What's the best way to pack a ski on a plane?

[Taelan28]

Shipping from the states to Korea is $400+ I cant use regular postal service i need to use Fedex because of the size. If I buy a ski I figure I could get a teacher to bring it here. That being said.

 

Can a ski be carry on luggage?

Will the ski be fine in the bag or will I need to pad it?

How much is it to pay for the ski as checked baggage if you're exceeding your limit?

[Wish]

Alot extra for checked. But I've tipped curbside enough to ignor the size. SportTube holds the ski with boots and lots of gear and cloths that can be rapped around the ski and fin for extra protection. It has weels and a way to place a travel lock on it. If it's a one time flight that may be a big investment but it's great for travel in general (thinkn trains, buses). I had a friend ship his Families gear to me from MN in a box designed for an air plane propeller. Extremely ridged sturdy box big enough for 3 skies, vest, ropes and a bunch of neo. Had another buddy whose fin block screws were torn out of the ski from being dropped while in airline hands. Padding is essential. Fin protected products out there can help as well.

[Horton]

Always tell the ticket counter they are snow skis. Snow skis are often on the list for no charge. Water skis are not on the list.

 

Sport tube is the best but a ski box well packed is pretty good. I always save the box that skis are shipped in.

[JC McCavit]

Read the air carriers baggage restrictions. Pretty much all US and Foreign carriers have an exemption for Snow skis and Water skis. Wake boards are not listed. You pay no more than the standard extra bag fee. Be sure to print the baggage information so you can present it at check-in.

[Taelan28]

Seoul area. Japan is NOT easily gotten to.

[6balls]

John, you must have 100 boxes! I have 2.

[thager]

Flew into Seoul a few months ago landing runway east just before dark. Happened to look down and see a white outboard pulling a slalom skier on glass water. Pleasantly surprised the heck out of me!

[Taelan28]

There are plenty of places to ski and wakeboard http://g.co/maps/4dk62

 

Thanks for the help guys. Im almost in a no win situation. No matter what I do Im going to be shelling out tons of cash.

[MattP]

@Taelan28 welcome to the world of high priced water skiing!!....

[Nick Sullivan]

If I remember correctly Richard Doane had some kind of home made tube he made. I hope he sees this thread and throws up some pictures.

[Wish]

The best fin protector !!!! It doesn't use the fin itself as an attachment point. The fin is suspended inside the short tube that presure fits onto the ski.

 

http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?topic=Search&category=Slalom&postid=15434

[Chef23]

I use a snowboard bag with a fin protector in my regular ski case with my vest and some towels packed around it.

[AdamCord]

I've flown to China by way of Seoul with a ski before. Can't remember the airline now but I told them it was snow skis and there was no extra charge. Most international flights I've been on don't charge for the first bag so you might get lucky. Also unless you really really like your fin setup and you're afraid to screw it up, take the fin off the ski for air travel. I've found that the fin adjustments made by the baggage handlers almost never help.

[h2oski]

Just pull the fin out of the ski and wrap the ski in towels.

[ral]

I do exactly the same than @Chef23. And try to make it light. Baggage handlers apply extra hate to heavy bags.

[Horton]

I have never been charged when I claimed snow skis but have been charged when i was dumb enough to say water skis.

[Chef23]

Water skis are free on Jet Blue it says so in their baggage policies. I print out a copy of them and bring them with me when I travel. I think water skis go on American at the same rate as regular bags also. You need to bring the policy with you because the people that work at the baggage desks don't know the policy.

 

I went with the snow ski answer in the summer once and they opened the bag to check. I do find that you get less hassle curbside particularly if you give the guy a few bucks.

[Horton]

I think it was AirTran that boned me on the waterski vs snow ski thing. Bastards

[klindy]

American Airlines doesn't charge any extra for waterskis - http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation/baggage/baggageAllowance.jsp - That means if you're a Gold or above Advantage flier they're free (no charge for other bags either). If you have to pay for bags, you'll need to pay the "normal" bag charge for the skis. Rules are as long as the bag isn't more than 125" total (length + width + height which means that most jump skis won't be free unless you find a counter agent without a tape measure!).

 

Now it does specifically say a "pair of skis" - Last September I went to the counter and said it was a "slalom ski" and she asked if it was a pair. I said "no, just one" and they wanted to "check the rules".....I said, "oh yeah, I actually have a pair of slalom skis in there". Problem solved.