Unless you are based on the Australian East Coast, travelling to New Zealand includes at least one long-haul flight. Travelling half way around the world from Europe it is usually 2-3 flights or more, with various stop-overs. Every time you change plane, so does your luggage. It gets unloaded and loaded again, and you can only pray that the handlers are treating it careful enough and actually loading it in the correct plane – we all have seen the youtube videos. Since international travel picked up again after Covid, there is an increasing amount of luggage getting lost, delayed or damaged. Things that can seriously spoil you precious and well earned holiday!
Airline code sharing is fantastic for long haul flights where departure airline and arrival airlines differ, however when travelling with large sports equipment this can create a bit of a mine-field when it comes to your journey home. What was acceptable to your ticketing airline one way may not necessarily be acceptable for the return. This can get extremely confusing and from experience even repeated calls and emails to the airlines concerned may provide you with various conflicting outcomes and costs. This can even change when you get to the check-in counter. Policies are not necessarily set in stone, what you can get away with is sometimes dictated by the mood and stresses of the check-in staff, so if you hear from a forum/blog/friend it’s no worries despite the policy, take care and be prepared it won’t workout as planned. Sometimes stating a windsurf board is simply a surfboard may work, then again you may upset someone who could make your life difficult.
We also learned the hard way that airline policies change regularly and without warning. What may have been a sweet free ride one way can change during your vacation and become an expensive returning fee.
However, there are sometimes reasons why you would want to go through all the hassle of bringing your own gear. Especially if you plan on travelling off the beaten track, it can be difficult to find good and suitable rental gear at your destination. Or the rental place doesn’t let you take the gear away to the specific spot you want to use it at.
There are only a limited number of airlines servicing New Zealand, many have very strict policies, if planning to bring equipment you need to do your research. We can recommend Airline Baggage Fees which has a comprehensive list and reasonably up-to-date policy links to help you decide. Though we absolutely do recommend verifying with the airlines website on their latest policy to be sure.
Looking to travel New Zealand? Check out Water Nomads for Watersports Rental and Surfari Trips!