Surfing Waves

My board is 8'8, which is 104 inches.

I'm flying on southwest, and the southwest website says...

"Weight and Size Allowance: Maximum weight is 50 pounds and maximum size is 62 inches (length + width + height) per checked piece of luggage. Effective March 1, 2005, overweight items from 51 to 70 pounds will be accepted for a charge of $25.00 per item. Items weighing from 71 to 100 pounds and oversized items in excess of 62 inches but not more than 80 inches (i.e., surfboards, bicycles, vaulting poles) will be accepted for a charge of $50.00 per item. Any item weighing more than 100 pounds must be shipped as Air Cargo. [...]"

So, it dosen't really say anything about if it's over 80 inches.

I'll probably call tomarrow, but 'd you think they'll take it?

i flew United, but their policy said the same thing... i brought a 9ft coffin with 4 shortboards in it with no problem at all.. they did charge me 80$ however

It's interesting considering these are supposed to be linear inch measurements, so it's supposed to be length + width + thickness, and 80 inches works out to only 6ft 8 in. total measure (so not much of any kind of surfboard would fit that requirement). I think another airline said 110 inches was the max, even though they say they take surfboards, surfboards most often do not fall within their size requirements for oversized bags.
I did some research on this, as I am going to Hawaii this summer and wanted to take my board with me, and was disappointed to see those requirements, but I have never tried it.

Surfboards usually falls under sports and musical instruments and each airlines have their own policy regarding the fee for this.

For example;
Singapore airlines charge nothing so long as the total weight of all your luggage (including the board/s) are within the allowance. They will charge you full excess luggage fee (something like US$40/Kg) if you pass the allowance limit.

Where as Virgin airlines (Europe - US route) charge as follow;
Surfboard up to 277cm (109in)
* 1 bag and 1 surfboard - 50 percent of applicable excess rate
* 2 bags and 1 surfboard - 50 percent of applicable excess rate
* 2 bags and 2 surfboards - 50 percent of excess rate for first surfboard, full excess rate thereafter
Surfboard over 277cm (109in) * Full excess rate for each board



I hope this helps.

so where are you flying? Somewhere with good waves?

When i came to NZ i could have brought a surf board for free as one of me pieces of luggage assuming it was less than about 6'6 as far as i remember or if i wanted to take my full baggage allowance then just pay excess baggage for it. Unfortunaltely the board i wanted to bring was 7'4 and they simpy didnt accept them. I thought about shipping it but it wasnt that much more expensive to just buy a new board over here!

Libby wrote:...Unfortunaltely the board i wanted to bring was 7'4 and they simpy didnt accept them.

What airline did you fly with ? I flew with Singapore airlines (SQ) when I went to Bali (Cork-Amsterdam-Singapore-Bali route) and took my 7'6 board with me with absolutely no charge.

I could have flown with air Brunei for cheaper fare but then they'll charge for the board. So in the end it was cheaper to fly with SQ for slightly higher airfare. Not to mention better service.

Hi, I live in Newquay and when I'm at the airport I always see people arriving from airsouthwest flights (is the the same airline as you) with surfboards...

Marti x

iomarti wrote:Hi, I live in Newquay and when I'm at the airport I always see people arriving from airsouthwest flights (is the the same airline as you) with surfboards...

Marti x

are they about nine feet?

Not sure, I don't look, generally. I guess the best bet is just to give them a ring. Sorry... couldn't have been less helpful really...I just thought it might help to know they do accept boards.

As far as i know you get nailed for your board no matter who you fly with or what board you have ! ... we get nailed every year taking snowboards to france so i guess they nail even harder for a surfy'

CheeZee wrote:As far as i know you get nailed for your board no matter who you fly with or what board you have ! ... we get nailed every year taking snowboards to france so i guess they nail even harder for a surfy'

I disagree with that. Some airlines really do charge you nothing so long as your luggage including the board are within the allowance limit. You just need to shop around.

What airlines do you fly when you go to France with your snowboard ? Aerlingus and Ryan air only charges something like £20 (€30) each way.

BTW, I'm asking about the airline you flown with for my own future reference. You said that they nailed you so that's definitely not the airline I will use in future. But of course, you are entitled not to tell me about it.

well...I'm here now. 3rd day, and it's been flat the whole weekend.

oh, and I ended up just not bringing it, so glad about that.

where did you go jeffroo?

How did it work out Jeffroo? I found the same message and the way it read to me was no boards beyond 80". I talked with Southwest and it was difficult getting through to them about how the policy read. The agent checked multiple times with their supervisor but, it was liked listening to a skipped record they just didn't get the policy written under baggage weight and size requirements they would only read the surfboard specific policy about the fins being removed. The agent said I would be fine checking the board with a $75 fee. I hope this is the correct. I am flying out toward the end of this month. I have tickets to a music festival the weekend after I fly out to my destination and I can't be turned away at the ticket counter because I can't check my longboard after I called Southwest multiple times without a concrete answer addressing the weight and size requirements of baggage. My longboard is 9'8" so I figure 10' or 120" I am going to pack a 7'4" board as well. Can any share their recent experiences? Thanks everyone.

This is a really valuable link and according to the information 6'6" is about all they will take1
http://wavetribecompany.com/2014-airlin ... r-surfers/
The smaller the airline or the more exclusive they think they are the less your chances.
Hope it helps

I have traveled twice with my old SUP board (8,8) with Qatar from Europe to Sri Lanka and Philipines with no charge at all. I think it all depends who you have at the desk the time of checkin