I'm booked to go diving in Australia in November(our dream trip). I've just found out that Quantas allows only one eleven pound carry-on per passenger. I always carry our regulators(these can't travel in our baggage as the changes in pressure could damage them and put our lives in danger while diving)and masks in a small roll-on, which I'm told will be refused. Also there is no separate allowance for camera bags(two underwater cameras). I offered to pay more but was still denied. Does anyone else have experience with this? Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.

Ann, although Qantas is strict about carry on luggage, I have always found that if I carried my camera equipment in a separate bag, it has been allowed without being included in the weight. <BR>When leaving Oz I've found that my hand luggage is always weighed, but never when leaving other countries to come home to Oz, Peg.

We traveled from Oz to USA in August and my hand luggage weighed 30#. When I refused to check it in with our cases as it had valuables and breakables, the check in person tagged it and said I would have to give it in at the gate. When I got to the gate I asked the staff to please stow it somewhere safely on the plane and they let me take it myself! We were traveling Air New Zealand but it sounds like the same rules. A wood dealer once told me that he packs aerosol hair spray in with his heavy wood item "hand" luggage and that enables him to take the luggage on board. Good luck.

I just got back from Australia. I also wondered how to get around the Qantas rule on luggage. Fortunately, on one of my calls to their customer service, I happened to speak to a knowledgeable person. She realized that I was flying to Manila and from Manila to Sydney. Because of this extra leg, another rule about luggage kicked in. In this case, the rule that applies is one that almost all airlines observe regarding international flights - two pieces of luggage whose weight does not exceed <BR>70 lbs apiece. Apparently, Australian union rules do not allow their workers to pick up luggage that exceed this weight. I printed a copy of this rule from the Qantas web page and showed it to the staff in Manila and had no problem taking all my luggage with me. As far as hand carry goes, I had two, a big bag whcih doubled as my hand bag and a carry-on. They did weigh them and just advised us to even out the weight. Hope this helps.

We had to check an extra bag when we checked in. We didn't know about the rule - they were very strict about their policy. As a note, in business and first class, you are allowed slightly more baggage.

I travel internationally often with a lot of sensitive heavy equipment. And basically I've found I have two choices. 1 - Often airline employees can be understanding about these things at check-in/boarding, but there is NO GUARANTEE you won't have to check things. 2 - You can ship your equipment to your hotel ahead of you, and ship it back to your house (Go to a good packaging store, pay extra to have them wrap it up correctly, and insure it). Shipping charges vary drastically, so this may or may not be a good choice for you money-wise. <BR> <BR>Additionally I would like to add that offically aerosols of ANY kind (which includes personal items like hair spray) are illegal on all flights in the States. This rule is practiaclly never enforced, but your ticket can be revoked without refund if you try take an aerosol on a plane, and I would think especially if you had a bunch in bag just to obscure the weight. As for the reason, there have been aerosol explosions on planes, and at least one crash related to them. I'm not trying to lecture anyone here, just thought you might want to know.