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Original poster

Best way to get an additional bag to AUstralia

26 replies

roary · 01/07/2011 12:45

So the jerks at BA won't let us purchase an additional bag to Perth (although we could do so to Sydney) because we have to change to Qantas. There seems to be no way around this. Ok, they are probably not jerks but I am cross! We could have bought an additional bag for £34 if we were going to Sydney.

THere is simply no way we're going to get all the stuff we need into 4 23kg suitcases as DH will need all his suits for the 8-10 weeks it's going to take for the container to arrive.

Does anyone know of a cost effective way to do this?? Everything else seems so much more expensive than the additional bag option we can't take....

OP posts:
minipie · 01/07/2011 13:00

Can you post or DHL some of the stuff to yourselves, to arrive on a date after you've got there? or will that be much more £.

Original poster
roary · 01/07/2011 13:05

Vastly more expensive, as far as I can make out...

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SoupDragon · 01/07/2011 13:06

They have shops in Austraila. You could pare down the cheaper items to essentials/favourites and buy cheap stuff there to see you through.

SoupDragon · 01/07/2011 13:07

make maximum use of the hand luggage allowance too.

SoupDragon · 01/07/2011 13:10

I have made use of the bag containing the pushchair before, if you're taking one of those.

Original poster
roary · 01/07/2011 13:12

Good idea on the hand luggage. And we can buy some things there but we are doing the move in two stages so none of the DC stuff or my stuff is coming in the container. DH starts a 5 day a week Suit Job the day after we arrive (don't ask) so he will need, at a minimum, 3 suits and a tux also as he has at least 2 black tie things he has to go to before the container arrives. With 3 suits he can have 2 on the go and one at the cleaner. That is, when you are talking about a 6 foot strapping AUssie boy, a whole suitcase full of suits before we even start talking casual clothes. And shoes. If we were going Singapore we would have no problem, but BA has a stingy baggage allowance of 1 piece with the idea that people would pay for more, which we can't do. I may phone and kick up a fuss again as we'd only want one extra bag.

OP posts:
Original poster
roary · 01/07/2011 13:13

We don't have a pushchair bag, because we usually take pushchair to the gate....but that is not a bad plan.

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SoupDragon · 01/07/2011 13:18

Have you spoken to Qantas if BA are claiming it's because you have to transfer to them?

rubyw · 01/07/2011 13:21

Along the same lines as the pushchair bag, if you are taking a car seat, you can buy bags to put them in which often have spare capacity for other stuff
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000EDL81I/ref=asc_df_B000EDL81I3422956?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B000EDL81I

lulalullabye · 01/07/2011 23:00

You seriously do not need to take many clothes. We have just moved over to Australia for the second time with three 23k bags and a dh with the same suit requirements as yours. Go through all your stuff and remember that you will have a washing machine and that you dont need a different outfit everyday for three weeks.
I say this because I know from experience of the first time taking way too much stuff and never wearing it.

chloeb2002 · 02/07/2011 05:05

id also check if he does need suits ... dh works in it and yes at client sites he needs a suit and in the uk allways had suits but here he wear polos and casual slacks most of the time....

acatcalledbob · 02/07/2011 05:40

92kg is a huge amount of luggage!!!! Can your DH wear a suit jacket on the plane? The stewardesses will hang it up when he boards - the trousers tend to be much lighter anyway. I don't know anyone who works in Aus who wears a suit on a daily basis. (even in banking, law etc) And can't he hire a tux? At least if he's wearing suits every day, he won't need as many casual clothes (1 pair trousers, 2 pairs shorts?)

