How to bring your longboard on a plane
After a long long time, travel has finally reopened (yay!). If you're reading this, chances are you picked up longboarding during the lockdown period. Kudos to you on that! You'd probably have seen countless videos of longboarders in scenic skate spots overseas. At this point I'm sure you're wondering how you can get yourself there. In this article you'll learn how to bring your longboard overseas, and what to look out for.
What to consider
Most airlines will allow you to either check in or hand carry your longboards. However this depends on several factors:
- Which airline are you flying with?
- How long is your longboard?
- How big is the plane?
- Where are you flying to?
Based on these factors, we've come up with a few ways on bringing your longboard overseas.
Bringing your longboard as hand-carry/cabin baggage
Personally, this is the most attractive option. You'll have the reassurance of your deck being with you, and much less subjected to the risk of damage compared to checking in your longboard. This also makes more sense if you're flying on a budget airline, which often charges exorbitant amounts for check-in baggage. However, this comes with a few exceptions.
What is the length of your longboard? Most airlines have size limitations on their cabin baggage. For example, for a cabin baggage on Singapore Airlines, the sum of length, width and height cannot exceed 115cm. Chances are, you must remove your trucks so you don't exceed this length. We also recommend calling the airline to confirm with them, and see if they can make any exceptions.
Checking in your longboard
The option above may not apply to you for a few reasons. Either your longboard exceeds the cabin baggage size limit, or you prefer not to lug your longboard around in the airport. In this case, checking in longboard would be the better option.
For most non-budget airlines, checking in your longboard will be a simple task. Your longboard will be counted as part of your check in allowance without an additional cost, classified as "non-standard baggage".
For budget airlines, you'll likely need to pay an additional sum for checking in your longboard as baggage. For example, JetStar charges an "oversized handling fee" for anything with a single side longer than 39". The oversized fee will be added on top of your check in baggage fee.
Which method is better?
The age old question, it depends. If you want convenience, checking in will be better but comes with an additional cost for budget airlines. For those worried about their longboards or trying to save on additional cost, hand carry would be a better option.
