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Info on Flying w/snowboards as Checked Baggage

126K views 198 replies 100 participants last post by  Craig64 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm constantly flying, and during Winter I take my snowboard gear along when I can. I compiled a list of the fees & restrictions for checking your snowboard in as baggage on domestic flights, for the major US airlines. It's definitely something to take into consideration when you're searching for the cheapest flights. Keep in mind that sometimes this sporting equipment will exceed the airline's max size and/or weight, so they may charge you an additional fee for that.

By the way, if you're searching for flights/hotels, Kayak is the way to go. I find it to be the best since it searches all the airlines (except Southwest) and many of the travel sites too, then sends you straight to their site to buy the ticket, without charging any fees whatsoever.

All info. is taken directly from each airlines' site, but let me know if there are any discrepancies, or if any of their pricing/policies have changed. Hope this helps!

Airlines have merged and prices have changed, so I've updated the table today (10/30/12):

 
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#3 ·
thank you. i have a suggsetion though, could you also all an extra column to the graph? one that has the price for the second check bag? im flying for the first time with my board through american airlines and im still confused about the extra cost of checking the snowboard bag as the second bag. there is 4 of us going, i think we have decided to put all 4 boards in one bag to avoid all of us paying the additional costs. good thread though, thank again.
 
#4 ·
If I'm reading that chart right it would mean that almost any snowboard brought on Southwest would get an extra charge. Do I have that right? My board bag would come to about 64x12x6.
 
#6 ·
I've flown on Southwest a number of times (more on why I usually fly Southwest on my snowboard trips) with a snowboard and have never been charged an overweight/oversize fee for portage of my board bag, which usually also contains my boots, pants, jacket, etc. My board is 163cm and the bag is 165 (65") so it definitely exceeds the stated limit.

Southwest also charges $0 for second checked bag.

I've found they consistently have the lowest fares, especially when the baggage fees are taken in to consideration, and since they fly to Reno/Tahoe, Denver, Salt Lake City, L.A., Seattle/Tacoma and Portland, they can get you to pretty much any of the big resorts.

They don't charge ridiculous rates for one-way flights, either. NWA/Delta charges the same price for a one-way flight as they do for a round-trip. THis means you could fly in to SLC/Park City for a few days, hop on the Greyhound bus line to Denver and hit up Breck for a few more days, and fly home from Denver, at a very reasonable price.

Additionally, they have $0 fee for changing your flight, so if you decide to shorten/lengthen your trip, or to change the dates altogether, all you have to pay is the difference in fare (they will credit you if the new fare is lower - which can also be used to re-book the same dates at a lower fare if one becomes available!). I think NWA/Delta charges $150 for a change.
 
#7 ·
I know from personal experience from flying with WestJet last year that they allow you to use a snowboard bag as one of the two pieces of luggage you can take for free. They will waive the oversize fee on the bag for you but if your bag is overweight or is an additional piece of luggage (on top of your first two free checked bags) you will have to pay a fee just like you would with a regular bag. Overall it worked out great and i had no problems at all flying with my bag.
 
#9 ·
I fly Southwest quite a bit, too, and Ive never been charged for a snowboard at all. I always make sure to have a $fiver in my hand, and to start chatting the curbside bag guy right away. I find this keeps my bags from ever hitting the scales at all! I know these guys dont always give the customer service to deserve any tip, but it helps my comfort level and is far cheaper than any overweight charges.

Im not the biggest fan of Southwest's seating style, but their cost, ease of use/flight changes make it way worthwhile. And they are closer to me in Dallas than all the other airlines at the 'big' airport.
 
#10 ·
Protip: When travelling in Canada make sure your board bag is easily accessible by security as it's their favourite place to check for bomb residue in my experience. I know in the US most airports don't have this technology but even small regional airports in Canada use it. So when I mean easily accessible, keep your lock keys handy and don't overstuff the bag, don't use a carbon based wax.
 
