44 minutes ago, TimG said:

Love that patriotic loyalty to Air France! I use them a lot and love their chic style. I’ve found both AF and sister company KLM good on baggage allowance and cabin loading.

No no... i'm a patriot... but for flying I didn't trust french airline/airport ...

I mainly fly from Switzerland ... strike is a unkwon word for the people in Zurich

1 hour ago, CaolIla said:

I mainly fly from Switzerland ... strike is a unkwon word for the people in Zurich

Because money isn’t really a problem in Zurich, there’s no reason to strike :)

Edited March 5Mar 5 by Landvogt1893

6 hours ago, Landvogt1893 said:

Because money isn’t really a problem in Zurich, there’s no reason to strike :)

You didn't know anything of Switzerland otherwise you wouldn't say that. It's hard to live and work in CH. Salary is high BUT all are expensive.

On 3/5/2026 at 7:38 PM, CaolIla said:

You didn't know anything of Switzerland otherwise you wouldn't say that. It's hard to live and work in CH. Salary is high BUT all are expensive.

This wasn’t about the general cost of living. The point was that strikes are rare to almost nonexistent in Zurich. And that is definitely due to the higher salaries compared to other countries.

And yes, of course I don’t know Switzerland — I only live about 20 minutes away. If I really wanted to, I could just swim across the lake and I’d be there. 🙂

3 hours ago, Landvogt1893 said:

This wasn’t about the general cost of living. The point was that strikes are rare to almost nonexistent in Zurich. And that is definitely due to the higher salaries compared to other countries.

And yes, of course I don’t know Switzerland — I only live about 20 minutes away. If I really wanted to, I could just swim across the lake and I’d be there. 🙂

I can't agree with that.
I work in CH, and like you don't need more than 20 minute to be in CH. ( No it's depending of the moment of the day... some times when the worker are going to Basel... it can be more than one hour ;) )

My working kolleg from CH are not really happy... appartment insurance etc etc all is very expensive... and in comparaison with France they didn't have a lot of money.

BUT strike is not an option It is not in the culture of Swiss-German

have been using the think tank mind shift first light for many years - looks casual (doesn't scream "photo gear inside") and has a lot of space - especially a nice depth to it. travelled to many continents - has passed in pretty much all places for carry on. there are two options - 35l which will definitely go pretty much anywhere - and 45l which is more of a US airline version. it's been sturdy and protective while relatively light.

The weight is the limit. 7 or 8 kgs is now the norm on almost all economy flights. They might not check it at check-in, but quite often, they will. It doesn’t matter if you look ”suspicious” or not. So my advice for anyone traveling with UW camera gear a few times a year: develop a different strategy that does not depend on luck and instead involve checking most things and only carry on essentials to at least be able to shoot something in a lost case scenario.

Edited September 19Sep 19 by Christian K

Emirates has consistently weighed my carry-on plus personal bag and enforced the weight limit of 7kg total for both. I had to move stuff to my large check bag, put items in my jacket pockets or check my carry-on roller and just carry on my personal bag.

My personal bag is a ThinkTank Airport essentials backpack. It is sized to fit under the seat. Many of the small planes used for remote locations cannot fit roller bags or larger bags in the overhead compartments. You will be forced to check the bag at check-in counter or the gate.

I put camera, lenses, laptop and anything delicate in the personal sized backpack.

I do like bags designed for camera protection. In the past I have use protective wraps in regular luggage only to find my gear unwrapped and an inspection note in my bag. I did have light reflectors bent out of their round shape as a result.

10 hours ago, Ronscuba said:

Emirates has consistently weighed my carry-on plus personal bag and enforced the weight limit of 7kg total for both. I had to move stuff to my large check bag, put items in my jacket pockets or check my carry-on roller and just carry on my personal bag.

My personal bag is a ThinkTank Airport essentials backpack. It is sized to fit under the seat. Many of the small planes used for remote locations cannot fit roller bags or larger bags in the overhead compartments. You will be forced to check the bag at check-in counter or the gate.

