Overseas travel with gear

[AlphaVictor]

A question for the photography veterans. How do you transport your gear when flying to another country? I'm doing my first trip abroad in May and I'm wondering how I can pack my stuff safely. I think my camera bag will be too heavy for cabin baggage. I could split it and put some gear in the hold luggage but I work in an airport and know what a baggage system can do to a case!

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

AlphaVictor

[Grunt087]

It is the never ending battle. First find out the baggage rules for the airlines you are thinking of taking and find out what type aircraft you are on. Regional Jets and some Turbo props have smaller overheads. If you are taking different airlines for different legs make sure know what the rules are for each airline. Most airlines don't weigh your carry on bags even if they have a weight limit. The size of the bags fitting in the over head is what they are worried about. Buy a baggage scale so you wont be surprised at the counter. Some airlines like Ryanair will let you bring on one full size 10kg bag and another half size bag with no weight limit. So put the heavy items in the small bag and the bulky items in the big bags. If you can't get it all in bring a photographers vest or jacket. Put heavy items in the vest. If you cant get it all in pay for the extra bag and put the things you want but can do without if they loose the bag. Another trick is to watch how they are checking in bags at the counter. If they are weighing carry on bags and you are over weight give your bag to a friend to hold while you check in or give him some of the heavy items until after they weigh it and turn in your checked baggage. Some airlines do look at your carry on bags and give you a sticker that shows it is ok to put on board so that will make the last trick harder. Get camera insurance in case you cant get around the rules. Keep in mind going through security they may want you to pull out each lens and camera for xray so pack in a way that is easier to take it in and out of the bag. So a camera back pack with dividers helps. The other trick is to be nice to the people at the counter. Explain to them you are carrying several thousands of pounds of delicate cameras that you don't want damaged in the baggage hold and you would really appreciate them making an exception to the rules. Most of the time you will not have any trouble at all so plan ahead,do it right and enjoy your trip.

[eirik]

I do this several times every year. Travelling with 22+ kg (more than double the limit) of camera gear and a laptop computer in my Think Tank Airport Accellerator backpack as carry on luggage.
The size of your bag is the most important thing, and just practice making it look easy to lift at the gate.

A final tip is to reserve a seat at the rear of the aircraft, and enter by the back door. Be among the first in line at the gate. Then you never have any problem finding room for your luggage.
I always place my bag on the opposite side from me to be able to see if anyone grabs it on their way of. It has happend to others...

You should be fine.

Eirik

[Berf]

I do this several times every year. Travelling with 22+ kg (more than double the limit) of camera gear and a laptop computer in my Think Tank Airport Accellerator backpack as carry on luggage.
The size of your bag is the most important thing, and just practice making it look easy to lift at the gate.

A final tip is to reserve a seat at the rear of the aircraft, and enter by the back door. Be among the first in line at the gate. Then you never have any problem finding room for your luggage.
I always place my bag on the opposite side from me to be able to see if anyone grabs it on their way of. It has happend to others...

You should be fine.

Eirik

Yes and no Eirik. Last month I had a standard sized bag been through Ok over 100 times. This time it was 13kg. Norwegian limit is 10. Flight was full and as usual I was at the front waiting to go up the back as you suggest. However, as the flight was full they wanted to put a number of bags in the hold and the first people they check weighed are of course those that the front.

[eirik]

Yes and no Eirik. Last month I had a standard sized bag been through Ok over 100 times. This time it was 13kg. Norwegian limit is 10. Flight was full and as usual I was at the front waiting to go up the back as you suggest. However, as the flight was full they wanted to put a number of bags in the hold and the first people they check weighed are of course those that the front.

I see your point there.

No plan is fail-safe. Maybe one should try to let about 20-30 passengers to pass in front of the line before one lines up?

Eirik

[AlphaVictor]

Gents,

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply with some great tips.I think it’s a good idea to see what I can fit into my camera bag before it reaches the 8 kg limit for cabin luggage set by the airline then take it from there.

alpha victor

[Berf]

I have a Barbour jacket I always wear at the airport. It has a great pocket all around the back where you are supposed to stick your trout. Mine gets the 70-200, plus a couple of other items. Just ignore the weird looks.

[D90Man]

One more thing - Ryanair just changed their policy (in January I believe) - their cheapest fare now only allows 1 small cabin bag - and by small they mean handbag, laptop bag etc. See https://www.ryanair.com/ie/en/useful-info/help-centre/faq-overview/Baggage/What-cabin-baggage-can-I-carry.

Leon

[McG]

Gents,

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply with some great tips.I think it’s a good idea to see what I can fit into my camera bag before it reaches the 8 kg limit for cabin luggage set by the airline then take it from there.

alpha victor

I flew Emirates last year who have a 7kg limit. Used a standard sports backpack as it was considerably lighter than my camera bag. Inside was camera plus 300 F2.8 Lens, laptop, spare batteries.
In my jacket which had zip pockets I put portable HDD, 16-35 F4 Lens. I left a couple of lenses and some bits and bobs at home.
One thing I noticed was every economy passenger got their hand baggage weighed at check in, both in UK and in Singapore.

On the other hand, I’ve flown BA and EZY with a fully loaded camera bag weighing about 18kgs with no issues.

[GeorgeP]

I'm a little late to the party and others have given some good advice. You have not stated what gear that you propose to take with you, so here's a general response that will hopefully be useful. I travel O/S with my Think Tank Street Walker Hard Drive V2. Its external dimensions are within most (all?) airlines' carry-on limits and, when loaded with my photo gear, weighs just under 7kg. My kit for O/S airshows such as Oshkosh or Legends includes: Canon 40D, Canon 6D, Canon 17-40, Canon 100-400, Canon 430 flash & 4 x AA batteries, CF and SD cards, 5 x spare camera batteries and a cleaning kit. It has plenty of storage pockets and a useful number of velcro dividers.

I would caution against attempting to take an overweight carry-on because many airlines (mainline and budget) are now conducting random gate checks. My wife regularly travels for work and has witnessed many passengers being pinged at the gate. In some instances, boarding staff have insisted that the offending bag be checked into the hold; not a good outcome if it is crammed with photo gear. Hope this helps.

[EDIT]Just saw McG's post and will add this. My wee netbook computer, and camera chargers travel in a separate laptop bag.

[AlphaVictor]

Thanks again for the replies.

George, I'm not sure what gear exactly except it will only comprise of 1 body and lens for statics and a telephoto. So I'm going to pack a bag and check on scales before I decide.

Cheers

AV