#11 ·
Everytime I've checked a board bag since 9/11, as well as friends, TSA has opened it up for inspection. They leave you a little paper tag inside to let you know they did so. Not a big deal so far, since everything has been in the same place I put it originally.

Locking your checked luggage is pointless imo. If you use a random lock, they'll just break it to get inside. Even if you use a TSA approved lock, from what I've heard, they usually don't know or care and end up breaking it anyways.

As far as the accuracy of my list, feel free to let me know if anything is incorrect, but make sure you know what you're talking about. I updated all the info. the day I posted it up, so it's current.
 
#13 ·
I think its a good idea as long as a) you secure them so that they dont bash each other apart, and b) you have plenty of room in other luggage for bindings, boots, etc.

The last 2 posts remind me of 2 things:

1. TSA will be going through your bag. Keep all small items secured together in small bags or otherwise contained. I stuff my goggles into my boots, my gloves into my bindings, and my wax kit + tools all go into a zipped bag. You dont want something to fall out and not make it back in. Regardless of blame, this can be a huge inconvenience.

2. I keep the big flat boxes that my snowboards are shipped in when I buy them. I cut each end off, about 18" from the end. I slip these over the tip and tail of my board before strapping it down in the bag. This protects the ends of course, but also helps to keep the board from sliding around longways or sideways.


EDIT - one last thing, I wrap my jacket around my helmet to try to protect it from any hits during transport.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I just flew continental. On my way to the slope, I was charged regular bag price. On my way back home, I was charged $100 for oversized bag. I think it is stupid since there was another guy that had golf club bag about twice my size and he didn't get charged oversized bag. The person at the counter said that I am only suppose to have snowboard, binding, boots. If I even put a pencil in the bag, it will be charged oversized bag because it is not COMPLETELY snowboarding equipment. WTF~! I had helmet, impact shorts, wrist guard, knee pads, which added few lbs and practically no size. They don't considered those item as equipments. I am already disputing this right now. My bag only weighted 37lbs. I think their rules are unfair and I have never encountered this problem before, even with continental. Southwest and Delta is always great.

So basicly if my bag was 49.9lbs but with only snowboard equipment in it. it would be considered a regular bag??? that's kind of retarded because my bag would be the same size but weighted more... why do they really care what else is in my bag as long as I meet the 50lbs requirement?
 
#17 ·
Sounds like you got a stupid person behind the counter.

Every time I am dealing with weight limits it depends on how serious the person behind the counter is, 90% of the time they will let it slide if you are slightly over but there are some people that will pin you for it every time.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Ok, I've been calling continental to dispute my charge and all they did was play the phone game of transferring me to other people. 4 Hours on the phone and end up with nothing. No one seems to know anything about baggage refunds. The refund department claims they can only refund tickets and not baggage? It is total BS. I can't believe they are doing this.

If you are thinking about traveling continental, think again. Not only was I over charged, I was double charged. I already paid $15 my 1st check in bag online, then again $100 at the counter and it will not be refunded.

Looks like Southwest and Delta (maybe other airlines) will be my only traveling airline for future snowboarding trips.
 
#20 ·
I bought a board from Austria and I will be returning to the US soon .... I already have two huge suitcases that I will be checking in ... do they accept boards as the 3rd bag? Im not worried about price, I just dont know if they accept the 3 bags on international flights. Anybody done this before?
 
#23 ·
man, I hate checking my boards on the plane when Im traveling, Since we always put 2 or 3 boards in one bag, the weight and size made the fee around $50 - $75 split 2 or 3 ways is ok, but still. prices were probably high b/c we fly the cheapest flights and airlines so they make up by raping you on baggage prices. But thats over and done with, after me and my girl went to cali for a wedding and jetblue lost her bag and she had no cloth for the wedding or even walking around except the cloths she was in and wearing my basketball shorts and big ass T's, that was the last time we would check anything. How much would that suck if you got to your destination and and they lost your board boots all your boarding cloths. You'd be fucked. So now I ship all my stuff in advance right to the hotel, I travel with a little bookbag and when I get to the hotel there is all my boarding stuff waiting for me. It usually would be around the same price as the ones I stated earlier but I have a friend who works for a shipping company so I get it shipped for the price of...........FREE. So Im good to go.
 