I put camera, lenses, laptop and anything delicate in the personal sized backpack.

I do like bags designed for camera protection. In the past I have use protective wraps in regular luggage only to find my gear unwrapped and an inspection note in my bag. I did have light reflectors bent out of their round shape as a result.

Weird - I've never had my carry-on weighed by Emirates despite many trips from Australia to Egypt on them.

Years ago I had a photographers vest made that had pockets on the front for lenses etc, and a sleeve on the back for a 17 inch laptop, but I have misplaced it somewhere.

Emirates insisted on weighing my Pelican 1510 case once in AMS and said it was too heavy. I opened the top, showed them the contents, explained the value, cried, wept, pleaded…. and the manager said ok. I think she was just glad to get rid of me. The only time it has happened in many dozen flights on many airlines.

Came across an interesting option today - its basically a soft roller with a thinner backpack that attaches to it - but you can connect the two together and use it as a backpack if the ground doesn't suit a roller. You will need to add a divider set into it like @bvanant did. Unfortunately Granite Gear don't make this model any more☹️ but ebay or Craigslist might find you one, or you might find one available on Temu or Aliexpress as the Chinese factories often sell old designs that they used to make for big name brands. The main section is 20cm deep so perfect for most UW photo gear.
https://www.granitegear.com/cross-trek-2-22-carry-on-wheeled-upright-with-removable-pack.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1WXgeVNmZU

10 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

Weird - I've never had my carry-on weighed by Emirates despite many trips from Australia to Egypt on them.

Years ago I had a photographers vest made that had pockets on the front for lenses etc, and a sleeve on the back for a 17 inch laptop, but I have misplaced it somewhere.

I have flown Emirates 3x from NYC to Maldives. All 3x they weighed all my bags. I now avoid them if possible.

I do have a photo vest. The small airlines that connect many of the small islands in Indonesia have very restrictive weight limits.

My normal carry on routine when weight or size is not a big issue, is a 4 wheel roller with my small backpack sitting on top. Easy to move around because of the 4 wheels and it gives my shoulders a break. The small backpack goes under the seat and the roller in the overhead or gate checked if forced.

Edited September 20Sep 20 by Ronscuba

18 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

Came across an interesting option today - its basically a soft roller with a thinner backpack that attaches to it - but you can connect the two together and use it as a backpack if the ground doesn't suit a roller. You will need to add a divider set into it like @bvanant did. Unfortunately Granite Gear don't make this model any more☹️ but ebay or Craigslist might find you one, or you might find one available on Temu or Aliexpress as the Chinese factories often sell old designs that they used to make for big name brands. The main section is 20cm deep so perfect for most UW photo gear.
https://www.granitegear.com/cross-trek-2-22-carry-on-wheeled-upright-with-removable-pack.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1WXgeVNmZU

If anyone in Australia is interested in this two-piece option, I have tracked some down in Australia - https://travellershome.com.au/product/granite-gear-2pc-wheeled-duffle-backpack-set-70l-red/ - only the red available right at the moment, but black and midnight blue will be in stock again at the end of October or early November. Heaps of padded dividers, etc etc on Aliexpress so will fit out the main compartment with those and store the camera gear in there, 17" laptop plus loose stuff etc in the zip off small backpack.

On 3/5/2026 at 2:49 PM, Chris Ross said:

If it was me I'd be looking elsewhere for flights to the Maldives, all the Gulf airports are shutdown now, who knows how long before they open again? and will they remain open? Looks like you can connect through London and Istanbul among other places and I recall BA has a pretty generous carry on allowance. Travel insurance probably doesn't help if the airport closes due to war. The gulf airlines may normally be your best value, but if you hate spending on air travel you'll potentially hate being out of pocket due to travel disruptions even more.

The point with domestic is many people may need to connect to a hub to depart internationally and once they are airside they remain that way at their connecting airport and are less likely to be hassled over baggage again and most international airports outside the US you only go through transfer screening when connecting who aren't going to hassle you over baggage allowances.

