[Oliver]

Hi everyone

I'm flying off in a couple of weeks and am in the process of sorting out what comes with me on the flight, and what goes into the container. I have a laptop plus 30-40 DVD's which basically contain my whole life (photos, copies of docs, etc). I have no choice but to carry them on my person. I don't think that the laptop should be a problem, but what do I do with the DVD's?? Should I carry them in a separate bag as part of hand luggage or should I take a chance and place them in a suitcase as baggage?? Also, would I need to declare them at customs? Will customs check the laptop or the DVD's? I just want to avoid unnecessary holdups at customs ... I watched this programme called "Border Control" about the NZ customs at Auckland International and they were fierce! Now I'm a bit wary of the what and the how of hand luggage ...

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Oregonkiwi]

We had a laptop in a satchel as hand luggage and a lot of DVDs and CDs in our suitcases - no one paid any attention to them. Customs are really only looking for people importing goods and trying to avoid paying taxes. The main inspections are done by MAF looking for fruit etc.
And have a look here:
http://www.customs.govt.nz/travellers/Household+Effects/When+No+Customs+Charges+Apply.htm

[sarahw]

Are you worried because you're coming over on a tourist visa? If so I can see that 30-40 DVD's of information would look a bit strange if you got searched - but nothing they can do unless you're bringing in illegal stuff or importing things that you shouldn't be... but if you have a work permit/PR then there's no reason why anyone would think that odd. Laptop also is not a problem - you will have to put all of your bags (and suitcase) through a scanner at Auckland airport - the thing they were most interested in when we moved over was a couple of big bottles of vitamins I brought with me!- didn't blink at all of my jewellery or laptop etc!

Border control at Auckers have never been fierce whenever we've been through, but have been very friendly - maybe they're trying to look scary in the programme to stop people breaking the law but there's nothing they can do to you if you have your own legal personal items :)

[Pip]

Just a note - although I think Port Elizabeth is in the US ?.. we got caught out, as UK immigration wouldn't let me have a laptop and a hand luggage bag, it was one bag per person only..

luckily managed to get all my stuff in a bag with my husbands hand luggage and he carried that and I carried the laptop, but just a word of warning...

would be good if all the airports round the world could agree on a single set of rules!

[veronica]

think that the one bag one is the current rule... just taking a bit of time to implement it

[andrewandjane]

we had no issues with laptop or a lifetime collection of dvd,s and cds inlcuding a lots of cds/mp3s of music files "we had backed up".

they only got worried by dirt on our shoes (which they clean for you!!!) came out spotless

[Oliver]

Thanks for the advice. I have a 2-year work permit, so there shouldn't be a problem with bringing everything in.

Oh yes - and I WON"T bring in any fruit or even dirt on the shoes. On the TV programme, they fined EACH of the passengers on a Quantas flight $ 200 because they had brought an apple each with them. What happened was that Quantas had handed out fruit packs to the passengers! Incredible! Passengers were complaining!! I can't believe that the airline would hand out fruit to passengers well knowing that most of them would probably just chuck the fruit in their hand luggage for later consumption. I mean, after hours on a plane, who remembers that they're not allowed to carry fruit with them??

BTW, Port Elizabeth is in South Africa! Beautiful seaside town with the greatest beaches and surfing spots imaginable.

NZ, here I come!

[Trigirl]

after hours on a plane, who remembers that they're not allowed to carry fruit with themthere are loads of massive signs everywhere reminding you about fruit and amnesty bins to put any food in. you'd have to be trying quite hard to miss them! then you have to sign a declaration saying you've got no food and hand it to a guy who asks you again if you are carrying any food and say no! they do make it very easy for you to declare/hand over any food and there's no feeling of them trying to catch you out. i'm sure that program had to do whatever was necessary to make good tv but really its all very straightforward.

[Caroline and Dave]

We came through via Christchurch 4 weeks ago and what Mandy says is correct, there are loads of signs.
As regards laptops at heathrow they make you take your laptop out of its bag and put it seperately in the scanner.This is now standard procedure.We had a small wheeled trolley that could accomodate the laptop bag and also other items.As long as you have one bag you will be fine.All fluids over 100ml will be confiscated and anything under must go in a clear plastic bag.
One word of warning.Please take seriously the banning of bringing food,fruit and things like seeds etc into NZ.
When we arrived at Christchurch you first go through the warning signs and then they bring the sniffer dogs around. These dogs look so cute but they will detect anything. We had had fruit in our bags on the flight and had eaten it before we arrived yet the dog detected the residue and we had our bags searched. They claim the smell can last up to 2 weeks. Also the dog showed a great interest in Leila's handbag and in there was found an old tea leaf which she had forgotten was in there.They were very nice about it and put it in the bin.If anyone has any food and thinks they have a good chance to get through,you will not.Those dogs do not miss a thing and you will be handed an on the spot $200 fine.But do not worry in case you forget,they also give plenty of warnings on the planes


Kindest regards

Dave and Caroline

[swank]

If you have data that you CAN'T loose you should make sure to leave a copies with friends or family back 'home'.

Another option is to use an online data storage service, that way if you loose, damage any of your media you can just download it from the net when you get to NZ...

Some possibilities for this (there are many):

Amazon's S3 service:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=16427261

Pricing
Pay only for what you use. There is no minimum fee, and no start-up cost.
$0.15 per GB-Month of storage used.
$0.20 per GB of data transferred.


Some people also use a standard web-hosting account. I have heard of people using Dreamhost for this (http://dreamhost.com) and I think they even beast S3 on price. Their least expensive plan gets you 161 GB for about $10/month depending on your contract length.

There are many more on-line options, and really the best thing to do BOTH: leave copies behind AND use online storage.

ASLO: If you decide to use an online service, make sure you start uploading in time! Depending on how much data you have, it can take days even on broadband connections.

[Oliver]

Thanks for all the info everybody, and for putting the record straight with regard to those warning signs. If you still bring fruit etc. in after signing the declaration and seeing the warning signs etc, then you probably deserve the fine!

[Oliver]

Just wanted to say that I had no problems at Auckland Airport. Customs personnel were very friendly and I was "waved" through without any problems whatsoever.

[SarahEDH]

Just an observation about airport procedures, not intended to encourage non-compliance -- I came into Wellington from Syndey at 11:35 p.m. and don't remember much fuss at all -- maybe it happened in Sydney and I missed it? No dogs, very little scrutiny and no questions at all as I moved through the processing line. Could time of day make such a difference? I met nobody in the WGTN airport that night who seemed concerned in the least about what I was carrying or doing. Which happened to be nothing, which is good, but I feel bad for people who get the third degree, all because of an apple . . .

[diforsyth]

I put CD's & DVD's in the shipping boxes along with the PC. I also bought a laptop to use whilst I was without the PC & an external hard disk (about £100 for 300Gb) for backup. The laptop & hard disk both came as hand luggage with no problem and we flew just the day after they started allowing hand luggage again in Aug 2006. In all, I had 4 copies of what was precious to me and it all arrived safely.

David.