Airline Baggage - experiences with new rules on "no clothes in ski bag"?

[RISkier]

Thanks...did you just put the helmets in with the checked luggage?

I did. I wore fleece and my ski jacket on the plane. Packed ski pants, gloves, a vest, and a few necessary items that could compress in the transpack. Put my helmet in the middle of my checked bag. My wife gets her boots, helmet, and what's necessary to ski a day or two in a traditional carry on. My boots are too big. I know some folks used to just throw their boots over their shoulder unpacked. Don't have any idea how airlines view that these days. NSA sometimes likes to check the boots pretty carefully.

 

[o3jeff]

It's getting to the point that it might be cheaper to buy a second seat for your luggage.

 

[gores95]

I flew Delta to SLC in mid-January and had no issues putting extra clothes in the ski bag I checked. I also carried on a Transpack boot bag (with boots and helmet) along with a Northface carry-on roller. Key is to board the plane as early as possible so there is room overhead for both bags.

 

[drjeff]

A smile and a kind word goes a loooooooooooooooooong way at the Airline counter.

I've skirted rules before on flights just by being engaging and nice..

This + a decent tip to the skycap at curbside takes care of many things in my experience

 

[drjeff]

It's getting to the point that it might be cheaper to buy a second seat for your luggage.

Or if you know you're going to get charged by your carrier, and have a few days leeway with your gear, just ship it either UPS or FedEx - their ground rates in many cases are really close to a $50 baggage fee, and then your gear is at your hotel when you arrive and you don't have to deal with lugging it to/from the airport

 

[Puck it]

Or if you know you're going to get charged by your carrier, and have a few days leeway with your gear, just ship it either UPS or FedEx - their ground rates in many cases are really close to a $50 baggage fee, and then your gear is at your hotel when you arrive and you don't have to deal with lugging it to/from the airport

I always wondered about something with shipping. How do you return ship it?

 

[drjeff]

I always wondered about something with shipping. How do you return ship it?

Easy, as most hotels have a person onsite who handles their shipping for the items that the hotel needs on a daily basis. Just talk to the front desk, before you arrive and in my experiences, they'll be able to get things taken care of for you.

What I've done, is the day or two before I was checking out, I just double checked with the hotels shipping person to confirm and find out where he/she wanted to leave my bags when I checked out, and then filled out the shipping labels ahead of time (with a free, Fedex account, you can get everything pre-arranged and billed to your credit card). At check-out time, I just did with the bags what the shipping person asked me to (usually just tell the bellman that what bags were to be brought to the shipping dock of the hotel), and then usally before I even arrive back home, I've got the e-mail tracking number for my bags and a pick up notification from Fedex about them.

Some ski areas, will even allow you to ship your gear directly to/from their ski-check area via Fed-ex - I know that Deer Valley does this, and as a result is actually one of the reasons why when I go to Utah that I try and ski there the last day of my vacation. At the end of the day, I just dry off my gear, and load my ski bag right there, and then hand the ski check people my packed bag and the shipping label. Done! 3-4 days later, my gear is at my house! Easy

 

[tekweezle]

I flew Delta to SLC in mid-January and had no issues putting extra clothes in the ski bag I checked. I also carried on a Transpack boot bag (with boots and helmet) along with a Northface carry-on roller. Key is to board the plane as early as possible so there is room overhead for both bags.

i like the way you think! i have a transpack style backpack for my boots, helmet and other incidentals but i usually count this as my carryon and put half my clothing in it. seems like you got away with it as your personal service bag and managed to bring a separate carryon. Funny thing is Delta( and American Airlines)seem to be most aggressive at charging fees.

i;d probably never do it like that because i;d be a little worried about taking up too much overhead bin space so 1 bag is enough for me. whats annoying is that properly packed, an overhead bin can fit up to 3 carryon each and considering each overhead bin serves usually just 2 seats, should be enough for everyone. However, lots of people don;t pack the bin correctly and it annoys the flight attendants.

i always get a little apprehensive about the size of my boot bag knapsack. it says that it;s designed to fit in the overhead but moderately packed, it looks a little bulky and doesn;t fit the dimensions of typical carryon rolling suitcase. However, I;ve used it on several domestic and international ski trips and have not had an issue.

 

[Highway Star]

We recently flew with 5 people on southwest. Everyone packed a large suitcase-ish bag, a ski bag with 2 pairs of skis poles plus clothing and misc items, a carryon bootbag, and a laptop bag/purse.

