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Flying with wake surf board?


Cole2001

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Who has done it? 

I was planning on just using my ronix surf bag and putting pipe insulation and towels all around the board and hoping for the best. 

The problem is flying and not getting dinged for a hundred bucks each way. If I call it a water ski, snow board or snow ski it’s free.. but as soon as you mention surf board or wakeboard $$$$.  So was thinking of calling it a snowboard as I have a connection in Calgary but they’ll probably see on my ticket I’m really just going to Costa Rica....  Also my surf bag literally says surf division right on it:cry:

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If it was domestic travel I would suggest shipping it via a major carrier (FedEx, UPS, etc) but going to Central America might be more risky. What about using "real" wakesurf shipping boxes from your local shop and checking it that way? The baggage limitations are by weight and linear inches/cm so a large, flat box may be within the limits. I got rid of the surfboard box I had at home so I can measure for an exact determination. From what I see online 62" is a common checked bag size, so a 4' board is going to be oversize...

There is some interesting info on the topic here:
http://srfer.com/2014-airline-surfboard-boardbag-fee-guide-for-surfers/

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Don’t do it and damage your Board on the inland boat trip , ride someone else’s Board just to test your skill on other than your own stick 

your just risking  damage and the extra fees that don’t stop them from damaging the board. 

It’s obviously precious to you such that you want to surf it there, but you risk losing your baby forever 

 

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I hadn’t considered just putting it in the box. My new board just came in the mail today so I suppose I could just keep the box. Over size luggage is $80 each way...  I suppose I could box it up nice a neatly and call it a wakeskate and let it go free. 

I couldn’t imagine the cost to ship it from Canada. Shipping a board from Cali is over a hundred. 

WestJet claims that they have the lowest mis handled bag rating in North America.... Worth it... not sure.  

Edited by Cole2001
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I flew with my wakeboard and soulcraft in a padded Dakine surf bag. I wrapped the SC in the bubble wrap that it was shipped to me in. Padded the voids in the bag with my life jacket and towels.

flew southwest from Cali to Texas on southwest and was able to skirt the oversized bag fee.

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I don't know if this is true, and I haven't seen @Pistol Pete on here in quite a while, but he may be able to confirm: I was tipped off that if you write "fragile" on a package that is being shipped it's almost an invitation for it to be mishandled, but if your write "glass" then it's treated better since nobody wants to have to stop work to sweep up glass and/or risk being cut.

You can't write "glass" on the surfboard in this situation anyway, so just random musings...

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10 minutes ago, mikeo said:

I don't know if this is true, and I haven't seen @Pistol Pete on here in quite a while, but he may be able to confirm: I was tipped off that if you write "fragile" on a package that is being shipped it's almost an invitation for it to be mishandled, but if your write "glass" then it's treated better since nobody wants to have to stop work to sweep up glass and/or risk being cut.

You can't write "glass" on the surfboard in this situation anyway, so just random musings...

My custom board came in the mail saying glass on the box, what a coincidence... 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Depends on your board. 
I bet LF has the internal volume somewhere and can't say it'll fit your board without knowing what your board size is.
My wife's Victoria skim would probably fit in our larger roller bags but my inland swallow would need a true surf bag. 

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On 2/20/2018 at 10:44 PM, Stevo said:

I flew with my wakeboard and soulcraft in a padded Dakine surf bag. I wrapped the SC in the bubble wrap that it was shipped to me in. Padded the voids in the bag with my life jacket and towels.

flew southwest from Cali to Texas on southwest and was able to skirt the oversized bag fee.

Soujthwest basically now sticks to the 50 lb rule because of ski bags, our little standing scale I used in my bedroom to weigh me and the bags fir ski trips broke .  This year both coming and going they made us shift weight.  Our strategy now is to have nothing but big suit case bags underpacked

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I plan on using pipe Insulation or a split pool noodle around the board edge when we fly this summer. Life jackets on top and bottom maybe a beach towel or two. 

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I actually still have the box from when I purchased the board. But we have a night layover where we grab our bags and having something like a bad just seems easier to manage than a big box. 

Ups from Canada to Costa Rica$$$$$

Anyone safely put two boards in one bag or use the double bags? 

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http://chaossurfco.com/board-bags-racks-accessories/chaos-board-bag

The best bags you can get for wakesurfboards. Flying with a board can be tricky, it is always a risk, whether it costs you or not. Nothing is full proof. Sometimes surfboards go on for free, but that has become a rarity. You use to be able to call a wakesurfer a skim board and they would throw it on for free.

The 'golf' bag trick can work, but it is not a guarantee. If packing for flight, best to wrap the perimeter with pipe insulation and build a couple supports across the deck and bottom of the board to cradle it. This is also a good way to pack a board being shipped in a box. Keep in mind, a wrapped board might not fit in the bag depending on its size.

"fragile" or "glass" really doesn't matter, if they courier decides to jack it up they will. Some couriers are worse than others, and some airlines are worse than others for damage. Hawaiian airlines hands down the worse, IMHO. I literally think they purposefully break boards to give traveling surfers a hard time, keep them out of their lineup.

I've had more damage and lost packages with brown over the years than fedex. A 'high insurance' sticker can help. Over the years, getting the third party to pay up on insurance claims has been more trouble than it is worth.

Easiest thing to do is buy local.

 

Nick 

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So I bought the phase 5 deluxe bag, as it has a fair amount of padding and is thicker than most. Packaged it up yesterday with two pool noodles, a thick towel and board soc, big bubble wrap and two vests. Should be good to go.

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I brought my boards from MN to Norris Lake TN and used the P5 deluxe bag.  We put 2 boards in there, and just padded around boards and took the fins off.  I flew Delta, and I called them prior to flying and asked what they charged to check them just to make sure it wasn't going to be outrageous.  They said it would be the same as a golf bag or downhill skis, I think it was like $30 or something, but I don't recall exactly.  Didn't have any issues at all, I'd do it again.  Good luck!

 

edit.......after thinking about it, I did have a small issue.  My shoulder strap clip broke 'somehow' at the airport.  Figured P5 would be able to replace the small part easily.  Emailed back and forth with Drew at P5 and my request was basically ignored.  Ended up buying a new strap on Amazon for $5.  I like P5 boards, but the customer service wasn't the best for a $1 part on a $120 bag.

Edited by Sixer
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