 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi All
just about to book the annual long stay trip to USA. So now they charge for ski carriage!
Read and re-read the terms but cant`t decided whether you can take a ski bag (at their given dimensions 190cm max) AS THE 1 AND ONLY piece of checked luggage ,as a ski bag is now INCLUDED in the 23kg allowance.
However when you look at `checked bagged `allowance it gives smaller dimetions up to 23 kgs.
Any one sussed this out yet?? I have mailed them but probably won`t get reply `till next year.
Replies greatly appreciated 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yep - pack light , 1 coffin bag - its in line with what most customers want or somesuch per Willie Walsh.
Fly Virgin & email BA to let them know.
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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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We fly to Denver and trying every airline possible with out loads of changes and/or excees ski charges. BA fly direct, so if anyone knows another airline flying direct from ANY airport in UK let me know please.
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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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Groundhog day. Pity the mods don't have a facility to merge threads.
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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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US Airways was £392 (all inclusive) for us, 2 bags, 32kg max total. Have to change at Charlotte or Philly, though, and not sure about skis.
Best check Denver Airport website to see which airlines use it as a hub. Then see which of those fly to UK. Then check each for a good deal.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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which airport in UK did you fly from?
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LGW
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Oh well at least its good to be a snowboarder sometimes  Should be able to pack all my stuff in coffin bag for under 23kg...
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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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Continental & NWA allow you take to Skis but do not fly direct .
Here is Continental's policy i.e not changed in years.
Continental accepts one item of ski equipment per customer as checked baggage. Ski equipment must be securely encased in a suitable container. An item of ski equipment consists of:
* 1 pair water skis or 1 water ski bag containing 2 pairs of skis
* 1 snowboard or 1 snowboard bag containing 2 snowboards
* up to 2 pair of snow skis and associated equipment in 1 bag and 1 ski boot bag. (Note: If ski boot bag contains other items in addition to or in place of boots, it will be subject to applicable baggage fees or excess baggage fees.
If applicable, the first ($20) or second bag fee ($30) applies to ski equipment.
Ski equipment in addition to the baggage allowance will be assessed at the excess baggage charge applicable in the market for a single piece.
Ski or boot bags weighing over 50lbs (23kg) that contain other items in addition to or in place of appropriate ski equipment will be subject to the applicable overweight fee.
Ski bags measuring over 62 linear inches (157 cm) that contain other items in addition to or in place of ski equipment will be subject to the applicable oversize charge.
Continental is not liable for damage to water ski/snow ski/snowboard equipment.
Excess Valuation may not be purchased for water ski/snow ski/snowboard equipment.
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ah, now I looked at continental this morning and thought any ski bag OVER 157 is subject to excess baggage??
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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AND Continental flight to Denver booked now is £317 rtn, no changes but 1 hour stop on tarmac at Houston. BA £434 rtn. Quite a difference!!
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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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im using continental for the east and west coast next year
because were international they said we can have 2 items of checked luggage
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So let me get this right; with Continental, defo 2 bags to include 1 ski bag 190cms ,so long as it contains nothing but skis and boots? We are going for 2 months so could pack light but 2 bags would be a bonus.
did you contact them for clarification on UK to USA flights recently.
Cheers
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You know it makes sense.
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i phoned continental to book my flights(6 for £500!)
they said as i was starting and ending in the uk i could have 2 hold items
1 normal bag and 1 with only 2 snowboard and boots
i booked my flights with them last week
i also asked them to clarify about the hold luggae on the smaller planes ill be on(-8 prop plane)and said that was ok too
give them a phone
very friendly and helpful
delta,us airways and united are quite restrictive on the baggage policy
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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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I flew United last year - they were fine with ski bags. I had two pairs of skis and one pair of boots in mine (along with another boot bag I think), and they didn't bat an eyelid.
Their customer service when we got stranded in Jackson, on the other hand, was dreadful. We eventually got them to put us on an American flight two days later, but I'll never understand how they could be so disorganised given that being snowed in there isn't unusual... </rant>
I've never flown Continental with skis, but the experiences I have had with thme haven't been fantastic so there might be a reason why their cheapest. £100 is £100 though 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Flying international from Europe with US carriers there is not problems with Ski Bags.
If you decide top take a seperate internal flight in the US (example "Frontier" or "Skywest" ) while your there you will be charged for skis just like there doing in Europe now.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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How long should you allow for flight conection? Whats the proceedure at US aiports. Flight i`m looking at allows 1 hour 40 mins! Sounds tight for collecting baggage and getting through customs etc befor boarding next plane. Do you have to go through customs on connecting flights? Only ever done direct flight !
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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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1hr 40 is tight. You have to get baggage, do customs, immigration, go to baggage drop, a pass thru security, then on to gate. We guessed that anything sub-2hours required luck, so instead of the 1hr30 wait we booked the following connecting flight. I've known people to miss connecting flight with a 2hr30 layover (Chicago), but we managed baggage claim to baggage drop in 10 minutes, and that included an extra quick chat with a random patrolling security guy with a sniffer dog.
edit: but on the way home everything is checked thru, so a lot easier.
