Which airlines are the worst for excess baggage chargesNow even BA are charging to carry winter sports gear. Is any saintly airline still lugging skis or snowboards for free?
And what does it cost with the rest of the dastardly lot? Fall-Line morphs into bearded Jeremy from that awful Airport TV show, for an investigation, trolley-dolley style
We know, we know. You want to get to the mountains. You want free nuts and gin. You don’t want to pay to put your skis or stick in the plane’s hold. What to do? Well, get realistic for starters. Many airlines are seriously low on cash. Last year, for example, British Airways lost £401 million. Their worse ever results. And, they’ve got a £2billion pension deficit. No wonder on 7th October they started charging for planks (£28 each way in Europe and a whopping £72 per flight long-haul; and that’s if you book in advance, it’s even more at the airport).
BA’s perilous financial situation is symptomatic of where the industry is at. And they’re far from the only ones re-jigging longstanding luggage policies in the hope of easing out extra cash from passengers. In 2008, Fall-Line flew to Colorado with BMI. There was no charge for ski carriage. This year, for a similar trip, it would cost £15 each way to shift our rocker-spec lovelies. Things have changed at Virgin Atlantic too. Currently, you can check a suitcase/rucksack/whatever and an additional ski bag into the hold, free of charge. Come 25th November, for economy passengers (this whole article’s written from that standpoint) that’s being reduced to just one bag of less than 23kg.
However, through the fog of endless website small print and baffling conversations with customer service operators, there were rays of light; the brightest being Swiss. They fly from London City, Heathrow, Manchester and Birmingham to Geneva, Basel and Zurich. Sure the middle of those snow destinations is weak, with Engelberg the only resort of note nearby, but Geneva’s ideal for Chamonix, the Portes Du Soleil and endless other French big-names, while for Zurich, take your pick from the likes of Laax, Davos and Andermatt. There aren’t just a few ski flights on the roster either, with London alone having 12 departures a day to the aforementioned hubs. Prices are good too, with returns to Geneva and Zurich £77 and £106, respectively, including tax. Best of all, UK and Ireland manager Gregor Koncilja told us the company had no intention of changing their ski carriage policy.
Across the Atlantic, Delta and Air Canada deserve some love too. The former let you carry a single bag under 23kg and are happy if it’s a ski bag. (So just like Virgin Atlantic, you can potentially ram it with all your gear.) The Canadian carrier lets you take a bag plus skis for free, but only as long as the planks are in a hard-shell specialist case and you pre-register on their website. Oh, and you can’t have any clothes in said plastic lump either.
All a bit confusing isn’t it? This should help:
Air Canada, www.aircanada.com
Two checked-bags allowed, each up to 23kg in weight; one of which can be skis but must be pre-registered, in a hard chase, with no surrounding clothing
British Airways, www.ba.com
One checked-bag allowed, up to 23kg (can be skis but must be less than 190x75x65cm, and not packed out with clothing). Additional ski bag £28 each way for short haul flights; £72 each way for long-haul destinations
BMI, www.flybmi.com
One checked-bag allowed, up to 20kg (can be skis, no size limit). Additional ski bag £15 each way
Bmibaby, www.bmibaby.com
£12.99 for a checked bag up to 18kg (skis allowed if less than 219x119x81cm). Additional ski bag £17.99 each way, must be under 18kg
Delta, www.delta.com
One checked-bag allowed, up to 23kg (can be skis, no size limit). Additional bags (including ski equipment) $50 but must be under 23kg
easyJet, www.easyjet.com
£8.00 for a checked bag up to 20kg (no size limit but skis not allowed). Additional ski bag £18.50 each way, must be under 32kg
Flybe, www.flybe.com
One checked-bag allowed, up to 20kg (no size limit but skis not allowed). Additional ski bag £22.50 each way
Jet2, www.jet2.com
£7.99 for a checked-bag up to 22kg (skis not allowed even if under this weight and within 6x 3ft dimensions). Additional ski bag, £20.00 each way, must be under 20kg
Ryanair, www.ryanair.com
£10.00 for a checked-bag up to 15kg (no size limit but skis not allowed). Additional ski bag, £30.00 each way
Swiss, www.swiss.com/uk
One checked-bag allowed, up to 20kg; plus one free set of skis, poles and boots per person
Virgin Atlantic, www.virgin-atlantic.com
One checked-bag up to 23kg (can be skis, no dimension limit). Additional ski bag, £32 each way, must be under 32kg
! Take note:
•This baggage list is not meant to be exhaustive. It’s simply airlines Fall-Line grunts have frequently flown to the mountains with in the last few seasons
•All prices are lowest available (i.e. if you can book online for a discount that’s the figure we’ve quoted)
•All research was done over a 24-hour period last autumn (2009); we spoke to every airline listed for their most up to date regulations
Playing it smart
The obvious way to avoid extra charges for skis is to stuff everything in one bag (as long as you keep within an airlines weight and dimension limits for baggage). But as you can see from the above, it’s not that easy. The budget boys don’t allow this even if you could make it fit/light enough, while some of the airlines that do, insist bags solely contain skis and no clothing, or are specialist ski boxes. Best call customer services to double-check before your trip. And do get a name and take notes, as plenty did not seem that sure of new regulations and how they’d actually work in practice.
Another way
www.skicarriage.co.uk collect, store, service and transport your gear. Home to mountain, and waxed/edged. Sounds brilliant doesn’t it? But it’s pricey, and getting two sets of skis to France will cost you £223 (although that does include the required £22 annual membership fee).
