 Poster: A snowHead
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We're flying Edinburgh-Chambery on a BA charter flight the week before Christmas. It was as clear as muck during booking but we have now been told that there is no more space for ski carriage on this flight. Apparently they have a limited allocation on a first come first served basis. I've spoken to Crystal who have not been much help.
Has anyone got round this odd system?
Option 1 - Turn up at the airport and hope for the best (looks like it might be >£50 each way turning up at the airport).
Option 2 - Try and fit everything under our 2x20Kg weight allowance with a double ski bag as one of two checked bags (apparently not allowed) then hope for the best!
Option 3 - Try and ship the skis separately!
Option 4 - Hire  I'd rather not do this as I'd rather take our own touring gear which would be expensive to hire in resort.
I'm guessing that this might not be the busiest flight the week before xmas so perhaps plenty of remaining hold space.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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B.A. normally let you take one ski bag up to 23kg instead of a suitcase but not if it's a charter flight. It's up to the company (in this case Crystal) to decide the baggage policy.
Are they not allowing you to pay extra for a ski bag? Saying there's no room?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| speachmaus wrote: |
B.A. normally let you take one ski bag up to 23kg instead of a suitcase but not if it's a charter flight. It's up to the company (in this case Crystal) to decide the baggage policy.
Are they not allowing you to pay extra for a ski bag? Saying there's no room? |
No option to pay more. When booking online it said that you needed to call to book ski carriage. After booking we called to be told that there was no more space left.
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go back to crystal & tell them you was told you could take your ski's. ie blatantly lie!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I would just turn up at airport with one ski bag to replace one suitcase. BA has a good hand luggage allowance with no weight restriction plus a personal item. and say you've flown loads of times with BA (I have) and always take ski bag in place of case.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I would guess you are going to be on an Embraer, so it is more designed for business travellers with a briefcase and not skiers carrying the kitchen sink. So space in the hold will be limited, so if they say its full it probably is (Flybe have similar issues with their turboprops where ski length has been restricted too). So unless you can get back to the carpark pdq you could be left at the wrong side of security with your skis. For £50 you could probably hire a reasonable set on line before you leave.
Size matters 
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| scottishskier wrote: |
| It was as clear as muck during booking but we have now been told that there is no more space for ski carriage on this flight. |
We are flying Edinburgh to Verona (for the Dolomites) on the 30th December with Crystal and were told at booking that there was restricted space for skis on the flight and that the weight allowance per ski bag was a paltry 15 kg.
I assume that they're using the same aircraft.
It's pretty clear on their website :-
BA Cityflyer Charters (BA)
For the following flights:
Edinburgh to Toulouse
Edinburgh to Chambery
Edinburgh to Salzburg
Edinburgh to Verona
Baggage allowance
Your checked luggage allowance is one bag at 20kg.
Your hand luggage allowance is 5kg per person with maximum dimensions of 56×45×25cm.
Ski carriage
Your ski carriage allowance is one bag at 15kg. Your boots must be carried as part of your hold luggage allowance. Carriage costs £40 return and can be booked by calling us on 020 8610 3123. Space is limited so we recommend adding this to your booking as soon as possible.
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I wouldn't trust Crystal an inch. We turned up at checkin and they went along the queue saying the airline had imposed an extra surcharge and took £30/person. Got to the desk and the airline checking said 'No, no surcharge'. When we went along the line of people queuing the Crystal Rep told us to stop or they'd call airport security and have us removed from the terminal. Never travelled with them again, obviously.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@LaForet, Was that some years ago ? :: I had a similar experience. Approaching the baggage hall I spotted a Rep going down the line, but only stopping at people carrying skis. I hide behind a pillar until the Rep disappeared before joining my pals.... (therefore avoiding the surcharge  )
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If that's a surcharge that hasn't been advertised, they can't apply it at the check in. I'd be suspicious of the courier (genuine? acting for the company or themselves?)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It seems risky to turn up at the airport without anything prebooked. What will you do if they say no?
https://www.luggagemule.co.uk/ quoted me £143.99 return for a ski bag for a similar trip. More than the airport price, but probably less than storing your skis at Edinburgh for a week and hiring some in resort.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I travelled with Crystal a number of times, out of Dublin. Frequently the carrier was Monarch, who had free ski carriage in their terms and conditions manual.
The system works like this:
Turn up with unbooked ski bag to be told at desk that there’s a surcharge. Say you’ve never paid before and that you want someone to check. The check in staff (Monarch) check with the airport desk staff (Monarch) who confirm free carriage. Job done.
