Emirates baggage to Maldives

[scubacam2002]

I'm flying Los Angeles to Male on Emirates through Dubai in a few weeks and I normally check two cases of gear, and carry a large roll aboard and a shoulder bag onboard with me. How strict are they regarding size and weight of the carry ons? Also, in coach do they really restrict you to one small bag? Between camera gear, dive gear, and personal gear it is creating quite the challenge. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[JohnnyC]

Recently they've been weighing all carry-ons before they go on the plane, but they courtesy check them at the gate. That was as recently as 6 months ago, so it may or may not have changed. (Dated an Emirates employee when I lived in Dubai)

 

[Diving Dubai]

Airlines policy is often subject to the departure airport. By that I mean, in some areas it is custom to allow more carry on, and the airlines often relax their requirements. However if the plane is full, or people are clearly taking advantage then this might not be so. Just because you get through check in and security screening does not mean it's going to get on the aircraft.

It's often frustrating in Economy that some people want to selfishly fill up the overhead bin more than their allowance. My personal policy it this

If I have a ton of stuff (nearly always) I pre purchase additional baggage. Fragile stuff still gets checked but in secure cases - and I've checked equipment that has eye watering value.

The only stuff that goes in the cabin with me, is stuff I need, or want instant access too on the flight in case my baggage get lost or delayed, this means chargers, computer, tablet phones etc

I figure also to budget for the additional cost, that way if I get charge no biggie, but if I don't then it's a bonus. Everyone is different

 

[Edward3c]

You might be OK on the outbound flight, but get a job’s worth at checkin for the return flights and you’ll pay heavily. That said, the checkin clerk on my last return flight said your over weight and will have to pay. When I happily asked where, they changed their mind as it wasn’t going to be an inconvenience for me.

I’ve discovered Omanair are giving 30kg as standard, compared to Emirates‘ 23kg. They are starting to take customers from the other UAE operators.

 

[drbill]

Heck when I flew on Qatar Airlines, they not only weighed all my bags but weighed me as well! Apparently they were doing a fuel check.

 

[Searcaigh]

My experience with Emirates has always been fairly okay leaving Dubai, on the return not so good recently when two allen keys were removed from my hand baggage going through Denpasar airport in Bali.

Generally my hand baggage weighs in around 23Kg with one Pelican 1510 case holding housings, strobes, chargers etc and a LowePro backpack full of cameras and lenses as well as my Mac, and this never gets weighed.

Gold card and checking in through Business Class helps a lot even when flying Economy.

My worst experience was in Amman when security wanted to remove my rechargeable batteries and confiscate them from my hand baggage which was averted after calling the Emirates station manager. Sometimes in this part of the world local officials make up new rules if they feel like it.

 

[ericgoesdeep]

Sometimes in this part of the world local officials make up new rules if they feel like it.

Tell me about it. I was in Dubai for three years and it seemed like they were passing out new laws just for fun. One time I brought a bottle of Moet from Japan to Dubai. We had a stop over at Qatar. We missed our flight so they arranged a hotel for us but the Moet had to be checked in. Good news is we got it the next day at the airport but yeah . . . Another thing I remember was the Canadian Visa thing. When Toronto said no to Emirates they started charging Canadians for Visa. It lasted less then a year (Guess they realized Canada has some powerful friends). This is pre-Trudeau of course.

 

[Neptune Scuba Diving]

Overall, our experiences with Emirate, Qatar and Etihad were not good at all. We've become a frequent flyer of SkyTeam hence KLM specially and sincerely, wow what a service! From a weight check point of view, they always try to make it happen if it's within a couple of kilos excess and you never have to worry about being bullied by the ground staff at the check-in counter...

We came back from a Red Sea Liveaboard a few weeks ago and we had a few more kilos extra on the outbound flight... man oh man Qatar made us feel guilty for it haha!

 

[EireDiver606]

Generally my hand baggage weighs in around 23Kg with one Pelican 1510 case

I thought the max allowance for carry on is 10kg? I’m thinking of getting of getting a Pelican 1510 for my valuable gear. Are they 100% worth it? Would you get a cheaper model like the Pelican Storm cases rather than the full Pelican protector cases if you were to buy again?

 

[Searcaigh]

Would you get a cheaper model like the Pelican Storm cases rather than the full Pelican protector cases if you were to buy again?

In a word YES