sized bag and they'll leave you alone.

Business Premiere is their name for business class.

United's carry on limitation, which does get enforced by sizers on a not infrequent basis, is actually smaller. 113 cm. And that is inclusive of handles and wheels.

Eh, no. On transport category airplanes - carry on weight is largely irrelevant - especially compared to passenger weight. The average American man weighs just under 200 pounds at 5'9", the average American woman weighs just over 170 pounds at 5'3.5" - these weights mean a lot more than going a kilo or three over on yuor wheelie bag. If carry on bag weight mattered that much, the US regionals would have weight restrictions, as there have been issues with weight and balance and this is monitored strictly. So strictly that roller bags are sometimes brought up from the gate check hold and strapped into seats as "passengers." Despite a belief that every person who flies in the US carries on their entire household for a 2 day trip, there are plenty of people on every flight who only carry a small personal item and check their other bag, which then balances out heavier bags anyway.

The primary reasons for carry on weight restrictions - especially on an airplane the size of a 777 or 787 - is two fold. One is insurance regulations and union contracts for on the job injuries for flight attendants. The second is just plain ol' capitalism in one of the world's most socialist industries. If the bag weighs too much, and you're on a fare in Y that gives you one or no bags - you get to shell out some bucks to check your bag.