Hey guys,

I know/think this topic has been posted before but i had a looking trying to find it but to no avail.

Right, my question is to you travellers out there. I am looking to fly to England, London so i can jump on another Flight to Dahab, Egypt this year.

I am asking you guys what the best airline is to take my gear in a Double Board bag, im taking:

90 Ltr Tabou Freestyle
3x Sails
1x Mast
1x Boom
and all the little bits and pieces.

I heard that Virgin and Emirates are quite good for taking gear, but i was unsure if they were any good taking it overseas!

So, what is the best airline for taking up to 30 kilo's of windsurfing gear overseas!

Thanks guys!

Steve

Hey Formula, yeh im taking my own gear over there because im planning on spending 6 months out there working (if everything goes to plan) and i cant just use the centres kit, because the guests have priority on it, otherwise id leave mine at home.

Thanks anyway dude!

Flacka,
As u know I have done the odd flight with windsurf kit so my top tips are:
1) Don't fly with BA as you have no chance!
2) Ask the airline if they take sports equipment such as windsurf boards and if they have a length limit.
3) Inform the airline well in advance
4) Put bubble wrap on the nose and tail (although the way you are damaging kit at the moment it probably isn't that important!)
5) Learn to enjoy spending time in the oversize luggage area
6) Stump up the cash and fly business/first class and all these issues disappear (so I am told)
7) Ship the kit!

Roger that, so BA no way!

Roso your a legend mate! Nice work! Have fun at S P today!

Good idea shipping your kit, but the Egyptians are kinda hopless when it comes to posting things, so id rather keep hold of it myself!!

What are some good airline companies???

Cheers

air newzealand sweet no probs at all

Flacka,
Just had another idea: Why don't you ask Steveo as he has done this trip loads.

ouch, you can rebuy half your gear for that price.
Well goodluck in Dahab anyway,
expecting to see blogs posted each week!

Just get gear over there Flaka - the way you go through it it won't last 6 months anyway so you won't have to worry about bringing it back either...

6 months in Dahab - you lucky Flaka!

Ok my tow cents worth from doing a lot of travelling with 2 sets of diving gear that wieghed 18kg each. Work payed for most of the excess when i was going to work locations but when i was going for a holiday i payed. Went from London to Cairo once and one set had got lost on the way.. lucky cause only ****ty cheap airlines fly to Egypt and it cost about 250 pounds sterling to get 18kg excess there. One strong warning dont go to cairo airport. Seriously dont ever go there im not a whining tourist cause i travel a lot for work and expect to get screwed around but there you can watch security to try to steal you stuff and we needed to bribe a guy just to get through. Sharm el shiek is much better fly straight there, wipe Cairo airport like a dirty bum. My advice would be buy exrental stuff there. Ive never tried there but looked at it the canary islands when we lived there and its dirt cheap a bit knocked around but if you can handle that it will cost you less than you will pay in excess. I would not fly that far with that much excess unless someone else was paying, you might get lucky tho. Sometimes they dont charge you at all but usually they do. Oh and noones bagged qantas yet they are one of the worst in the world for non standard or excess baggage!

sflack said...



I dont understand why if i fly through USA i get more baggage allowance?

I think the US uses a per piece system instead of weight based (probably historical) everywhere, so any flights departing there or arriving there use the same system.

Based on what I read on the AirNZ site, if you are transiting via the US, IF you have an extra piece it will be charged at a set rate (per piece), yet any other flight not via the US is charged per Kg.

As to your question about passenger weights, forget fairness based on weight, it is purely to extract the most dollars from passengers.

I flew Emirates to Uk last June, great airline. Took Evo 70, 3 sails, 2 masts, 1 boom, wetsuit, harness. It came to 29 kilos, No probs!! I used a FO single board travel bag, is a 235x80cm.
Put fins, extension, deck plate, harness hook, footstraps and clothes in hand luggage. I wore a good amount of clothes on to flight. You could even wear all your clothes and wetsuit then very quickly get changed once through check in - before you pass out from heat exhaustion!

