 Poster: A snowHead
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We’ve bought a nevika wheeled ski carrier and are going to Banff with crystal. I understand we will be going with Air Canada.
I’ve just been looking through their ski carriage conditions and they have free ski and ski and boot carriage. However the words are that:
“Skis and poles must be packed in a rigid and/or hard shell case specifically designed for shipping”.
The carrier we have is a canvas one but is there a problem with making it rigid ourselves (hubby is a keen diyer)? Also, By the time we have 2 x sets of skis in there, it’ll be pretty rigid anyway.
Cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Used Air Canada 2 years ago, 3 lots of DaKine roller bags without issue. Checkin agent at YVR a little shirty re the clothes in one of them, but nothing she could do as it was within weight. ( she was shirty with everyone about everything)
You don't need to do anything to the bag other than just use it.
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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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Used Air Canada a lot. They carry skis and boots for free (which saves around £150 with other carriers), but they are strict about boot bag only containing boots, not so strict on ski bag as long as it doesn’t look stuffed! They have always taken our soft ski bags without problem but probably wouldn’t accept responsibility for damage if not in a rigid case. You can take a substantial carry on bag plus a personal item, we take a Dakine 40l Carry on Roller each in addition to the hold luggage (Dakine 80l Split Roller) and a Dakine back pack as a personal item. With that amount of luggage capacity you don’t need to pack any clothes in the ski/boot bags just skis/poles/boots (though I do put my shovel handle, probe, and ski tuning kit in the ski bag).
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@bambionskiis, no issue at all , and as you say when two pairs of skis in its pretty rigid anyway , in my experience oversize luggage check in at Calgary will ask to open the bag to check no problems so avoid filling with your dirty washing if you don't want them handling your smalls 
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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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Fab thanks all. I think we’ll just go as we are then. Noted about not putting anything else in - that’s fair enough. I was surprised when I read it because a) a rigid one would presumably weigh more so not in their best interests and b) it would be your own risk so if you want to use soft and know it could go wrong that’ll be your problem and not the airline. Perhaps they have hassle from people who don’t see it this way though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Print a copy of the Ski Carriage for free or book mark it on your phone, did have a checkin clerk who tried to charge us at Vancouver once. Generally they have been fine. Although again at Vancouver a few years ago we we’re quizzed about whether we had other stuff in boot bags just because they are big square Heatgear bags.
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We've flown with AC a couple of times and have only ever used a soft double ski bag. We always pack 2 pairs of skis in the bag, plus other bits and pieces (including some clothes) and have never had any problems.
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As they said. It's strange that AC have such a clause.
As far as damage is concerned, the Montreal convention puts that responsibility on the airline anyway.
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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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Never had an issue wirh soft ski bags in 11 trips with air canada
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| stevieb wrote: |
| Print a copy of the Ski Carriage for free or book mark it on your phone, did have a checkin clerk who tried to charge us at Vancouver once. Generally they have been fine. Although again at Vancouver a few years ago we we’re quizzed about whether we had other stuff in boot bags just because they are big square Heatgear bags. |
Good point - will do thanks. Interesting.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Bergmeister wrote: |
| We've flown with AC a couple of times and have only ever used a soft double ski bag. We always pack 2 pairs of skis in the bag, plus other bits and pieces (including some clothes) and have never had any problems. |
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Seems to be stacking up in favour of ok with a soft bag then. The inconsistency with other things as well is frustrating.
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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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As far as damage is concerned, the Montreal convention puts that responsibility on the airline anyway.[/quote]
Did not know that - blimey!! If I put my skis in a soft bag and they get broken it wouldn’t occur to me to claim.
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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| Never had an issue wirh soft ski bags in 11 trips with air canada |
Good to hear
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You know it makes sense.
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Good to hear that you are planning early! Only 11 months to go 
It will fly by.
Will you also be skiing before then?
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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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With Christmas only just gone, NEXT Christmas seems ages away but I hope you’re right bergmeister
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Poster: A snowHead
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I have been fine with a Dakine roller board bag on Air Canada
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We flew with Air Canada last week with a soft ski bag combined with separate soft boot bag and a soft board bag (I had also wondered about the 'hard case' thing but was reassured by people on here), and there were no issues at all at Heathrow or Calgary – saw plenty of others with various kinds of soft bags too. No one at the bag drops seemed to care what was in the bags, although when we got back to Heathrow I found a note inside my ski bag saying that it had been opened and inspected at Calgary, and unfortunately for whoever carried out the inspection, I did have my dirty ski socks in there 
Also, the following may be of interest:
The weight limit for each ski bag is 23 kg, i.e. the same as the limit for your main luggage (this info is on their website, but it took me a couple of read throughs to notice it). If you take a separate boot bag, it also has to be included in this limit – as people have said above, the boot bags are only meant to contain boots and other skiing equipment, but there wasn't any similar stipulation for the ski/board bags, although as also already said, the luggage limits are so generous that you don't feel the need to fill the ski/board bags with other stuff anyway!
When you come to check in (either online or at the airport), you need to select the number of pieces of hold luggage you're taking; just choose one bag per person and totally discount your ski/board/boot bags during the entire process. After you've printed your boarding passes and main bag tags, you just take the ski stuff along with your main bags to the bag drop desk – they will print the bag tags for the ski stuff at that point. We didn't find this 100% obvious from the website or check-in system, particularly as you're asked during the check-in process whether you have oversized luggage but are only given a choice of bikes, hunting equipment and so on – we wondered if we were missing anything at that point, but you just ignore it all!
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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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Thanks gilfel that’s really helpful. That’ll save me loads of time. Can I ask where you went and if you enjoyed it?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Gipfel, Thanks for the info, very helpful. I hadn't noticed the ski bag weight allowed was 23kg. We try and get all our gear into one bag for ease of transport and I'm always a bit concerned about its weight so good to know we have 23kg.
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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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Glad I could help! @bambionskiis, we went to Jasper, and I absolutely loved every minute of it. This was my first time in Canada/N America and before we went, I was reading with interest the thread (I think originally started by you) on N America and people's opinions on the differences between skiing there and Europe, so I'm going to update that thread with a mini trip report/some general observations soon!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Great stuff, I look forward to reading it. We were torn between Banff and Jasper in the end as both seem really lovely. Glad you had such a lovely time.
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No problem with a soft side ski bag. I just flew from Denver to Vancouver and they didn’t even ask about my soft side bag.
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I saw that condition last year, and bought and took a sporttube. I believe everyone else is correct that this wasn't necessary. Oh, well, more kit I suppose.
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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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Resurrecting on old thread as we are using Air Canada in Dec. We each have a 23 kg hold luggage allowance but I can't see an easy way of adding our skis on (already cost me £30 trying to call their Toll Free centre in Canada before I got cut off after 5 mins - stupidly thought I was calling via WhatsApp). Does anyone know of a UK based number to call and add them on? I know I could simply pay at counter BUT not guaranteed to get skis on plus the cost will be more compared with booking in advance (I'm guessing). I can't see any way of amending my booking online to get them added that way.
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AC carry skis for free on international flights during winter. And if you get an internal flight on the same ticket, the baggage rules apply for all (so internal leg is free also).
I usually find 23ks enough, but skis are *in addition to that*. Well unless they changed it since last season, and didn't tell me.
So don't sweat it. Otherwise, no, I don't know the UK number. I use Skype out to hit the Canadian free number directly when I need to chat.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@phil_w, cheers
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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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Air Canada lost one out of 4 bags back in January.
Totally useless and never did see the bag again.
A nightmare to deal with.
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