Accompanied excess baggage

If it’s a manageable number of cases and you have enough people travelling, you can take it as accompanied hold baggage on the same flight as your crew.  This is, by far the most preferred method and is the one you will use almost all of the time. You will need to pay for excess baggage and have the relevant shipping documents in the form of either an ATA Carnet or a Duplicate list. See the Eyefish Guide to ATA Carnets and Guide to Duplicate lists for more information on these).

Negotiating special rates for accompanied excess baggage

If you turn up unannounced at check in with more than your personal baggage allowance, you will be charged the full rate for your excess baggage. Some airlines allow 2 bags per person and some only 1 so, depending on your destination and carrier, your excess baggage charge can be a significant amount of money.

It’s always a good idea to talk to the airline in advance and ask if they will offer a discount for your excess baggage. Many airlines offer a ‘media rate’ which can sometimes reduce your costs by half.

Per piece or per kilo? How best to pack your kit

Find out if your carrier charges for excess baggage per piece or per kilo and what is the maximum allowable weight for a single piece. This information can affect how you pack your kit. For example, 3 small separate cases could be packed into 1 larger flight case so you pay for 1 piece of excess rather than 3. It’s very simple to do this, but it’s surprisingly often overlooked. It’s very disheartening to find that the extra boom pole for a minicam which was added at the last minute is going to cost you $ 300 to ship to the USA and back.

Equally, you can’t pack your entire shooting kit, clothing, props, tapestock etc into 2 enormous flight cases each of which are beyond the single piece weight limit. They’ll be rejected by the carrier and you’ll be busy repacking into travel bags you’ve had to buy in the airport shop.

Using a specialist travel agent

You can take some of the headache away by employing a specialist travel agent such as Screen and Music

Travel agents who deal with the media have a lot of experience and can give you invaluable advice on how best to transport your kit. They have often built relationships with the airlines and can negotiate significant discounts on your behalf.

If your flying with  Lufthansa, Austrian, United, Swiss, Air Canada, BMI or Brussels Airlines  take a look at www.mediaonboard.com This is a Star Alliance based product offering a pre-arranged, prepaid and discounted excess baggage service. Media on Board offers a specific service aimed at making the whole process as easy, cost effective and hassle free as possible.