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Surcharge for Snowboard Bag?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi There,

I’m travelling on a package deal to Munich in February with Topflight. They’re asking for €50 extra for taking my snowboard bag, even though I will not be using my 20 kg baggage allowance (everything packed into the snowboard bag). This seems like an unfair penalty to me for having my own gear. Is there some way of presenting this so I don’t have to pay the € 50 extra?

Thanks in Advance,

John.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@meadejon, Welcome to snowHeads snowHead
I believe this is the norm, I haven't travelled on a package deal before but have understood they just book you onto the cheapest "basic" ticket they can get.

Depending on the airline you may be able to contact them directly to swap out the checked luggage for sporting equipment (BA & SWISS are two I know that allow this - Easyjet does not)

€50 doesn't seem too steep to be honest, sleasyjet wanted an extra £37 each way, on a flight costing £29 last time I looked so you may be getting a bit of a discount, who knows!
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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?
Thanks for that @arcticash, all of your points are spot on. Direct contact with the airline might be the best bet. I understand if there is a disincentive by travel companies, against people bringing their own gear. I know they want people to keep hiring equipment at the other side, so everyone gets a cut of the pie.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
meadejon wrote:
I understand if there is a disincentive by travel companies, against people bringing their own gear. I know they want people to keep hiring equipment at the other side, so everyone gets a cut of the pie.

That may be their motive, or it might be aircraft capacity, but it may also be that when making bulk bookings, it's just more practical, less complicated, and hence cheaper, to treat all "own gear" travellers the same way, regardless of what the individuals might do if making their own arrangements. I also like to put everything in the ski bag if there is a price advantage.

I hope you're able to sort out a better deal for yourself snowHead
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Good point @motyl, thanks for that. It's not make or break either way.

I'll let you know if I find a clever way around it, so now all I need be is just a little bit clever...!!
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
@meadejon, There is a theory that airlines treat ski/board bags as oversized luggage, therefore not handled/loaded in quite the same way. Allegedly they might de-plane ( i.e. not carry with you) ski/board bags if plane is over capacity in the hold; I've never come across this personally, but some flights do have restrictions on the number of such bags that they can or will take, especially on smaller planes.
Most TOs I've used charge £40-60 return for ski bags and only allow that as an extra to the hold 20kg - but as said above, check with the airline.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Thanks for that @Grizzler. It’s great to get this feedback, so I know what the general trend is in this regard. So maybe I’ll bring over an empty 20 kg bag as well as my board bag, then bring it home full of snow!
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@meadejon do you know who you're actually flying with? I only ask as when i flew with Easyjet a few times last year i was able to take my snowboard bag on as my hold luggage which gave me quite a good saving. this is because the language for easyjet baggage allowances is quite open ("Maximum total size (length + width + height) = under 275cm") so you can have a long thin bag providing the total dimensions are less than 275, i think mine is about 180 long, 50 wide and 30 high.

No questions were asked about this and it was treated as completely normal flying from Edinburgh, Geneva and Grenoble but i had to show a member of staff in Gatwick the wording of the allowance and explain to him what it meant as he was adamant it wasn't allowed (i may have been slightly tetchy with the guy as it was around 5am and he was quite argumentative).

So i'd say if you know who you're flying with have a read of the baggage allowance just to check if there's some wording wriggle room as i'm surprised at the amount of people who don't use/know about the easyjet one!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Thanks for that @ medion, appreciated. Good to hear there is a prospect. In the meantime, I actually bit the bullet and paid the cash, just for the peace of mind and a better night sleep the night before flying out! I’ll check the carrier’s (Aer Lingus flight chartered by Top Flight) small print in terms of baggage description and will be forewarned next time. Thanks again.
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I've always had to pay extra for the snowboards bag when booking a package. A number of time it was treated as over sized baggage by the airline, e.g. we had to drop it off at the oversized bagage point, and a tour operator also told me once that people taking their own gear/large bags could cause them difficulties with tranfers, i.e. not enough hold space in some coaches..
I travel with a mate next week, we booked a hold bag and a snowboard bag between us. We put 2 boards/boots in the latter and everything else heavy/bulky in the hold bag. Then we have cabin bagage.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I had the same thing a few years back, thought I would be canny and get everything in my board bag. As said above the board bag is oversized so handled in a different way.....carried in the hold, taken off the aircraft and taken into the arrivals luggage.....not sure how different this is but there you go. Long and short I think you will have to pay the extra. If they let you do it everyone would do it and they would lose money......they don't want to lose money.
I like to think of it as compared to years ago flying is so cheep now that I won't let paying a few quid more hurt, especially if it keeps budget airlines in business and allows us all to maybe get to the snow more often. But let us know how you get on.
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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.
Nice one @Gyro, thanks for the feedback.
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