Travelling to New Zealand with Emirates

Snowblind

Hi all,

I'm about to spend 4 - 6 months in New Zealand and will be flying with Emirates. Unfortunately, the ticket is being booked by my flight academy and I have no control over it. The ticket is an economy flex with 30kg luggage allowance.

It seems that Emirates allows you to take sports equipment within your luggage allowance. Has anyone flown with Emirates and taken a bike? A mate has offered to lend me his bike box for 4 - 6 months. I am also considering buying a Sci Con Aerocomfort 3 to keep the weight down.

I am concerned about turning up at the airport and being stung for a ridiculous amount in excess baggage charges. Has anyone flown with Emirates, or does anyone have any tips?

Much appreciated.

Matthewfalle

mf would phone emirates and ask them. or check on their website.

#justsayin'

Snowblind

I've done that. They say dimensions can be a total of 300cm per bag (H + W + L) and that it comes within your luggage allowance. However, I've also read horror stories online from people turning up to the airport and being stung anyway. So was wondering if anyone has any first-hand experience with this particular airline.

laurentian

https://www.emirates.com/english/help/f ... -equipment

First line says you just need to call them 24 hours before you fly - I have no first hand experience

cooldad

Seems quite clear to me:

"All sporting equipment including golf equipment, bicycles and ski equipment
Emirates will accept sporting equipment as checked baggage and part of your standard baggage allowance. If you intend to take a bicycle as checked luggage, please contact us at least 24 hours in advance. Special packaging rules may apply.

Weight Concept

Individual items with total dimensions exceeding 300cm (118 inches) cannot be transported as checked baggage, and must be sent as cargo or freight. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Piece Concept

Total dimensions (length + width + height) of each piece must not exceed 150cm (59 inches). Customers with individual items exceeding above dimensions up to 300cm (118 inches) will be charged an additional fee. Individual items with total dimensions exceeding 300cm (118 inches) cannot be transported as checked baggage, and must be sent as cargo or freight.

For customers with two pieces of luggage in all three classes, the total combined dimensions of both pieces should not exceed 300cm (118 inches)."

cooldad

So likely you'll be charged, unless it's a tiny bike.

slowbike

and don't forget the NZ border control - where everything has to be zapped or cleaned to within an inch of it's life - so you don't import a foreign species - this will apply to walking boots & sports equipment - so it'd be a good idea to check out the requirements there too ...

I don't know the additional cost of getting your bike to NZ - but it's possible it'll be as cheap to buy S/H out there and sell before you return - just take saddle & pedals as the key contact points ...

cooldad

They are manic over dirt. I lived there for a long time, and when my container arrived MAF came. They wanted to make sure my giraffe's feet were clean.

True story.

It was a six foot high wooden giraffe though.

Matthewfalle

Snowblind wrote:

I've done that. They say dimensions can be a total of 300cm per bag (H + W + L) and that it comes within your luggage allowance. However, I've also read horror stories online from people turning up to the airport and being stung anyway. So was wondering if anyone has any first-hand experience with this particular airline.

online horror stories.

#pinchofsalt

tomb57

Try googling second hand cycles New Zealand might be better to buy and use your luggage
Allowance for boring old clothes at least two sites shown when I looked kiwis very out door
people you will be surprised
Lucky person very jealous as it’s a great place
Have a great stay
Tom

pblakeney

I gave KLM my bike case dimensions and weight. They emailed confirmation that it was okay. That proved invaluable at Tolouse airport.

PS - The Kiwis are anal about dirt. My walking boots were given a good clean but it held me up for a good while. They are serious about that sh!t.

cooldad

They rely on agriculture so much, any trace of disease or pest could be devastating.

Even an apple in your luggage can get you a big fine.

FatTed

Foe second hand bikes

https://www.trademe.co.nz/sports/cycling/road-bikes

MAF at the NZ border are strict regarding plant/animal material and soil, a clean road bike will be no problem

peat

I've taken a bike to NZ with Emirates. They tried to sting me at the gate but I, much to the irritation of the people queuing behind me, showed the clerk her employers own T's & C's on the website. About 45mins of arguing and they took my bike box without an extra charge. I packed it in a disposable cardboard box. I sourced another for my return.

There are plenty of good bikes there though. Avanti is the ubiquitous brand, they do decent stuff at every price point. Components and accessories can be expensive though, if you have particular tastes. I was there for a few months and got bored of schlepping around bike shops trying to find a particular part at a reasonable price. I ended up ordering it from the UK.

Wheelspinner

If you’re a Facebook user there’ll be some local bike buy/sell/swap group pages for NZ , worth a look in advance instead of shipping bike there and back too

thepainandsuffering

I had this dilemma at the start of the year. I had a 4 month contract to work in Australia and wanted a bike to explore. In the end I did as others above have suggested, packed all the kit I would need and bought a used road bike from Gumtree the first weekend I was there. It was pretty basic Trek 1.1 which was a bit big but it only cost me $190. At the end of my stay It went back on Gumtree and I made a small profit. Doing this also meant that when traveling down the east coast for the last 3 weeks I did not have to lug a bike box about with me.

onemoresolo

I flew with a bike to NZ in March with Emirates (B&W bike box) and had no issue at all, didn't notify them in advance, just showed up. Customs are less worried about road bikes, MTB are a different story.

Snowblind

Thanks for the replies guys. I have a string of emailed webchat conversations that have been emailed to me now, all telling me that the dimensions of my bike box will be fine, and specifically stating that it is 300cm per piece of luggage, not combined, provided the combined weight is not more than 30kg.

If they try and play silly buggers at the airport, I have no hangups about causing an issue and insisting they read through every webchat.

sungod

you should be ok, but if there's any question the best approach is calm polite explanation and if necessary asking if the supervisor can be called, 'causing an issue' is unwise, worst case you could be denied boarding

emirate's rules are so badly written that they can be interpreted in very different ways, just takes an unfamiliar agent or one having a bad day and things can go awry, though it's possible they are deliberately ambiguous to allow agents to target pax trying to ship things as checked baggage that probably ought to be going as cargo - in mea/asia i've seen some odd things passing on the carousels!

fwiw i've used a bikeboxalan case for many years, with bike, tools, spare bits, bottles, helmet etc. etc. it's around 23-24kg, the hard shell and internal construction make it easy to fill in the gaps with other stuff to save space

they should check your baggage through to final destination, but do ask as it looks like you'll be on a codeshare for the final leg

join emirates skywards (wait until it's less than 6 months before you travel as there's a bonus), you'll earn a decent amount of miles and even basic status gets you a few benefits

nzhendo

I live in NZ these days and usually end up flying with Emirates.
I've used an Evoc bag and Scicon bag with no problems (not the same trip). As long as you are under 30kg you can have as many pieces of luggage as you like I think.

As for border control, they probably won't look if it is a road bike in my experience. When I returned from the UK with my MTB I left the muddy tyres behind. They had a quick look but as long as it isn't too manky you'll be OK.

Decent bikes tend to be a bit pricey over here and there's no substitute for having your own bike.
Some great road, MTB and "gravel" cycling in the South Island. Enjoy!

Snowblind

Thanks again for the replies, guys.

I got the SciCon Aerocomfort bag in the end. I haven't flight tested it yet, but the quality of the bag is very impressive and packing the bike is incredibly straight forward. Fingers crossed I have no issues.

Flying out tomorrow!