Posted by name - Thu, 14/01/2010 - 12:59pm
Now even BA are charging to carry winter sports gear. Is any saintly airline still lugging skis or snowboards for free?
And what does it cost with the rest of the dastardly lot? Fall-Line morphs into bearded Jeremy from that awful Airport TV show, for an investigation, trolley-dolley style
We know, we know. You want to get to the mountains. You want free nuts and gin. You don’t want to pay to put your skis or stick in the plane’s hold. What to do? Well, get realistic for starters. Many airlines are seriously low on cash. Last year, for example, British Airways lost £401 million. Their worse ever results. And, they’ve got a £2billion pension deficit. No wonder on 7th October they started charging for planks (£28 each way in Europe and a whopping £72 per flight long-haul; and that’s if you book in advance, it’s even more at the airport).
BA’s perilous financial situation is symptomatic of where the industry is at. And they’re far from the only ones re-jigging longstanding luggage policies in the hope of easing out extra cash from passengers. In 2008, Fall-Line flew to Colorado with BMI. There was no charge for ski carriage. This year, for a similar trip, it would cost £15 each way to shift our rocker-spec lovelies. Things have changed at Virgin Atlantic too. Currently, you can check a suitcase/rucksack/whatever and an additional ski bag into the hold, free of charge. Come 25th November, for economy passengers (this whole article’s written from that standpoint) that’s being reduced to just one bag of less than 23kg.
However, through the fog of endless website small print and baffling conversations with customer service operators, there were rays of light; the brightest being Swiss. They fly from London City, Heathrow, Manchester and Birmingham to Geneva, Basel and Zurich. Sure the middle of those snow destinations is weak, with Engelberg the only resort of note nearby, but Geneva’s ideal for Chamonix, the Portes Du Soleil and endless other French big-names, while for Zurich, take your pick from the likes of Laax, Davos and Andermatt. There aren’t just a few ski flights on the roster either, with London alone having 12 departures a day to the aforementioned hubs. Prices are good too, with returns to Geneva and Zurich £77 and £106, respectively, including tax. Best of all, UK and Ireland manager Gregor Koncilja told us the company had no intention of changing their ski carriage policy.
Across the Atlantic, Delta and Air Canada deserve some love too. The former let you carry a single bag under 23kg and are happy if it’s a ski bag. (So just like Virgin Atlantic, you can potentially ram it with all your gear.) The Canadian carrier lets you take a bag plus skis for free, but only as long as the planks are in a hard-shell specialist case and you pre-register on their website. Oh, and you can’t have any clothes in said plastic lump either.
All a bit confusing isn’t it? This should help:
Air Canada, www.aircanada.com
Two checked-bags allowed, each up to 23kg in weight; one of which can be skis but must be pre-registered, in a hard chase, with no surrounding clothing
British Airways, www.ba.com
One checked-bag allowed, up to 23kg (can be skis but must be less than 190x75x65cm, and not packed out with clothing). Additional ski bag £28 each way for short haul flights; £72 each way for long-haul destinations
BMI, www.flybmi.com
One checked-bag allowed, up to 20kg (can be skis, no size limit). Additional ski bag £15 each way
Bmibaby, www.bmibaby.com
£12.99 for a checked bag up to 18kg (skis allowed if less than 219x119x81cm). Additional ski bag £17.99 each way, must be under 18kg
Delta, www.delta.com
One checked-bag allowed, up to 23kg (can be skis, no size limit). Additional bags (including ski equipment) $50 but must be under 23kg
easyJet, www.easyjet.com
£8.00 for a checked bag up to 20kg (no size limit but skis not allowed). Additional ski bag £18.50 each way, must be under 32kg
Flybe, www.flybe.com
One checked-bag allowed, up to 20kg (no size limit but skis not allowed). Additional ski bag £22.50 each way
Jet2, www.jet2.com
£7.99 for a checked-bag up to 22kg (skis not allowed even if under this weight and within 6x 3ft dimensions). Additional ski bag, £20.00 each way, must be under 20kg
Ryanair, www.ryanair.com
£10.00 for a checked-bag up to 15kg (no size limit but skis not allowed). Additional ski bag, £30.00 each way
Swiss, www.swiss.com/uk
One checked-bag allowed, up to 20kg; plus one free set of skis, poles and boots per person
Virgin Atlantic, www.virgin-atlantic.com
One checked-bag up to 23kg (can be skis, no dimension limit). Additional ski bag, £32 each way, must be under 32kg
! Take note:
•This baggage list is not meant to be exhaustive. It’s simply airlines Fall-Line grunts have frequently flown to the mountains with in the last few seasons
•All prices are lowest available (i.e. if you can book online for a discount that’s the figure we’ve quoted)
•All research was done over a 24-hour period last autumn (2009); we spoke to every airline listed for their most up to date regulations
Playing it smart
The obvious way to avoid extra charges for skis is to stuff everything in one bag (as long as you keep within an airlines weight and dimension limits for baggage). But as you can see from the above, it’s not that easy. The budget boys don’t allow this even if you could make it fit/light enough, while some of the airlines that do, insist bags solely contain skis and no clothing, or are specialist ski boxes. Best call customer services to double-check before your trip. And do get a name and take notes, as plenty did not seem that sure of new regulations and how they’d actually work in practice.
Another way
www.skicarriage.co.uk collect, store, service and transport your gear. Home to mountain, and waxed/edged. Sounds brilliant doesn’t it? But it’s pricey, and getting two sets of skis to France will cost you £223 (although that does include the required £22 annual membership fee).