In my case it was Crystal charging for the ‘extra’ on ski carriage. I only did this with Monarch flights because I knew the lay of the land. If you can check the land with the carrier and maybe take a punt.
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@rogg, I don't think this is about charges at all. Its the size of the hold and the weight the thing can take off with. Especially flying out off Chambery where the runway length is short so aircraft are weight limited and if they have a tailwind (you can only take off one way thanks to a mountain) expect bags to be unloaded.
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You know it makes sense.
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| chocksaway wrote: |
| @rogg, I don't think this is about charges at all. Its the size of the hold and the weight the thing can take off with. Especially flying out off Chambery where the runway length is short so aircraft are weight limited and if they have a tailwind (you can only take off one way thanks to a mountain) expect bags to be unloaded. |
Yep - don't conflate the two - one opportunism by the TO to extract ancilliary income (see also Ticket on Departure fee for late booking despite everything being an email ref these days) , the other a real aviation safety issue for which baggage would be deplaned.
Think we have this every year on Chambery flights though don't we particularly from the regions?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| thelem wrote: |
It seems risky to turn up at the airport without anything prebooked. What will you do if they say no?
https://www.luggagemule.co.uk/ quoted me £143.99 return for a ski bag for a similar trip. More than the airport price, but probably less than storing your skis at Edinburgh for a week and hiring some in resort. |
Parcel2go are quoting as little as £25 for a package that weighs 10kg with dimensions of 180/25/25. UK to France.
Insurance is extra if you want it, and then you've got to get the skis home again too!
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Poster: A snowHead
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I suppose you could cancel and try another company. The goods you purchased (ie a ski holiday) was not fit for purpose since you couldn't take your skis with you. Afterall have you tried skiing without skis. Does Scotland have a Sale of goods act?
How can a winter sports company try and sell a product so flawed?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@johnE, Given that space is limited for ski carriage is included on their website and encourages early booking I think you would be on a hiding to nothing. I don't know the percentage of skiers that take skis but I bet its less that half so to use a cricketing analogy a sticky wicket comes to mind. Also given the relative shortage of ski charters from north of Hadrian's Wall this would potentially create a lot of heartache.
Regarding the flawed product I suspect they have chartered a smaller plane because there is only limited demand from Edinburgh compared with more populace areas of the UK for package holidays. I was no fan of Crystal but when I lived in Fife they were about the only option for a full package. The next stop was Manchester.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@scottishskier, We had this problem going to the Dolomites a couple of years ago, we used https://www.sendmybag.com/ you need to check with the hotel or chalet that they will be OK to accept the delivery, I think it cost about £140 return for two sets of skis in a skibag, happy with the service and would use them again.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| chocksaway wrote: |
I would guess you are going to be on an Embraer, so it is more designed for business travellers with a briefcase and not skiers carrying the kitchen sink. So space in the hold will be limited, so if they say its full it probably is (Flybe have similar issues with their turboprops where ski length has been restricted too). So unless you can get back to the carpark pdq you could be left at the wrong side of security with your skis. For £50 you could probably hire a reasonable set on line before you leave.
Size matters |
Even online, £50 will barely cover the most basic planks, decent skis are >£150/week
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@scottishskier, I know it's not much help for the trip you've already booked but IME it's much less hassle to forget about Chambery and Crystal and DIY with Easyjet Edi - Geneva flights.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@tangowaggon, Which resort - as it depends on the local cartels. More than decent skis are available at €80 in Tignes.
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@swiftoid, Should have DIY'd but seemed like a good idea at the time! I've never bothered with them before and does not encourage me to use them again!
@chocksaway, we're heading to Tignes so that is good news. I seem to have found a place that does touring gear and will allow you to swap during the week too. Looks like around 90Euros a head.
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Crystal usually give you a choice of Chambery or GVA from Edinburgh (Chambery costing a bit more) so could have gone that way and got the luggage on board?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Was Edinburgh->Chambery a Monarch charter in the past by any chance?
Faced a similar issue booking Gatwick->Innsbruck flights for Jan. due to, in that case Thomas Cook offering less ski space on their flights than Monarch had and it all being sold out on the 10:30am flight, so we had to go with the 6am one instead. As the only ski owner in our group I've not yet confessed to my friends that the reason they have a 2-3am alarm, rather than a 6:30-7:30am one is purely because of my skis...
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@scottishskier, Out of interest, where have you found offering a touring set-up for that price?
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