I normally go back to Europe (2 adults and 2 kids) for 8 weeks in the summer with less than 60kg...

shelscrape · 02/07/2011 06:27

have a practice pack IFYWIM. Pack everything for all of you that you want to take and weigh it. I was surprised how much we got in our suitcases and still kept to the weight limits. My DH made do with 2 suits and one pair of shoes. YOur DH can always hire a dinner suit in Oz until the container arrives

Original poster
roary · 02/07/2011 08:59

As usual MN full of sound advice. YEs, sadly, DH has acquired the only job in AUstralia that requires wearing a suit every day. I think that renting a tux is probably a sound option, we're going to do the car seat bag, and hopefully we'll get lots crammed in to our bags. DH only has a part-container of course, so that'll be 8-10 weeks, and because I'm only there with the DCs for 8 weeks we have to bring everything we'll need in cases too. But yes it is quite a lot of space still and we can pick up some stuff once there. It's just one extra bag would have made a big logistical difference to the organization required in packing.

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 02/07/2011 14:16

Make sure you don't have cases that are heavy when empty.

sunnydelight · 03/07/2011 04:26

Bring those suits, and as many decent shirts as you can fit in. DH also has to wear a suit every day (it's certainly the norm in IT in Sydney) and they are much more expensive to replace here - he buys his shirts online from the UK.

As BA and Qantas code share I really can't understand how they are citing a change of carrier as the reason for not allowing you to buy that extra bag. You could show up for your BA flight and find yourself on a Qantas plane or vice versa - have you phoned Qantas to see what they say? One of the reasons I never fly BA is that they seem to take delight in being as difficult as possible! Good luck.

gregssausageroll · 03/07/2011 10:59

We used excess baggage.com but remember when the stuff arrives you need to go to various offices at Perth Airport to get it cleared etc. TBH, I'd bring 2-3 suits and just fork out for dry cleaning evey try couple of weeks as it is likely to be much cheaper than excess baggage plus customs clearance and fuel to the airport. Bring shirts and ties.

I also recommend checking how heavy your bags are empty. We were shocked when ours were 5 kilos. Off to charity they went and we got 1 kilo bags from ebay.

Original poster
roary · 05/07/2011 12:02

Hi all
More good advice :)

I think I am going to put DH's suits in a large duffel bag, that way the bag will be light. I will also phone BA and try to negotiate, it is a bit crazy (especially given that policies about extra bags for business class etc differ between Qantas and BA). I do hate them at the moment, if we were going Singapore it would be no problem. But we had no choice. And I know we can do it, but for £34/extra bag life would have been so much easier at a period where it's all bit stressful.

Incidentally, do any of you know if you have to clean your hoover to an insane degree to satisfy AQIS?

OP posts:
gregssausageroll · 05/07/2011 13:10

Yes you do. Dust mites. We left ours behind. Couldn't be without a hoover for 12 weeks plus the cleaning required was bonkers. I gave up after numerous pairs of shoes and how long it took me to clean all of those.

Highlander · 05/07/2011 15:30

At your local airport, there should be an Air Cargo centre. You can simply pitch up with a bag, box whatever, fill in the customs forms - voila.

It's pretty cheap compared to paying excess baggage.

They prefer you to have a 'contact' person or address at the other end I seem to remember.

At the pther end, you pitch up at their Air Cargo/Customs and pick it up.

I did this when we moved to Canada and I needed emergency stuff before the shipping stuff. It took about a week to get there - they need to fill the cargo container before it flies off (MUCH smaller than a shipping container)

gregssausageroll · 05/07/2011 17:34

Air cargo covers 3 different buildings at Perth airport. You need to visit all 3 to reclaim your belongings.

gregssausageroll · 05/07/2011 17:34

Air cargo covers 3 different buildings at Perth airport. You need to visit all 3 to reclaim your belongings.

Original poster
roary · 05/07/2011 20:13

Heathrow no longer does Air Cargo unless through an agent, they charge a fortune. :(

OP posts:
flagging · 06/07/2011 10:58

Get a suit carrier and put all the suits in and take that as one piece of hand luggage. We did on Singapore Airlines and it was no problem at al.

Original poster
roary · 06/07/2011 12:24

Flagging you are a genius. Why didn't I think of that????

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