I'm leaving for NZ in a couple of days and I'm taking a second bag. Interesting that I've never been charged for my second bag when flying to NZ and I just found out why!

U.S. law says that when you're flying more than one airline (booked on the same ticket) that the first airline dictates the price for luggage - and that the second airline cannot charge again. My first leg (PHX to LAX) is always on USAir. I went to USAir's website and found this: http://www.usairways.com/en-US/trave...epolicies.html which says that on USAir's transpacific flights, the first and
second bags are free!

Hopefully they keep this policy until my son, his wife and 3 kids leave for NZ with their 10 suitcases!