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Skateboarding => Travel Guide => Topic started by: TastyBurrito on July 27, 2021, 10:34:39 AM

Title: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: TastyBurrito on July 27, 2021, 10:34:39 AM
Wife and I are going to Hawaii. She wants to bring our boards which I'm not against.

But for those who have flown with boards, did you just wrap it up in plastic and check it in with your luggage?

I was thinking of just doing check-in and disassembling the board, putting the trucks/wheels in my carry on and  fastening the deck to my bag with a bungee.

Any and all tips are very much appreciated.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: slapcurbsnotwomen on July 27, 2021, 10:56:14 AM
I recently flew to Colorado twice from California with my boards, I carried it with me onto the plane as my carry on, who are you guys flying with? Check their carry on rules, safe travels!
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: phlap on July 27, 2021, 11:20:17 AM
For my most recent skate trips to Amsterdam and Barcelona, I just took the trucks off and squeezed everything into my hold luggage. Worked fine.

Just remember to bring your skate tool with you.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: Pushing 4D on July 27, 2021, 12:39:49 PM
In the past I've checked a big duffel bag and put disassembled deck/wheels/trucks in there.  Sometimes carrying on is fine, but I've also had friends get charged $30-$50 to check their board as an "extra bag." Lately I just bite the bullet and have a fresh board shipped to wherever I'm going and pack trucks & wheels.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: Dwyck on July 27, 2021, 01:12:08 PM
I recently flew to Colorado twice from California with my boards, I carried it with me onto the plane as my carry on, who are you guys flying with? Check their carry on rules, safe travels!
^^they might say you can't have a skateboard as a personal item, but I've found if they let you bring something big like a fishing rod into the cabin, a setup is no issue at the gate. Even worked for me flying roundtrip from Manchester England to Toulouse a few summers ago
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: numagik on July 27, 2021, 02:39:39 PM
i usually travel with a hiking backpack as luggage and just clip it to the outside with it's straps. havent lost one yet
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: TastyBurrito on July 27, 2021, 03:56:33 PM
you guys flying with? Check their carry on rules, safe travels!
Flying Hawaiian Airlines. Their luggage says skateboards travel as check-in.

But I'm traveling with a large Osprey hiking bag so I might just disassemble the board, strap the deck to my bag so I don't get charged an extra $30 for a setup skateboard.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: numagik on July 27, 2021, 05:00:12 PM
i keep the trucks on and have tucked an extra deck behind it with no problem. hopscotched around asia on a bunch of different airlines, zero issues. just keep the wheels up on the belts
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: BoardintheWorld on July 31, 2021, 11:06:54 AM
It really depends on the airline and even who happens to be working the gate. We've flown with them as carry on and other times they've been checked. Prefer to carry it on, but again, every airline probably has different rules. If you do carry it on just try your best to make it not noticeable.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: Esmith5488 on August 01, 2021, 02:22:10 AM
Can’t speak for other airlines, but the airline I work for just counts it as a carry on. For probably hundreds of flights in my career here I’ve brought a backpack and a skateboard and no one has said anything. Honestly if you have a board backpack and can strap your board in I would count the whole thing as one but that’s like I said subject to airline and even down to the agent boarding your flight.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: mj23 on August 06, 2021, 08:19:46 AM
I’ve never had a problem bringing it as a carry on, and sometimes the flight staff even put my board in a little closet for the ride so I don’t have to keep it under my seat or overhead. I’ve also had good luck strapping it to a carryon bag and treating the whole thing as one item.