#24 ·
How much would that suck if you got to your destination and and they lost your board boots all your boarding cloths. You'd be fucked.
Yep, you'd be getting the poop end of the butt-ram stick for sure.

I'm always scared about that, but so far I've been lucky. Once NWA lost my luggage en route to Europe (it arrived at my hotel the next morning) but that's it so far. It's not just the board because you can always rent one of those, but it's the boots, bindings, soft goods, gloves, helmet, etc. And almost all of that stuff ends up in my board bag.

So now I ship all my stuff in advance right to the hotel, I travel with a little bookbag and when I get to the hotel there is all my boarding stuff waiting for me. It usually would be around the same price as the ones I stated earlier but I have a friend who works for a shipping company so I get it shipped for the price of...........FREE. So Im good to go.
Perfecto. I need more friends like that.
 
#26 ·
I just received a responds from continental.

> Thank you for contacting Continental Airlines. We appreciate the opportunity to respond.
>
> Our airport ticket counter staff is given the task of ensuring our customers are following our baggage policies. I regret you felt you were charged inappropriately for the excess weight of your checked bag. See Continental.Com > Travel Information > Baggage Information > Sports Equipment. The information is as follow:
>
> Continental accepts one item of ski equipment per customer as checked baggage. Ski equipment must be securely encased in a suitable container. An item of ski equipment consists of:
> 1 pair water skis or 1 water ski bag containing 2 pairs of skis
> 1 snowboard or 1 snowboard bag containing 2 snowboards
> up to 2 pair of snow skis and associated equipment in 1 bag and 1 ski boot bag. (Note: If ski boot bag contains other items in addition to or in place of boots, it will be subject to applicable baggage fees or excess baggage fees.
> If applicable, the first or second bag fee applies to ski equipment.
> Ski equipment in addition to the baggage allowance will be assessed at the excess baggage charge applicable in the market for a single piece.
> Ski or boot bags weighing over 50lbs (23kg) that contain other items in addition to or in place of appropriate ski equipment will be subject to the applicable overweight fee.
> Ski bags measuring over 62 linear inches (157 cm) that contain other items in addition to or in place of ski equipment will be subject to the applicable oversize charge.
>
> According to Lubbock, your snowboard bag was charged the excess fee because it contained other items. It is our practice that baggage discrepancies are settled at the airport when the discussion is happening with viewing access to the baggage for proper assessment. In the future, if you feel an agent is incorrectly charging you for overweight or excess baggage, please feel free to ask for a supervisor. They will be happy to ensure you are being charged the correct amount for your baggage.
>
> Thank you for reporting you experience. I have included it in a report that is distributed to senior management. We appreciate your feedback and flying with us. We look forward to serving you on a flight in the future.



So yea guys, if you have an extra piece of hair in the bag, it will be an oversize bag. Which is $100 extra. I hope no one else have to encounter this problem.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Moral here, don't fly Continental! I've flown w/my board bag on Alaska/Horizon countless times, and also United and Soutwest recently. Packed in the bag, aside from snowboard gear, I've also had bottles of wine, DVDs, my toiletries bag, and a weekend's worth of street clothes/shoes/etc... If it's within the dimensions and weight limitations, it just seems ridiculous that it matters.
 
#31 ·
misplaced baggage once

Last april I flew into vail for some spring skiing. No oversized bag fee in spite of stuffing my snow jacket, pants, socks, gloves into my board bag... Got to the airport- they lost it. LUCKILY my friends live out there, I took a day to demo a custom X from a shop, and borrowed a friend's board (rented some boots). Had to borrow pants/jacket which were all too big. Major suck. Only thing I had of my own was my helmet and goggles that I brought carry-on (and some barhopping clothes).

Now I'm kinda paranoid about checking all of my stuff together in one bag- but not much really you can do about that!
 
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