This is a valuable post. I'm going to Barbados in 2 weeks ( flying AA ) out of Reagan/ National with 2 boards in a double bag. I trial packed them and they look like one board, total weight 35 lbs. My plan is to just put it on the check in platform and say " I have a surfboard. The whole bag weighs 35 lbs " and hope they don't get too curious. I hadn't thought about putting a small padlock on it but maybe that's a good idea.
UPDATE...:
im flying to liberia with united! 320 round trip! i called the lady and she said if you dont bring a suit case, my board bag can count as my free luggage. can anyone confirm this? (i only travle with carry on anyway!)
Unlikely.Originally Posted by mexsurfer
I'd like to see you score, but it is really up to whoever the agent is & what he / she is trained on or what the agent is feeling like doing. Nothing tops the airlines for mis-information specialists. You get a different story from almost every one of the airline workers.
Let us know how you fare on that free-bag aspect. Hope you slide.
Keep in mind that the airlines have a standard for the maximum size on any bag whether it's free or charged. That means if it exceeds that size, you're going to pay extra anyway. There is no way that your board bag fits within the parameters of the standard checked baggage size. Be compared to schmooze as much as possible, and if you go with a Latin American airline, having somebody who speak Spanish… like somebody's mama… is also especially helpful in getting things past the ticket counter.
buena suerte y buenas olas
62 linear inches is the new watchword for checked baggage -- LxWxH not to exceed 62" or excess length charges (some of which are big dollars like $150). Over 50 lbs, excess weight charges. It is best to check all the rules at the time of booking and to print them out. It is uber confusing out there right now.
As long as the boards fit into one bag and stay under 70lbs and 126 inches you could have as many boards as you want and not get charged extra. Read there website. Another tip I've used is self check in. Depending on the airport you can print your own luggage tag and drop them off at TSA...no questions asked. But you have to be sneaky.
Lightweight surfboards packaged in a single bag that weighs less than 70 lbs. will be accepted as a single surfboard for charging purposes.
That was my experience this summer. We flew with AA out of ewr and I took 3 longboards to CR. We were charged $150 each way. As long as you are under 70 lbs you should be ok.
The only problem I had and continue to have is they damaged my boards on the return flight. I filed a claim and am getting the run around. It's a long story, which I won't go into unless someone really wants to know, but the Customer service for damaged items sucks at AA. It's so bad that even though I have used them every year for the last 7 years to go to CR, this experience will probably make me switch airlines next time we go.
goto tamerindo rent! they have so many surf shops with good boards of all sizes and it like 15-25 a day that is about half of what any airline will charge to damage your board.
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