Policy states ONE set of gear quite explicity. We didn't not use the 2 for 1 ski bag/boot bag thing, because it just adds a layer of complication and makes them more likely to ask what's in your 'boot bag'. If you're not checking your boots and are bringing two pairs of skis, you don't need to bother.

Some bags were slightly over 50lbs. We all skycap'd and had zero probelms. They don't have a scale outside and could care less, especially if you tip over $2 per bag. Totally worth not standing in line with 100+lbs of luggage per person.

 

[mondeo]

Funny thing is Delta( and American Airlines)seem to be most aggressive at charging fees.

...which happen to be the two airlines with the oldest fleets. AA is the only major that still lost money last quarter. Both still have a huge number of 757s and DC-9/MD-80s in service, both of which burn a lot more fuel (around 25-30% for the MD-80) than modern airplanes.

 

[BenedictGomez]

This article on airline fees from today slides nicely into this conversation.

As some have suspected, Delta charges more in "extra" or "hidden" fees than any carrier.



http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-bu.../what-airlines-really-charge?mod=bb-budgeting

 

[dmc]

Flying to DEN first class on Delta with a buddy next month.. Used miles..

Stoked that luggage is free!
So are drinks.. haha

 

[hammer]

Flying to DEN first class on Delta with a buddy next month.. Used miles..

Stoked that luggage is free!
So are drinks.. haha

As a person with a family, I'm glad I don't have the business travel schedule you need to have to get the perks...:razz:

The fee policies will eventually backfire once enough travelers get smart enough to calculate their total travel cost and purchase tickets with the fees in mind.

 

[dmc]

As a person with a family, I'm glad I don't have the business travel schedule you need to have to get the perks...:razz:

It's one of the benefits of weekly travel.. Which I'm frankly getting sick and tired of... But until i find something different - first class all the way baby!

 

[mondeo]

The fee policies will eventually backfire once enough travelers get smart enough to calculate their total travel cost and purchase tickets with the fees in mind.

I still flew American with including luggage fees. I don't pay for anything else. Better than the alternative of higher ticket prices outright.

Beauty of the system is that you get fairly cheap tickets if you can pack everything into carry-on and can live without crappy food or a pillow, and then the airlines get extra cargo space to sell. Win-win. What the airlines need to do is enforce the carry-on rules with everyone trying to skirt the luggage fees.

 

[hammer]

It's one of the benefits of weekly travel.. Which I'm frankly getting sick and tired of... But until i find something different - first class all the way baby!

Good that you can take the perks...I've been able to get some discounts and free tickets on years that I've had to travel more. I'd just rather not have to pay the price.

I still flew American with including luggage fees. I don't pay for anything else. Better than the alternative of higher ticket prices outright.

Beauty of the system is that you get fairly cheap tickets if you can pack everything into carry-on and can live without crappy food or a pillow, and then the airlines get extra cargo space to sell. Win-win. What the airlines need to do is enforce the carry-on rules with everyone trying to skirt the luggage fees.

And when you (and every one else) crams their huge carry-ons into the overhead bins or we all have to wait while all of the bags that don't fit get gate checked...

Unless I'm traveling on business I'll stick with SWA, thanks.

 

[mondeo]

And when you (and every one else) crams their huge carry-ons into the overhead bins or we all have to wait while all of the bags that don't fit get gate checked...

I live by the carry-on rules, which I mentioned the airlines need to do a better job enforcing. I'd be in favor of a $10 additional fee for gate checking.

 

[dmc]

Good that you can take the perks...I've been able to get some discounts and free tickets on years that I've had to travel more. I'd just rather not have to pay the price.

Between all the miles for air and points for cars and hotels.. this trip is turning out to be cheap.. Also getting some Ski Patrol lift ticket hook ups as well as "guest lists" for the concerts we're attending...

 

[BenedictGomez]

What the airlines need to do is enforce the carry-on rules with everyone trying to skirt the luggage fees.

Which I assume is coming. Not because they care about the customer experience, but because it will equal more fees.

For me, the worst part about flying is all the idiots who:

1) Pack their entire apartment in 2000 carry-ons, when they're only allowed one, but yet the airline says nothing.

2) Then, they lie and jump on the plane right after 1st class regardless of what their row is.

3) Then, they take up 8000 overhead bins instead of 1, leaving everyone else scrambling

And the worst part is that people like the above used to be loathed, but now, since the airlines have done nothing people have said, "Screw it, I'M doing that too then!", and it gets worse every year.

 

[tekweezle]

another article about the state of the airline industry-particularly Delta

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/201102...mschoolxidrssfullnationyahoo#mwpphu-container