 Poster: A snowHead
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So I decided to book another week in Wengen and rather than use my usual high class transportation (Easyjet to Basle or Zurich or Geneva) I opted for something different. I booked flights from Birmingham to Berne with the added advantage of short transfer time to resort. When I booked the tickets I got a little pop-up which said if I want to book skis or other outsized equipment onto the flight then I should call their help desk. This I did earlier this evening, and was asked how long my skis were. 183cm I replied. Ahh, came the reply, we cannot accept anything longer than 5ft onto this flight since it is a turbo-prop. To be fair the operator empathised with me, and it would seem I am not the first person to have asked. Anyone come across this before - is there any way around this apart from folding my skis in half?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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AdrianV, Hi, I've booked a holiday with Inghams, flying Flybe to Milan and have been advised that I will need to pay... wait for it £40.00!!!! to take my skis. I have to pay this directly to the airline on departure. 
Maybe time to avoid Flybe
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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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Scheisse! Turbo-prop! We'll be hours getting there! I'm on the Flybe flight and want to take my snowboard... It's 168cm - that's 5'5"! Bugger, I need to ring them up...
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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carled, when I told them it was 183cm they said how long is that in inches so I said about 5'5" - shows how rubbish I am at metric to imperial conversion!!!!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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AdrianV, 180cm is about 6'
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AdrianV, Flew with Flybe to Berne in 2005 on a Q-400, never had a problem with the lenght of ski's, the bag will have been at least 180cm, maybe 190cm.
As Sage mentions, you do get some good views by flying in a little bit lower.
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srobbo, did you just turn up with the skis or book them in advance?
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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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AdrianV, I had mine pre booked, but other's just turned up and paid on the day, but bearing in mind that it is a 'small' plane, I would make sure that you pre book before arriving at the airport.
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Quote from the Flybe website:
Skis
Skis may be pre-booked within 24 hours of making your flight booking through the Customer Call centre and will be charged at GBP20.00, EUR28.00, CHF48.00 per set per sector. There is a limit on the amount of skis that can be carried which is dependant on the aircraft type:
Bombardier Q400 10 sets of skis (Max length 5FT)
BAe 146 40 sets of skis (Max length 10FT)
Boeing 737 40 sets of skis (Max length 10FT)
Embraer 195 25 sets of skis (Max length 10FT)
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So, 10 pairs of skis on a Q-400, no longer than 5 ft. That's 152cm. 152 effectively excludes skis owned by adult males, and many adult females.
Crazy for a ski flight?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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AdrianV, I got the same message when I flew to France from Soton last year on a Dash8.
I pre-booked a board bag 170cm long. And then turned up early to make sure it got on the plane - no probs.
Whether they make a bigger deal for your flight - can't say.
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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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Just called and booked two snowboards on our flight to Berne from Birmingham. She was adamanant about the 5ft thing (which, of course, I said they were), saying that if they were refused at check in for being overlength, they couldn't refund... I'm a bit nervous now! Especially as the board bag is also my suitcase! (Saves £10 that way...). I told her I was "aware" of people getting full length skis on flights such as these and she said that it really depended on who was on on the day. Fingers therefore crossed firmly for someone nice on the day. We're all tall people going so hopefully the board bags will look short by comparison! This is where I'll discover a "your bag must fit under this bar to get on the aircraft" barrier, isn't it...?
She said they were getting loads of complaints from skiers so were looking at the rules again.
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Air Canada, who have a fleet of Dash-8's, don't have a length restriction for skis they carry. I think someone at Flybe has dropped the ball on this one.
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You know it makes sense.
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Captain Pedantic here ! Air Canada Jazz have 26 x Dash 300s and 34 Dash 100s - but no Q400s which is what we're talking about.
Its worth considering that the Q400 has a 2 +2 configuration only seats between 68 and 78 pax - its not a big aircraft.
Theres probably a practical reason for the length limitation. The cabin width at floor level is only 6' 8" (2.03m) so the width below that in the hold must be less. Not sure if theres internal dividers to stop luggage movement fore and aft as well so you might not be able to store skis tail to tail either.
Also for a turbo prop its pretty fast - about 414mph compared with say 493mph for 737-300. As mentioned before as it doesnt have to climb(or descend) so far so it has less distance to travel. I think i calculated that a jet would have covered the ground about 10 mins faster on a flight I made last year.
Oh - and don't go for seats in rows 7-9 unless you've always had a hankering to be the assistant for the knife throwing act in the circus........ 
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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ropetow wrote:,
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Its worth considering that the Q400 has a 2 +2 configuration only seats between 68 and 78 pax - its not a big aircraft.
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The Q400 is bigger than the Q200 & Q300 (longer cabin) - width on all variants is the same.
Q400 baggage volume = 14.22 m cubed (502 cubic feet).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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ropetow, yes but at least the Embraer 195's can take full length skis, as for the lack of luggage you can do this if all you are catering for is the short buisness or weekend trip but if they want to cope with taking holiday makers overseas especially skiers in the winter they're going to need to let us take luggage with us, unless of course they have an interest in some naturist communities 
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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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I flew Flybe from Birmingham to Berne with my 178 Missions last MSB, and there was no problem - but perhaps they have tightened up the rules since then. I did not find the transfer a gimme - mainly because of having to take a taxi from Berne railway station to Berne airport on the return trip (a little private shuttle bus took me outbound,but was not available on return). There were also 2 trains to make the journey to Wengen. Although not to great a hassle, the transfer is not as easy as a look at the map suggests, and I have not opted for that route this year.
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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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they told me that skis/boards need to be stowed in the tail space - thus the length limit.
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FAQ