As a sidenote, I flew to the Maldives in March/April accompanying a Japanese photographer. It was a return flight on JAL from Tokyo to Male and back, with a stopover in KL, codeshared with Malaysia Airlines.

Turned out the return flight had different baggage rules despite being booked in Japan through JAL (and the extra allowance given by his JAL member status).

We managed to wiggle our way out of it just before boarding after hours of back and forth in Male, but we were looking at a USD $1,500 luggage fee for our camera/dive gear, just because the ticket home had different rules.

Again, the flight was bought in Japan, directly through JAL... never seen this before, other than on a return flight from Bali to Labuan Bajo (switch from Lion to Wings rules) years ago, but this was on a totally, totally different financial scale...

Hellish... Lesson learned: double-check return ticket allowance, even with major companies like Japan Airlines...

At least they didn't give us any issues with cabin luggage 😆

Edited September 21Sep 21 by bghazzal

1 hour ago, bghazzal said:

As a sidenote, I flew to the Maldives in March/April accompanying a Japanese photographer. It was a return flight on JAL from Tokyo to Male and back, with a stopover in KL, codeshared with Malaysia Airlines.

Turned out the return flight had different baggage rules despite being booked in Japan through JAL (and the extra allowance given by his JAL member status).

We managed to wiggle our way out of it just before boarding after hours of back and forth in Male, but we were looking at a USD $1,500 luggage fee for our camera/dive gear, just because the ticket home had different rules.

Again, the flight was bought in Japan, directly through JAL... never seen this before, other than on a return flight from Bali to Labuan Bajo (switch from Lion to Wings rules) years ago, but this was on a totally, totally different financial scale...

Hellish... Lesson learned: double-check return ticket allowance, even with major companies like Japan Airlines...

At least they didn't give us any issues with cabin luggage 😆

All seems a bit odd. Were the return legs booked on the same PNR as the outbound legs to Male?

Just now, CCRphoto said:

All seems a bit odd. Were the return legs booked on the same PNR as the outbound legs to Male?

Absolutely - all through JAL / Japan Airlines, in Japan, booked direct.

The ticket was booked on JAL, codeshared on Malaysian, so JAL on Narita to KL, KL to Male on Malaysian, return Male to KL on Malaysian, KL to Narita on JAL.

The ticket did reflect the changes in the luggage rules on the Male return leg, but we figured the main carrier rule would apply and we wouldn't end up with a lower allowance than what we started with, especially since the photographer who booked the flight has high-flyer status on JAL, so we didn't look into it any further.

We contacted JAL and apparently the main carrier rule doesn't always apply, so you can end up, like us, with a smaller luggage allowance on the return flight than on the outbound leg, even when booking on a single airline...

I've had this happen to me once for a Denpasar-Labuan Bajo, as the return leg was operated by Lion's Wings Air rather than Lion Air, but the excess luggage charge was IDR 10,000 per kilo or something, which was mostly waived after a smiley chat in Bahasa at the counter, aduh... And we're talking about Lion Air in Indonesia, not a national carrier like Japan Airlines...

Not the same thing at Male, when dealing with Malaysian Airlines personnel at check-in...

Edited September 21Sep 21 by bghazzal

Have been in similar situations many times and will be again in a few months. Since my base is in Scandinavia, it means shifting a lot of planes to get to somewhere. Going to Indonesia ie, as I will be soon, means a combination of airlines with different rules. So doing research is key and what I have figured out, is that Batik Air allow free dive dive equipment one their Indonesian flights. On a normal economy ticket –– you can bring 15 kgs on top of normal 20 kgs checked in, so 35 kgs without paying extra. Must be packed separately tho... Then 7 kgs carry on. And personal item. So the Thai International to Jakarta from Stockholm will actually be the bottle neck, not the domestic Indo, with one 23 kgs check in and 7 kgs carry on plus personal item. Luckily I have my whole family with me this time, so we'll have one 23 kgs check-in with dive equipment that later will be a "free" bag on Batik with dive equipment for two, then three 23 kgs of clothes, dive and photo equipment as included in our total of 80 kgs checked. 7x4 kgs carry on of photo equipment and stuff. And personal item. This is the idea, anyway.

