The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

[Nobu]

Anyone experienced having to pay extra for bringing overweight luggage with KLM or JAL? After packing my FIRST bag I weighed it and it's now exactly 20 kg (my total allowance), but I still have another bag to pack. I reckon I'll end up with 30 kgs to check in, so I better hope that whoever is managing the check in is easy to get smiling before I dump my frickin 10 kilos of overweight luggage on the conveyor-belt.

Read that it costs 1,5% of the highest one-way economy ticket per extra kilo of luggage. Christ, I'd be ruined.

I'm checking in here in Norway, and flying with a small Fokker 70 to Schiphol, before transferring to a JAL 747-400 there. What I'm thinking is they'll be extra careful about overweight with such a small plane, but.. Don't know if I'm just being overly logical here or not.

Any experience with overweight luggage?

[dave heats]

pack everything youre going to need initially in the bag you'll be checking in. then just get someone to post the other bag to you. it will still cost alot, but much much cheaper than paying for excess baggage charges on a flight.

one time coming back from Tokyo i was quoted around ?400 to put my overweight suitcase on a flight. so i simply went to the post office booth in the airport and posted it via sea mail. took around 2-3 weeks to get home, but only cost ?20-?30.

Dont even try to get away with an extra 10kg of allowance man. They will let 2-3 kg slide, but anymore and they start getting the calculators out.. is there anyone in Norway you can get to post your bag once you know your address in Japan?

[Largo]

Dave I think you deserve your own area on Japan travel and information, and we the people, shall build it for ye! ... (well im not to sure about that part but either way) /salute.

[Jushin-Thunder-Liger]

pack everything youre going to need initially in the bag you'll be checking in. then just get someone to post the other bag to you. it will still cost alot, but much much cheaper than paying for excess baggage charges on a flight.

one time coming back from Tokyo i was quoted around ?400 to put my overweight suitcase on a flight. so i simply went to the post office booth in the airport and posted it via sea mail. took around 2-3 weeks to get home, but only cost ?20-?30.

Dont even try to get away with an extra 10kg of allowance man. They will let 2-3 kg slide, but anymore and they start getting the calculators out.. is there anyone in Norway you can get to post your bag once you know your address in Japan?

What?s particularly irritating is that it?s almost entirely based on the check in staff's mood.
I?ve been let off with 32Kg's at Narita and charged over for 24Kg?s. Japan is generally very picky with luggage when compared to Thailand at al

[Nobu]

Yeah, reckon I'm fu**ed with 30 kg anyway. Problem is that sending stuff is wildly expensive in Norway, even though not as expensive as getting overweight luggage on an aircraft, it's still crazy.

Will have to think about this tonight.. Gah.

Edit: For the record I had about 40 kilos on my way back to Norway from Japan last year, with 16 kilos in the cabin. lol

[dave heats]

without wanting to be too nosy mate, what sort of stuff is in that extra bag of yours? you may be able to buy the stuff over here instead...depending on what it is of course.

[Nobu]

Shirts, ties, a few books (have already ditched the heaviest, and will place the rest in my backpack to go on the planes), a/v-cables that do not weight in at that much. Of course, alltogether it adds up to be a bit more than I'd like for. I've already sorted out a bunch of stuff that I do not need down there, or things that I would be able to buy easily at a 100 Yen Store, etc.

What I'll do now is place as many books as possible in my backpack, and move over the down-priorities in the second bag. If they say that I can't bring it I'll look around for DHL or a post office and see if I can ship it off for a reasonable price.

Edit: My PS2 (only bringing it because it's chipped and runs at 110V) is in there as well, with a joypad and some stuff. Gonna pack the one bag to 20 kgs and try to just have 4-5 kgs in the other one, the rest in my backpack and laptopbag (two latter to be brought on the plane).

[dave heats]

fair enough. for any other nation on earth I would recomend buying your clothes here. But I've had an absolute nightmare buying clothes, and shoes like I've already mentioned.

Just be as ruthless as you can when youre packing. Thats always good advice.

Weathers **** No football Boo

[Nobu]

I have some eastern blood in me from before so my body ain't all that incompatible with the Japanese average clothing model, I think. Given that he's underweight and 176 cm tall. Still brining clothes with me though

Anyway, found a semi-good solution. Will go to the post office when they open now at 9, and send off about 10 kilos. My PS2, controller, some CDs, cables, logitech MX 518 (I have a notebook mouse in my bag), and other things I don't need immediately. Packing it all in my big 2 kg coat, and shipping it for around 425 Norwegian Kroners, which is expensive, but not as expensive as paying 300-and-something per kilo with the airline. Even DHL was hella expensive, so this is what I'll do. The other bag now weighs in at 4-5 kilos, and feels very lite, so hopefully it'll be okay.

If not, this is the line at the check-in counter:
"What do you mean overweight? Look at my frickin' body, you ate more meat for breakfast! I should get an extra 10kg just for weighing as little as I do!"

[Nakano]

Just slightly off topic for a minute. Most of us that has been to Japan will have bought a crateful of games and consoles when we come back to the UK or other country. Has anyone been caught by the customs tax men and had to pay tax on everything?

[112]

if its a few games then then tend to over look it, they are mainly looking for drugs and illlegal substances. In my case, they took everything out my luggage and swabbed it but clearly did not find anything so they sent me on my way, I had a brand new sealed ipod and a few games an dstuff, he overlooked it and packed things up for me.

If you are bringing back a shed load of games then id say you're gonna have a bit of a problem.

112

[JU!]

Ye i went though the red gate first time bck said i did not have much. Other two times went for the green gate. Usually you will just sale through. As above though a shed full may be pushing it.

[dave heats]

Its always scary though walking through customs, lol. Actually, this time will be the first time ever I'm not going to be ****ting myself coming back through customs. Ive bought literally no games since I've been here....atall. I must be doing something wrong lol.

But yeah try not to worry while walking through customs. In my experience, the only flights that officials seem especially wary of checking are any coming back from South America...but even then its sometimes difficult to notice any customs activity whatsoever.

[Jushin-Thunder-Liger]

I got pulled up coming back from Thailand with quite a load of prescription drugs in my pocket (Blue Valium, Soma and Sleeping pills)
They just rummaged through my stuff, ignored the 15 pirate GBA games and knock off T Shirts and let me go, without looking through my pockets or even hand luggage

As said above its Heroin at al they are looking for, do you really think they can spare the time and effort with all the paperwork over your Code Veronica STARS Dreamcast?

[Nakano]

As said above its Heroin at al they are looking for, do you really think they can spare the time and effort with all the paperwork over your Code Veronica STARS Dreamcast?

Thats true. This January I went to Tokyo from Norwich, on the way back (not a direct flight) the UK customs people checked us at the boarding place in Amsterdam! The weird thing is I would only have my hand luggage as my other stuff would be in the plane! So when we got back to the Norwich air port, we only showed them the passports and got our luggage and left!