If I’m going on a longer trip however I like to bring two proper carry ons. Or sometimes we travel with our cat, who counts as a piece of luggage in her little carrier under the seat (lol). When this happens I just bring trucks and buy a deck at the destination.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: BoardintheWorld on September 05, 2021, 11:52:38 AM
It really depends on the airline and even the people working the gate and on the plane. We travel a lot and pretty much always bring our boards. We've put them in our checked bags at times, but most of the time we carry on and have them strapped to our Burton Kilo backpack. Best bet is to try and avoid anyone seeing it as much as possible.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: manysnakes on September 16, 2021, 04:11:39 PM
I'm sure this issue is long settled, but something that worked for me was buying one of those nylon skateboard bags from eBay and sticking it in there. When it's just a skateboard, they're like "What the hell are you doing with this here?! You need to check this for $50!" When it's in a bag, the same people (who, remember, see literally tens of thousands of bags a day) don't seem to even notice.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: twic3 on September 17, 2021, 01:01:41 PM
I usually fly with just a duffel bag and will strap my board on top of the bag with the hand straps. That way it makes it seems like 1 item rather than 2 and its alot easier to carry through the airport and throw into the overhead bin.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: Shalom Peterson on September 28, 2021, 05:14:58 PM
I just flew delta no issues with one attached to my backpack and with a duffle bag as well. If it's attached to the bag, it counts as one item. If it's detached, it's two.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: El Nugjar on October 10, 2021, 04:52:05 AM
I haven’t been on a plane in 6-7 years, but I used to fly a shit ton. I would check my backpack and just take my board with me on the plane. Also skating through airports every time. You’d be amazed at how easy it is and the minimal amount of people telling you to not ride it inside. Gate to gate, terminal to terminal, fuck walking.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: decoi1 on October 11, 2021, 12:18:42 PM
I’ve done it every way. Sometimes carrying it on can be annoying. I’ve bummed others out by it taking up too much room in storage. I recently bought one of those Trasher duffel bags that you can strap it to the bottom. It’s kinda cool cause it turns your bag into a roller bag. Last time I used it I flew from Charlotte to Denver to Vegas and they checked it no problem. But when I flew home out of Albuquerque they made me stick the whole thing in a huge black plastic bag so it looked like I was picking up a dead body at baggage claim. The best way I think in my experience is to disassemble and get it all in a bag. Easier for everyone except you
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: Tear Up a Trick on September 02, 2023, 05:22:42 PM
A suggested solution to avoiding paying the fee for your skateboard:

https://unofficialnetworks.com/2023/09/01/skateboarder-spirit-airlines/ (https://unofficialnetworks.com/2023/09/01/skateboarder-spirit-airlines/)
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: Sativa Lung on September 03, 2023, 01:25:17 AM
A suggested solution to avoiding paying the fee for your skateboard:

https://unofficialnetworks.com/2023/09/01/skateboarder-spirit-airlines/ (https://unofficialnetworks.com/2023/09/01/skateboarder-spirit-airlines/)

I mean if I skated for silver I'd probably have done that too.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: unregisteredhypercam2 on September 03, 2023, 04:06:12 AM
I use this and I can fit an 8.5 32" inside it with no problem and just check the whole thing.

https://www.patagonia.com/product/black-hole-wheeled-duffel-bag-70-liters/49381.html
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: Pbn_jake on September 03, 2023, 09:58:58 PM
(https://i.ibb.co/XLyvrmt/95-F1-C6-C7-D4-A7-4-A12-9-D74-2-F222-E6-EDD82.jpg) (https://ibb.co/XLyvrmt)

3 decks,fuck ton of clothes, some pads I won’t use and a helmet.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: lazer69 on September 19, 2023, 09:59:01 PM
How is wizz air with brining a deck strapped to your personal item ?
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: pedro_mayn on September 21, 2023, 04:03:10 AM
AFAIK as for a UK resident, it's always been a case of putting it in the hold. I know some people have risked it (without paying for a fairly pricy 'sports equipment' to have it on the plane as a carry on) and they had it bagged up for them, but it's not something I risk getting to the airport and about to board. Probably different abroad or on certain airlines.