Edited September 21Sep 21 by Christian K

5 hours ago, bghazzal said:

Absolutely - all through JAL / Japan Airlines, in Japan, booked direct.

The ticket was booked on JAL, codeshared on Malaysian, so JAL on Narita to KL, KL to Male on Malaysian, return Male to KL on Malaysian, KL to Narita on JAL.

The ticket did reflect the changes in the luggage rules on the Male return leg, but we figured the main carrier rule would apply and we wouldn't end up with a lower allowance than what we started with, especially since the photographer who booked the flight has high-flyer status on JAL, so we didn't look into it any further.

We contacted JAL and apparently the main carrier rule doesn't always apply, so you can end up, like us, with a smaller luggage allowance on the return flight than on the outbound leg, even when booking on a single airline...

I've had this happen to me once for a Denpasar-Labuan Bajo, as the return leg was operated by Lion's Wings Air rather than Lion Air, but the excess luggage charge was IDR 10,000 per kilo or something, which was mostly waived after a smiley chat in Bahasa at the counter, aduh... And we're talking about Lion Air in Indonesia, not a national carrier like Japan Airlines...

Not the same thing at Male, when dealing with Malaysian Airlines personnel at check-in...

I will have a look at the IATA rules tomorrow, but if it said on the ticket that there was a different allowance on the return leg then...

9 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

I will have a look at the IATA rules tomorrow, but if it said on the ticket that there was a different allowance on the return leg then...

Yes - there is also something called the main carrier rule for tickets bought through one company, but that codeshare with another one for a section of the trip.
Up to now, I'd never had an issue. The initial baggage allowance was kept throughout the flight, or in some cases actually increased to the level of the flight providing the highest allowance in the trip (e.g. a La Paz-Mexico City-LA-Tokyo flight on Aeromexico, where the luggage allowance for the whole ticket was based on the LA-Tokyo flight, hence more generous than it would have been on the La Paz-Mexico City-LA leg...)

I'd never had it reduced like on this JAL flight from Tokyo to Male, with the return flight applying Malaysian Airlines' rules on the Male to KL section only (since we didn't have any issues on the KL to Male section)...
This was a return flight fully booked on JAL, the longest leg of the trip was on JAL, so normally main carrier rules. But nope, not always...

9 hours ago, Christian K said:

Have been in similar situations many times and will be again in a few months. Since my base is in Scandinavia, it means shifting a lot of planes to get to somewhere. Going to Indonesia ie, as I will be soon, means a combination of airlines with different rules. So doing research is key and what I have figured out, is that Batik Air allow free dive dive equipment one their Indonesian flights. On a normal economy ticket –– you can bring 15 kgs on top of normal 20 kgs checked in, so 35 kgs without paying extra. Must be packed separately tho... Then 7 kgs carry on. And personal item. So the Thai International to Jakarta from Stockholm will actually be the bottle neck, not the domestic Indo, with one 23 kgs check in and 7 kgs carry on plus personal item. Luckily I have my whole family with me this time, so we'll have one 23 kgs check-in with dive equipment that later will be a "free" bag on Batik with dive equipment for two, then three 23 kgs of clothes, dive and photo equipment as included in our total of 80 kgs checked. 7x4 kgs carry on of photo equipment and stuff. And personal item. This is the idea, anyway.

Yes, but keep in mind that I'm talking about a single flight here - we didn't buy multiple flights, and it wasn't multi-city - it was a single Japan Airlines return flight from Tokyo to Male and back, bought directly through JAL.