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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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stanton,
im taking 4 internal flights with continental but as my start and end destination is international im allowed to take my board bag without having any extra fees
susieski,
when i fly back to newark to go to denver ive got 35minutes for change of flights!
but it is an internal flight
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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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susieski, Format is:
Take forever clearing US immigration even if you are pre registered & biodata'd as most of the other non US citizens aren't.
Pick up bags otherside, ignore stinkeye from Customs guy, hand in form then recheck bags on conveyor the other side.
US bag handling will cause at least 1 bag to miss the connection so hope it isn't the one with your ski boots in.
Wait despondently for bags the other side then pick up compensatory amenity kit/ski rental voucher & fill in lost baggage form.
The most you can do to influence the process is get a seat near front of plane and leg it through to immigration desks to try & beat the hordes. Definitely try to avoid getting in a desk queue behind anyone who looks like they might have US entry problems (do your own profiling here - but this includes old white people who may not look terribly competent at filling in forms).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks for all your help people. I`m actuall thinking pack light, 1 bag, BA, direct flight.........no hassle!
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fatbob, take your boots as handluggage 
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| GrahamN wrote: |
| fatbob, take your boots as handluggage |
Or go to Europe (that that bit of land the other side of the channel) which has extensive skiable slopes. You can go by train (Eurostar and TGV is very pleasant by day). No luggage hassles. Simples.
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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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25 years of skiing Europe, hoards of people, ice , nah!! Been there done that, USA powder heaven !
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achilles, apples and oranges
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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fatbob, Yup. Long tiring travel, and immigration and luggage hassle, v a carefree train trip. I'll go for oranges. 
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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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| achilles wrote: |
| immigration and luggage hassle |
I see this quite often and I'm always confused by it. I travel to the US at least once a year and have done so for at least the last dozen years. I've only once had a lengthy queue for immigration and only once had anything more than perfunctory questions about why I was visiting (the one occasion was a mix-up regarding a US visa I had in my passport but wasn't using to enter the country). It would be nice to have a bit of a smile from the Immigration service after a long flight, but I've not found that to be the case when returning to the UK as well as entering France and Switzerland. Is my experience unusual, or is there a bit of exaggeration about the immigration hassles?
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achilles, +/- on both sides, you don't need to swallow the TGR bull that JH is the only worthy N American skiing just like you'd miss out if you took any single resort in Europe as the one and only (even if it was La Grave/Chamonix/Verbier/La Ros etc). I think you'd be singing a different tune if you'd been lucky enough to hit Fernie when it was on although I can fully appreciate that if you travel all that way to get skunked by a pineapple express you'd be less than happy.
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You know it makes sense.
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| fatbob wrote: |
| to get skunked by a pineapple express |
Whatever that is it sounds fun! 
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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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Be safe allow 2hrs (min) transfer time for immigration & customs.
Sometimes your lucky & pass through quickly but if other times you land at the same time as 10 flights coming in from the Far East (Especially LA) & then it takes ages.
In any case this is assuming that your outbound flight is not delayed then you would get resheduled onto the next connecting flight which could 2,3,4,5hrs or next day 
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Poster: A snowHead
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| fatbob wrote: |
| to get skunked by a pineapple express |
Whatever that is it sounds fun! |
translation - Get rained on by a warm Pacific front coming in from Hawaii. European equivalent a +20 C/wind closed January day in the Alpes due to Foehn.
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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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Well i`m going all that way for 2 months, same as last year and year before that. Apples all the way for me!
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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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| rob@rar wrote: |
| Took me five minutes at JFK last week, |
I have also had quick processing however, I do not take the risk because I have also missed flights ..
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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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stanton, that's a fair point as I rarely have connecting flights, but two hours to get through immigration would be the absolute worst case scenario rather than a minimum time in my experience.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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On the subject of Continentals ski bag policy `any bag over 157 which contains stuff other than ski equipment`incurs extra cost, how pedantic are they. Would thermals or suchlike wrapped around bindings for protection , count as ski gear ?
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Surely clothing for the express purpose of skiing is "sporting equipment"
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Well who knows ? You have to be a lawyer to interpret the small print these days !!
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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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Suggest you all have a look at www.skicarriage.co.uk. They store your equipment all year round, service it and then send it to your resort for you. So you no longer have to worry about the airline small print or the waiting around! Finally a top solution!
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chattomonica, do you have an interest in this company?
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FAQ
Took me five minutes at JFK last week, although I was off the plane fairly promptly so there wasn't much of a queue. The actual immigration process at the desk took about 30 seconds. Never taken me longer than 90 minutes, from disembarking to getting my passport stamped and baggage collected, and normally around 15 minutes.