Emirates...

30kg luggage allowance in economy.

Everyone is right, you can fly through the US and get loads more (don't know why, it's always been the case). Pain in the bum, expensive and longer though.

Personally, I'd fly Emirates.

If you need to take more than 30kg, then take all your windsurf stuff on the plane and airfreight the rest of it.

The reason you need to do this is because airfreight is charged by volume (if it is "light", like a quiver bag full of sails or a windsurf board).

Hence freighting 10kg of clothes is a lot cheaper than freighting 10kg of sails or a board.

I've done this loads.

My preferred method is to fly Emirates, or fork out for a Qantas Club membership which gives you an extra 10kg (so 33kg all up) in Economy.

Remember that BA don't allow windsurf kit on their flights (because of the length of the "sail mast")...however, they do accept surfboards up to 277cms! So if you do get on a Qantas/BA codeshare, remember that you're carrying a surfboard.

<EDIT> Virgin don't fly out of Melbourne, so in my eyes it's too much of a pain to faff with getting to Sydney. And too expensive.

Hey Flacky you going back already?? damn!

QANTAS is a pain in the ass to travel with now.. I got hit with $170 on the way to Margret river last week, and $140 on the way back on Sunday.
It's not too bad I guess I took 2 boards 4 sails and 4 masts so I did have alot!

Going to Maui with Qantas soon so will see how that goes!

j.j. said...

IRL250 said...

You can't put fins in your hand luggage any more.

I flew to america from Ireland last year with windsurfing kit and had my fins in my hand luggage. When i went through security i was questioned as to what they were and no matter how much i pleaded they were classed as offensive weapons and i had to check them into the hold

Stick a bit of bubble wrap around them and either put them in you bag of clothes that gets checked in or tape them to the deck of the board over the footpads with a bit of duck tape

At check in when leaving UK they told me that too - checked it with security and they said it was fine and could put my fins in hand luggage. America maybe stricter

It was in Ireland that i had the problem just after i had checked into my flight to America, not sure how it is in America as i put my fins in with my clothes after the hassle i had in Ireland. At the check-in there was no problem at all and then when i went through security and the X-Ray machines that's when i had the problem. The security guard there classed the fins as offensive weapons. I tried to explain what they were and they were having none of it and told me to go back to the check-in desk and check the fins into the hold of the plane.

I have friends in England and Holland that have experienced this as well so it seams that it could now happen on a regular basis.

Better not carry fins in your hand luggage just in case, when i has to check my fins into the hold my bags had already gone through so my fins (3 x Tectonics Slalom Fins) went seperate, and when i got to the states one was damaged. I was a little angry as you can imagine

sflack,

a quick tip on packing. If you can try and get hold of a Neil Pryde double board bag. It should fit your boom, board and 3 sails snug and it easy to carts around as it has wheels and handles.

If the whole kit goes over 32 kgs you can always get a Neil Pryde quiver as well. The quiver bag can be clipped onto the double board bag. Once you get to the airport you unclip and check in. There are plenty of other solutions on the market but I believe none of them are as well thought out as the Neil Pryde bags.

Hi sflack,

I think i may be a little late in posting but if your serious about getting work over there then you wont need your own gear, especially if your planing to work in the big stations like harry nass ect...

I went there a while ago and they have a TON of gear in that lagoon. HUGE amounts! I would never expect them to run out of equipment. If you are working full time the problem you will have is to find time not gear. When I worked in the greek islands we had about 35-40 boards and we were flat out when it was windy, can you imagine work for a place which has 200-250 boards?? busy...

I would also expect, or almost demand, that if you do get a job there then you will be able to use all the equipment for free. And remember its all the latest gear...

But by the sounds of it, you have already made the decision to take your own. Have fun anyway. Dahab is an awesome windsurfing spot. What size are the 3 sails your taking?