Need help with your baggage?

If you need to carry more than you can fit in your baggage allowance, the best option is to purchase Prepaid Extra Bags*.

They apply to extra bags, or large items like sports gear or musical instruments.

You can buy a Prepaid Extra Bag:

• Up to 90 minutes before your international flight.
• Up to 30 minutes before a domestic flight.

It's cheaper than waiting until you get to the airport and paying for your extra bags.

Add an extra bag to your booking.

*This service is only available when your journey is solely ticketed and operated by Air New Zealand. 

No matter what type of seat you have on Air New Zealand, you can bring at least two bags on board with you:

• One carry-on bag which can weigh up to 7kg (15lbs). It needs to be able to fit in the overhead locker or under the seat in front of you, and its length, width and height must add up to 118cm (46.5") or less.
• Plus one small personal item such as a handbag, duty-free bag or a slim laptop sleeve, which must be able to fit under the seat in front of you. A large laptop bag counts as a carry-on bag.

Naturally, there are some things you can't pack for your flight.

You may be allowed more bags, depending on your booking and frequent flyer tier status

You can bring an additional item on board if you're flying Business class, Premium Economy, Air New Zealand Elite, Gold or Star Alliance Gold.

• Your two items can weigh up to 14kg (30lb) in total
• One of your items can weigh up to 10kg (22lb)
• Both items need to meet our size criteria

Connecting to other flights?

If you're flying Premium Economy or Air New Zealand Elite and you'll be switching to codeshare flights or flights on other airlines, you will be limited to the standard allowance: one bag and one small personal item.

Special and oversize items

Sporting goods, musical instruments or other fragile or awkward items that don't meet our size and weight criteria (above) need to fly as checked-in baggage. Unfortunately there just isn't room in the cabin for skis, surfboards, bikes, guitars and tubas. Find out more about oversized and fragile bags. 

We carry checked-in baggage in the aircraft's hold. There's limited space, so to be fair to everyone there's a limit to how much you can bring on board.

Your baggage allowance depends on your ticket, your destination and your Air New Zealand memberships.

Standard checked-in items

A standard item - usually a bag - weighs up to 23kg (50lb), and its length, width and height must add up to 158cm (62") or less.

Flights within New Zealand

• seat only ticket: you can only bring your carry-on items, even if you're a Gold, Elite or Koru member. If you have more baggage than you expected, you may be able to upgrade your ticket to seat+bag.
• seat+bag and flexichange tickets: you can check in one standard item. Gold, Elite and Koru members can check in two standard items.
• flexirefund ticket: you can check in two standard items. Gold, Elite and Koru members can check in two standard items.

See more about checked in baggage allowances when you fly within New Zealand.

Flights to and from Australia, Bali and the Pacific islands

Pacific island flights include Honolulu, the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Niue, Samoa, Tahiti and Tonga.

• seat only: you can only bring your carry-on items, even if you're a Gold, Elite or Koru member. If you have more baggage than you expected, you can include checked baggage when you upgrade your ticket.
• theworks and worksflexi: you can check in one standard item. If you're flying to Honolulu, or if you're a Gold, Elite or Koru member, you can check in two standard items.
• premiumeconomy and premiumflexi: you can check in two standard items. If you're a Gold, Elite or Koru member, you can check in three standard items.
• businesspremier and businessflexi: you can check in three standard items.

See more about checked-in baggage allowances for Australia, Pacific Islands and Bali flights.

Other international flights

On most other international flights you can check in one standard item, with extra bags when you fly Premium Economy, Business class, or are a member of the Koru Club or our Gold or Elite programme.

Find out your check-in allowance with our online calculator.

More information

• Find out more about baggage
• Children and infants allowance
• Connecting travel
• Prohibited items

If a carry-on bag just isn't enough, you can change your booking to include checked-in baggage, or buy one or more prepaid extra bags.

You can upgrade your ticket up to 90 minutes before an international flight, or 30 minutes before a domestic flight. For seat passengers, the first prepaid bag costs $30 and additional bags are $95. You can check in up to three bags on Air New Zealand flights*. Please note that buying extra bags at the airport would cost more than buying prepaid.

If you're an Elite or Gold tier member, your seat only fare allows two carry-on bags of up to 7kg each.

*weight restricted flights not included

Yes, if you purchase your fare on our New Zealand or Australian websites or from our contact centre (service fees apply). But please note, you can only do this at the time you book your flight.

If you've already made a booking, you won't be able to pay for another bag with your Airpoints Dollars™, but you can pay with a credit card or a POLi payment*.

If you want to add a bag to your booking, you can manage your booking here.

*POLi payments are only available in New Zealand

If there is a flight disruption, your Prepaid Extra Bags will be treated the same as your checked bag allowance.

If we're unable to carry your Prepaid Extra Bags due to a flight disruption, you will be eligible to claim a refund of your Prepaid Extra Bags fee.

You can find what time Bag Drop closes on your e-ticket and on the flight details screen on the Air NZ app if you've added your booking there.

For flights within Aotearoa New Zealand, Bag Drop closes 30 minutes before your flight's scheduled departure. 

Bag Drop open times will vary depending on your departure airport and scheduled flight departure time. As a general rule, at international airports, our check-in and bag drop desks and kiosks are usually open 3 hours before departure.

If you have an Air New Zealand flight that connects with another Air New Zealand flight, or an airline we have an agreement with, and it's on the same booking, your baggage will be tagged to go through to your final destination. Find out more about checking in your bags for connecting flights.

If your flights were booked under separate tickets, you will need to collect your bags and recheck them before your connecting flight. 

If you're travelling internationally, you may find information on airport maps and connections useful.