How to pack for 18 days with only 44 pounds allowed on Air New Zealand
 

We just learned that Air New Zealand charges $10 Australian for every kilo over 44 pounds. Carry ons are limited to 11 pounds. We are flying business class on United to and from Sydney and will be allowed 70 pounds. Is it possible to pack for 18 days to include the Opera and fine dining in Sydney and athletic/rain outfits (walking shoes, 2nd back up rain pair, dress shoes) for travel in NZ? My wife is really panicked! Our new 24 inches rolling suitcases each weigh 13 pounds empty. We also have a 6.5 pound rolling duffle which will shave off a few pounds. Air NZ said we should have read the terms before we purchased the Sydney/Christchurch tickets on line. We didn't realize that lowest price of the tickets restricts the luggage allowances. United told us ANZ is "very strict" about adherring to the limits. My wife is the ultimate shopper--we might have an expensive problem. Any ideas?

RichardJ: We faced the same questions in Sept '04. Opera, outback, rainforest, Barrier Reef. All in one 20kg limit bag.
Don't know where you are staying, but most places we stayed had washers / dryers available. We did two wash days out of 20 days. I only took two pair of long pants and found I had one too many. I took a tie and nice shirt for the opera, but leave the sport coat at home. Nice jacket / wind breaker is ok. Can't believe the trashy clothes we saw at the opera. One guy was zipping the pant legs onto his shorts on the stairs of the opera house. Had em in his back pack.
2 pair shoes, max.
Remember almost anything you find you need is available in stores, so don't stress. My wife took a few interchange-ables, was stressed during packing, but she also admitted later to taking too much in the way of "dressier" clothes.
My nicer opera clothes developed a set of mildew whilst in the suitcase out on the reef.
I'm not encouraging you to be a slob, but as with most trips I've taken, I took too many clothes on this one also. Force yourself. It'll work.
Also, as you say, gotta leave room for stuff you buy.

I can vouch that ANZ is strict, even for the rollon. I found that the extra weight added by rollon wheels creates a real issue, especially for the carry-on (and if I remember there is a lower weight limit for the carry-on?).
I have become selective about fabric choices. Very light weight wools, microfiber polyester (which doesn't wrinkle). Avoid cotton and denims, which weigh a lot and dry slowly. I used an electronic scale and weighed each piece of clothing to select the lightest! Wear the heaviest clothing and shoes on the plane. You should each be able to carry a jacket or coat, which could be the dressy piece for dinner. Don't bring toiletries beyond a few days worth, you can buy them there. There are tons of free guides availab;e in the airport on arrival at Auckland (can't speak to Australia) so you don't need pack much, and you can carry on a book that won't be weighed. If worse comes to worse, consider using a duffel for the carryon. The most important item to bring is lightweight thermal underwear, and some type of warm sweater or fleece top. Then the shirts, blouses, trousers can be relatively light weight and you will be warm if it is cold.

Are you leaving to return to the US from NZ, or do you return to Sydney? If you're only popping over to Christchurch for a few days, you could pack the necessary items into a smaller bag and leave the others behind (either at a hotel, or airport storage).

Check out www.onebag.com and also try searching on vacation packing. There was a really good web site with a complete list of items to pack for just about any occasion, but I can't find it. The old rule of thumb was pack your bag and then take HALF out! I have finally learned to pack a small bag for each of us, plus a small carryon each. But now I will have to double check how much each weighs for flying within NZ. Good luck!

I had a similiar problem in October. I took a few clothing items with me that I was ready to get rid of, wore them there, and then trashed them before heading to NZ. Good luck!!

The real secret is that you are NOT packing for 18 days: at the most you are packing for 3 days which you will repeat 6 times. There are perfectly adequate laundry facilities in the Southern Hemisphere. Should you inadvertently leave behind some item you desperately need, there are also local shops. There is no need to give a lot of gear a 'free ride' around the world.

You really don't have to frock or suit up to go the SOH. Everyday clothes are fine, and if you were to go in shorts and thongs you'd still be let in. Brilliant. And why not?

Previous advice nails it. Do take, of course, your own hiking boots and good waterproof jacket if you are planning on getting out and about in Oz or NZ. You know, stuff that was expensive when you bought it, and you will keep for a long time, and want to take back with you. Otherwise, take a minimum of everyday stuff - you can wash it or throw it away and buy new. Don't load yourselves up with huge bottles of shampoo and cosmetics and stuff like that. Buy it here.

20kg is enough for many months, so for 18 days it should be ample though I take your point about the weight of your luggage unpacked.

Get yourselves something lighter. If you expect to be carrying it, a backpack works wonders, and you can get wheels for them too.

Happy travels.

Thanks, susanwr, for the website. That is one of the more useful packing light articles I have seen. I'm glad to know about the weight limit on Air New Zealand since we will be flying them in June. I had planned to take my wheeled carry on and tote this time, but maybe I will have to re-think it. For Africa last sumer we were limited to 26 pounds. I used my Back Door Bag from Rick Steves and a shoulder tote that converted to a day pack. Traveled for 2 1/2 weeks in a variety of temps with no more than 26 pounds. Of course it limited the number of souvenirs we could accumulate, but that's OK. Laundry and clothes that all mixed and matched were the key. I also found that for casual pants (and we don't tend to take much that's dressy), the zip off variety were very helpful. Although I can say for sure that I would have hesitated about wearing those to the opera :-)!