However, it transited through Kuala Lumpur, and the KL-Male-KL leg was codeshared with Malaysian Airlines.
Given that this was bought as a single JAL flight, and that the longest leg of the trip was on JAL, normally this is where the main carrier rule applies (as it did on the outbound leg). But not always, as we discovered...

the luggage allowance on this single JAL flight went:

Outbound
check-in: Tokyo > Kuala Lumpur : JAL luggage allowance
Kuala Lumpur > Male: JAL luggage allowance

Return

check-in: Male > Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian airlines luggage allowance
Kuala Lumpur - Tokyo : JAL luggage allowance

Edited September 22Sep 22 by bghazzal

Glad to say I’ve never come across anything like this. Bizarre to say the least. The potential charge was outrageous.

10 hours ago, bghazzal said:

Yes - there is also something called the main carrier rule for tickets bought through one company, but that codeshare with another one for a section of the trip.
Up to now, I'd never had an issue. The initial baggage allowance was kept throughout the flight, or in some cases actually increased to the level of the flight providing the highest allowance in the trip (e.g. a La Paz-Mexico City-LA-Tokyo flight on Aeromexico, where the luggage allowance for the whole ticket was based on the LA-Tokyo flight, hence more generous than it would have been on the La Paz-Mexico City-LA leg...)

I'd never had it reduced like on this JAL flight from Tokyo to Male, with the return flight applying Malaysian Airlines' rules on the Male to KL section only (since we didn't have any issues on the KL to Male section)...
This was a return flight fully booked on JAL, the longest leg of the trip was on JAL, so normally main carrier rules. But nope, not always...

Yes, but keep in mind that I'm talking about a single flight here - we didn't buy multiple flights, and it wasn't multi-city - it was a single Japan Airlines return flight from Tokyo to Male and back, bought directly through JAL.

However, it transited through Kuala Lumpur, and the KL-Male-KL leg was codeshared with Malaysian Airlines.
Given that this was bought as a single JAL flight, and that the longest leg of the trip was on JAL, normally this is where the main carrier rule applies (as it did on the outbound leg). But not always, as we discovered...

the luggage allowance on this single JAL flight went:

Outbound
check-in: Tokyo > Kuala Lumpur : JAL luggage allowance
Kuala Lumpur > Male: JAL luggage allowance

Return

check-in: Male > Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian airlines luggage allowance
Kuala Lumpur - Tokyo : JAL luggage allowance

They are both One World so the JAL status should count for some extra allowance on Malaysian ? It always pays to read the fine print and know the rules.

1 hour ago, Chris Ross said:

They are both One World so the JAL status should count for some extra allowance on Malaysian ? It always pays to read the fine print and know the rules.

Yes, we tried that, but even then the extra luggage surcharge at the gate was ridiculous.

Malaysian staff told us the price per kilo would have been cheaper if prebooked, but as explained, we thought the main carrier rule would apply, especially since we were well within our limits on boarding and returning with the same luggage.
I didn't know this kind of situation was possible and thought the Male-KL leg allowance was a misprint.

The photographer knew someone high up at JAL and contacted him, but even then we couldn't get things to move. It was complex also because the Malaysian ground staff at Male had to go through their bosses in KL, which didn't help.

We got lucky in the end (basically, a technical failure helped us), but we almost missed the flight.

1 hour ago, Chris Ross said:

They are both One World so the JAL status should count for some extra allowance on Malaysian ? It always pays to read the fine print and know the rules.

You beat me to it - here is the relevant section from OneWorld -

The decision in Male however that the Malaysian allowance (+OneWorld tier extra baggage allowance if applicable) was actually correct. The best explanation of how it all works is actually on Cathay's webpage - https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_HK/baggage/check-in-baggage/carrier-rules.html
As you can see your trip stayed entirely within IATA Tariff Area 3. So then the first carrier to cross from one sub-tariff area to another is the Most Significant Carrier and their baggage allowance applies. On your outbound leg it was JAL when you crossed from the Japan & Korea Sub Tariff Area to the South East Asia Sub Tariff Area on your way to KL. However on the journey back to Japan, the first crossing from one Sub Tariff Area to another was on Malaysian when you crossed from the South Asian Sub-continent Sub Tariff Area to the South East Asia Sub Tariff Area while flying from Male to KL.