Did have some bother off some jobs worth at the airport in Copenhagen when he asked what's in the hold bag as we were dropping them off that anything with boards in it, has to go to oversized baggage. I've never had to do this and neither has a friend who's been going on skate trips abroad for 20+ years and has always put them on a hold amongst clothes etc. Take that with a pinch of salt, but it's bollocks as far as I'm concerned.

Has anyone had that at all or was it just that geezer, that day?
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: Frank and Fred on September 21, 2023, 07:57:38 PM
Just flew back and fore to the UK on BA. Took my trucks and wheels off and placed them in my check in suitcase. Carried my deck and my backpack as carry on. Deck laid flat in the overhead. No problems. Not even questioned.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: davy on September 29, 2023, 10:06:54 AM
I flew to Washington and NYC with Southwest Airlines. When we went to Washington, we put our entire set ups disassembled in a big suitcase. When we went to NYC, we strapped it to our backpacks fully assembled. I think that if you bring your set up strapped to a backpack, it will count it as one carry on item and they won't care too much. They'll just tell you to put your backpack in the overhead compartment when you board the plane.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: FandomCereal on September 29, 2023, 10:29:10 AM
In the past I've checked a big duffel bag and put disassembled deck/wheels/trucks in there.  Sometimes carrying on is fine, but I've also had friends get charged $30-$50 to check their board as an "extra bag." Lately I just bite the bullet and have a fresh board shipped to wherever I'm going and pack trucks & wheels.
can you imagine being this rich
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: lazer69 on September 30, 2023, 10:02:41 AM
How is wizz air with brining a deck strapped to your personal item ?

Just found an old tweet form wizz saying you cannot bring a skateboard with personal item. Have to pay extra. Looks like I will be looking for a deck in Barcelona.
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: RockstarBearingsTM on September 30, 2023, 11:48:49 AM
I usually try to travel very light with a backpack and my skateboard and put them in the overhead compartment with my backpack in between my trucks I don’t think I’ve ever checked a bag at the airport I’m too braindead to figure all that out
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: Lukabrazi on October 01, 2023, 07:47:55 PM
Just flew to Europe and was able to carry my board on to all the flights to get me from CO to Barcelona . 6 flights total.  if you book a window seat you are usually able to put the board up against the wall without it taking up much floor space . I also just carry my board and throw a sweatshirt over my shoulder covering the board when walking on the plane. I check in on my phone prior to airport arrival and I don’t check a bag normally so by avoiding that first counter interaction, the only people you have to worry about are stewardess on the plane and the people at the ticket check before walking on the plane. The board always fits comfortably against the wall and doesn’t take up your foot space , and by being discreet with it boarding the plane you won’t have to pay extra or worry about it getting lost being checked.

 I did this last year on 11 flights from US to Europe and never had an issue . I’ve also had my friend sew me a “skateboard sock” which is an piece of fabric with an elastic band sewn in so that it covers the griptape . It’s just nice traveling and it having the griptape rubbing up against your shit , and you can still ride it. It also makes the board a little more discreet
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: lazer69 on October 02, 2023, 03:05:02 AM
I think what airline you use is significant. Wizz is only cheap when you bring nothing but a personal item, otherwise they nickel and dime you. I would purchase carry on, but the only option for that is to get year long premium membership. I would chance it so try the deck strapped to my skate backpack but my board has only been skated 3 times.

Anyway 1st thing I’m doing in bcn is going to a thrift shop to buy a small duffle-bag and clothes. Then macba to buy a used deck of someone or the shop 🫠
Title: Re: Flying with a Skateboard
Post by: BurritoMiles on October 12, 2023, 03:16:18 PM
You guys taking the trucks off are crazy. I've flown with a full complete 100+ times and did 3 flights last week. Bring your board on the plane and put it in the overhead. International I always try to bring thru security and if they say no then I'll check it. I flew out of London and Paris this summer, full complete thru security and into the overhead no one said anything. I flew SFO-Toronto this summer and the flight attendant even put it in their little closet at the front of the plane.