The real key to travelling light is to get into the proper mind set. There's no reason to need a new outfit for every day of your trip. You can wear the same clothes for dinner almost every night, if you like. No one will notice but you. Plan on doing laundry or having it done for you. Most hotels offer same day service. You don't need lots of toiletries and make-up, you don't need 3 changes of clothes each day. You don't need a lot of things after all you are only away for 2 or 3 weeks. Follow the old adage "take less clothes, bring more money". My spouse and I travel extensively (usually 2 to 3 weeks at a time) and almost always get by with one standard size 22" roll-on and one "personal item" each. On those rare occasions when we pack larger suitcases we always find that we've brought along much more then we actually used and end up bringing home a few unworn items. As one of the other posters pointed out follow these simple steps: 1) a few days before your trip put out all the clothes you think you'll need, 2) look at them for a day, 3) Put half of them back in the drawer and pack the rest - Voila! You are ready to go.

If you are flying from the US to AU the weight is 70# not 44#. We just returned from 21 days AU and NZ (4 travelers/5 checked bags)plus carry on back packs and didn't have any issues. They weighed all our bags together, not individually. The previous info is right on - I'd go one step further and say put your clothes out, put away 1/2, and then put away another 1/4. I love the idea of "packing for 3 days not 18" that is sooooo true. My husband and I could have easily put all of our clothes in one 24" bag and kept the other for treasures bought along the way. Enjoy

I have been told that Air New Zealand allows 15 pounds for a carry-on. Also have heard conflicting reports on how strict they are regarding weight limits. We fly them in April.

Cheers,

Jinx Hoover

This will be a good trip to make sure we eliminate excess at the start. Wearing all of our heavier items on the flight to Christchurch is a terrific idea. The only way to know the total weight of the bags would be to try a test run and weigh them. United will allow 70 pounds going to and from Sydney but the problem flights are going to and from Christchurch. It probably boils down to the mood and generosity of the gate agents whether they would overlook a few extra pounds. Only allowing 11 pounds as a carry on seems unrealistically low. I did learn that our hotel ,the Four Seasons in Sydney, offers overnight laundry service so that will help, although I have heard horror stories of items lost from hotel services. Unfortunately, during our 11 days in NZ, we will be moving almost every night so it would be difficult to wash out. I do not agree with the website: onebag-- if your clothes are not dry in the morning, wear them damp because your body heat will dry them--that is going too far. Thank goodness for high tech fabrics which are lightweight and don't wrinkle. Dark colors will hide a mulitude of problems. Thanks for so many good suggestions.

If you do end up having to wash clothes, it is important to remember that the washing machines will spin in the opposite direction.

My wife and I aren't especially light packers and we always curse ourselves for taking unnecessary stuff, but we've never, not once, hit the standard 20 kg limit - I think about 18 kg is the nearest we've got. That includes a 7-wk trip to the US and 3.5 wks in China.

I make a point of taking shirts and underwear that can be easily washed in a hotel bathroom and will dry overnight. Other outerwear, barring accidents, can be worn for a long time between washes. I also buy the smallest and lightest toiletries in plastic packs where possible. As someone said, if you forget something you need you can always buy it at your destination. (Even in China, where hardly any shop staff speak English, I found this dead easy, so Australia and NZ are hardly a challenge.)

RichardJ, in case nobody has made this point, you do NOT, repeat not, need to dress up for the opera and fine dining in Australia - neat, clean casual dress is fine - collared shirt, slacks, the shoes I think Americans call "loafers", and if you really want, what we call a sports coat (sport jacket in the US?) is fine. Even there, the jacket will be worn more in deference to the temperature than formality. You will not feel out of place, believe me. Forget "dress shoes", suit and ties or you'll kick yourself later. Australians and New Zealanders are not into formality, so, when in Rome....

Our travel included LAX-Sydney, Sydney - Adelaide then Sydney to Christchurch and the 70#/bag was not an issue. (All Air New Zealand) As far as toiletries every place we stayed had shampoo, lotion, etc and they all had laundry facilities some even in the room. New Zealand really caters to travelers. So you can pop laundry in and out easily.

I note that you plan to use 24" suitcases. We use 26" rolling soft suitcases, and have never been able to stuff enough into them to weigh more than 41#. I check the weight on our bathroom scale before we leave.

We toured NZ for 3 weeks, stayed and ate in nice places and B&B's. I also suggest that you don't need a jacket or dressy shoes.

Also, we stayed in many places that washer and dryer which we used free.

For 11 days, you do not need to plan for more than 4.

Also, when the pounds count, we also wear the heaviest items and stuff things in our coats. ((F))

Thanks for the encouragement. Frankly we have never had weight an issue, so perhaps we have always been under 44 pounds and never realized it.

I too agree that 44 lbs is more than enough for a trip down under with an additional 10 lbs or so carry on. One nice thing in traveling in these areas is that laundry facilities are plentiful. Many hotel/motels have laundry rooms. We as a family did close to 4 weeks in the winter NZ plus Sydney and Cairns plus Uluru which included dining at Tetsuya's scuba and snow. Pack light as you cannot possibly bring enough clothes for 18 days without laundry.

More than 20 kg is too much to lug around anyway, wheels or no wheels.