It is one of those weird quirks that can work against you - or work for you when you know the system. For instance when flying from Melbourne to Cairo my two main options as a Qantas/OneWorld slave are on Emirates flying Melbourne-Dubai-Cairo or Melbourne-Singapore (on Qantas) and then connecting on Emirares Singapore-Dubai-Cairo. If I book the ticket through Qantas on Qantas or Emirates operated aircraft but with Qantas codeshare QF flight numbers then I earn Qantas Status Credits + miles and receive my Qantas baggage allowance. If I book Melbourne-Dubai-Cairo with Emirates EK flight numbers then I can earn Qantas miles but not Qantas Status Credits - but I do get the more generous Emirates baggage allowance. The maximum benefit possible though is gained by booking Melbourne-Singapore-Dubai-Cairo through the Qantas website with all flights having a QF flight number even though the Singapore-Dubai-Cairo legs are operated by Emirates. Doing it this way I get the generous Qantas Status Credits + miles for flying Melbourne to Singapore on a Qantas-operated flight, and also earn Qantas SC's + miles for the Singapore-Dubai-Cairo legs as they are on a QF codeshare flight number (while actually flying on Emirates) - but because Emirates is the operating carrier for the Singapore-Dubai leg where I move from IATA Tariff Area 3 (Asia & the South Pacific) to IATA Tariff Area 2 (Middle East, Africa and Europe) - I get the much more generous Emirates baggage allowance - which in my case because of my Qantas frequent flyer status is 3x 32kg bags. All of this is because Qantas has an alliance with Emirates despite Emirates not being part of OneWorld. Some people might ask why don't I fly Qatar Airways instead of Emirates seeing as Qatar is a OneWorld airline? Basically Qantas and Qatar Airways have never played nicely together for several reasons and so the earn rate for Qantas SC's and miles when flying Qatar is the absolute minimum that OneWorld will allow Qantas to offer - the earns on Emirates are much better.

That about sums it up... the checked baggage rules are very confusing... unnecessarily confusing... but it pays to be aware of them... and even have a printed copy as even people working the checkin desks are often not fully across them. Cathay's webpage is the first one that I have seen that explains things in a way that is easily understood.

Thanks - it's pretty wild though.



So basically, in our case, our trip was in IATA Tariff Area 3, but crossed 2 sub-tariff areas, first between Japan and Koera area and South-East Asia area (Narita-KL), then between South-East Asia area and the South Asian Subcontinent are (KL-Male).

In this situation, Rule Number 2 applies, i.e. the first carrier to cross the sub-tariff area is the Most Significant Carrier. This is JAL, on which the flight was booked, crossing from Japan and Korea tariff area to South-East Asia tariff area on the Narita-KL outbound leg.

However, and this is where it seems particularly perverse, if I understand correctly, this Most Significant Carrier rule doesn't apply to the whole flight, but to each check-in, thus resetting on the return leg!

So in our case, even though JAL was our Most Significant Carrier as per Rule 2, this did not carry over to the return flight, which resets the calculation at check-in.
On the return leg, the first carrier to cross a sub-tariff area was Malaysian Airlines, between the South Asian Subcontinent and South-East Asia tariff areas (Male-KL), thus becoming our Most Significant Carrier...

Wild. I've been air-travelling since I was in my mother's womb and have lived/worked in many different areas of the world, but I've never encountered a situation where the luggage allowance was reduced on the return leg of a single codeshare flight bought on a national carrier like JAL.

It's good to know about the Most Significant Carrier check-in reset rule, i.e. that the Most Significant Carrier is determined at check-in, thus resetting on the return leg.
If confirmed, this is really something to look out for, especially since you usually return with a similar amount of luggage on most return trips 😆
I guess it's not a super common situation, but definitely worth looking out for on codeshare flights within the same tariff zone...

Edited September 23Sep 23 by bghazzal