[Red Devil]

There have been numerous threads recently querying passenger baggage allowance when obtaining a Residence Visa.

I took the advice from 'rjloftus' and contacted SA via the following email address:

UK_Reservations@singaporeair.com.sg

I've had a prompt reply from SA confirming the following:

Dear Mr & Mrs ***,

Thank you for your email.

With regards to your query, please note that passengers emigrating to New Zealand are entitled to double baggage allowance provided they are holding an unused Residence Visa for New Zealand the visa will be checked and verified on the day of departure.

If you are holding this visa you will be entitled to double baggage allowance on production of the visa at check in.

The double baggage allowance of 40 kilos per passenger is applicable for adults, and children who are 2 years of age and above. Infants (below 2 years) are entitled to 10 kilos of checked baggage.

You can have as many items of luggage as you wish providing no one single item of baggage exceeds 32 kilos in weight. This is a health and safety requirement.

If you are not holding the correct visa, then you will be entitled to the standard checked baggage allowance of 20 kilos per passenger (adults and children 2 years and above).

Singapore Airlines policy on cabin baggage allows you to carry one item of cabin baggage, per passenger (adults and children 2 years and above), which must not weigh more than 7 kilos, and must not exceed 115cm in dimensions (height + depth + width). Infants are not entitled to a piece of cabin baggage.

You may also carry one piece of cabin baggage with yourself like a lady's hand carry bag or a laptop as a personal item.

There are currently strict guidelines regarding to carry on baggage and we would strongly advise you to visit www.dft.gov.uk for these restrictions.

Thank you for choosing Singapore Airlines.

Regards,
Shirley
SIA UK

For further information or clarification, please call our local reservations office directly at 0844 800 2380 (24 hour service, operated 7 days a week).
If you are located in another country, you may call +44 20 8961 6993, or visit www.singaporeair.com to obtain the nearest reservation office's contact number.

Needless to say I've printed SA reply and have attached it with our flight paperwork.

Sound advice passed on by 'rjloftus' and well worth doing... just in case!

[dusk]

Clearly the usual level of communication between departments going on there ;)

good luck getting through check in with no hassle about the allowance, hopefully the email will squash any argument

[nickydwuk]

We did the same but had conflicting advice as the PR visa does not state 'to stay indefinitely' but the permit you get when you arrive does. I wrote to them a few times and a few weeks before we flew I called them and made sure it had actually been markled on our booking on thier system (on advice from tihs forum). It had been. When we got to the airport we had absolutely no problem - they couldn't have been more helpful. Good luck with it all :)

[Carey]

We did the same but had conflicting advice as the PR visa does not state 'to stay indefinitely' but the permit you get when you arrive does. I wrote to them a few times and a few weeks before we flew I called them and made sure it had actually been markled on our booking on thier system (on advice from tihs forum). It had been. When we got to the airport we had absolutely no problem - they couldn't have been more helpful. Good luck with it all :)

Same (thanks to Nickydwuk) but at check in, they said our booking did NOT show on thier system and they had to refer to some bod higer up to confirm we could take our 10 cases. Luckily they agreed in the end but it was hairy waiting!

[Red Devil]

I called them and made sure it had actually been markled on our booking on thier system (on advice from tihs forum). It had been. When we got to the airport we had absolutely no problem - they couldn't have been more helpful. Good luck with it all :)

Good point Nicky... I'll give them a call later today and ask for the same to be done!

Thanks :nice1

[Bunstar]

We printed off the website the rules re: hand luggage and being able to take a laptop as a seperate additional piece of hand luggage. Despite showing this to the check-in staff at Manchester and arguing over their own policy - they wouldn't let us take it seperately so we had move stuff from hand luggage into cases. This put the cases overweight but they didn't dare charge us for it!!! So beware!

[JandM]

We printed off the website the rules re: hand luggage and being able to take a laptop as a seperate additional piece of hand luggage. Despite showing this to the check-in staff at Manchester and arguing over their own policy - they wouldn't let us take it seperately so we had move stuff from hand luggage into cases. This put the cases overweight but they didn't dare charge us for it!!! So beware!Having recently done a couple of internal flights in the UK, I noticed that the airline's rules are distinct from, and overridden by, the airport authority's rules, so that might be the reason for your problem. Singapore might allow the separate laptop and handbag, but if BAA say not, you can't have it.

[Red Devil]

Having recently done a couple of internal flights in the UK, I noticed that the airline's rules are distinct from, and overridden by, the airport authority's rules, so that might be the reason for your problem. Singapore might allow the separate laptop and handbag, but if BAA say not, you can't have it.

... hmmm, literally rules for some and rules for others!
At the end of the day, an individual is travelling on a specific airline and it should have no significance to what the airport authority states... unless of cause that particular airport does not have sufficient 'baggage vehicles' in place to transport the luggage to the airline ;) :D

Thanks all for your input... we've done as much as we possibly can to ensure we're entitled to the 40kg per passenger baggage allowance as confirmed by SA, however when it comes to our day of departure, we'll have to see which side of the bed they got out of ;) :D

[JandM]

an individual is travelling on a specific airline and it should have no significance to what the airport authority states...Well, except that the stricter regulations came in as safety procedures as a direct result of the terrorist attacks in London (which showed that the UK was a potential target). Because they then began checking everyone much more strictly, making each person have fewer 'things' with them ought to cut down the time it takes to process the queues of passengers through security. I suppose that's the thinking.

[Bunstar]

I think you're right about the reason we couldn't take the laptop seperately JandM. It's funny though as when we went through security they insisted that the laptop was taken out of the bag and put through seperately!! Not an easy task to get it out after all the repacking we'd had to do to get it into the bag in the first place!!!

I'm sure you'll be fine Red Devil...like you say you've done everything you can beforehand :D

[nickydwuk]

We took laptops and a bag as hand luggage and nothing was said. I had a handbag and small case, OH had his laptop, DS carried my laptop, other son carried their bag & DD carried her bag & laptop. At one point we had top take the laptops out of their bags (Singapore I think) but that was all. The hardest bit was taking belts etc... off - what a palavar.:yes

[Red Devil]

Just had a kind reply from a SA member of staff...

Dear Mr. ***,

Thank you for your email.

On review of the attached visa copies, we see that all three passengers hold the correct unused/unstamped Residence visas.

Hence, you will each have a total checked baggage allowance of 40 kilos once you present the visa at check-in.

Please be advised that the check-in staff are already aware of the requirements to authorize double baggage allowance for migrants to New Zealand. Please ensure that you only present your Residence visas and not the Returning Resident visas when you are checking in.

As you have a stopover of more than 24 hours in Singapore, we have sent a message to the department concerned to document your booking accordingly.

Thank you for choosing Singapore Airlines.

Regards,
Janet
SIA UK

... I'm off to do some more packing, now where's them scales gone? ;) :D

Thanks all :nice1

[victoria24]

feel like im going to be flying with a quality airline .. dont forget the 1 week in post redders :)

[Red Devil]

... will do vic :nice1

Your little one's will enjoy the level of service from the SA cabin crew... they make such a fuss of the kiddies and the service is top notch, even in economy class :nice1

Enjoy your 'recce' trip :yes