A question I get very often is how to travel with your surfboard or bicycle on a plane, because obviously it is juuustt a tat larger than your standard hand luggage size 😉
Before I will explain how to do it, and the differences between some airlines, I will go into the question of whether it makes sense for your specific situation to take your equipment, or not.
Take or leave?
I have taken my bicycle on a plane twice (from Cali to Bolivia, to start my Andes cycling trip, and from Amsterdam to Morocco to start cycling up towards Spain), equally have I taken my own surfboard both time to the Canary Islands and I have traveled back from Bali to Spain with one.
So, for your bicycle: if you are planning a cycling trip, first it makes sense to see if your own bike is in good enough shape for the trip you are planning (for my Bolivia tour, only a mountain bike or a touring bike would make sense, no road bikes there!). If it does not, see how much it cost you to hire a bike at your destination. Equally, a rented bike you will usually have to take back to the same place you got it, which means you will have to take some kind of transportation back to your pick up point, with your bike and include this in your budget for renting a bike, versus bringing your own.
Also, it might be worth checking to upgrade your class of travel, as sometimes it can be cheaper than adding additional bagge to your booking. To the same extend goes flying with a very cheap airline, but adding a lot on extra luggage, versus flying a premier airline which includes the luggage already. Just some things to take into consideration when making the decision.
Ask your airline
One thing I do recommend is calling ahead to let airlines know that you intend to carry your bike. Find out all the information you need in advance. In some cases you can or are asked to pay ahead on their website, in some cases, you will have to pay a the airport. It kind of depends on the airline but would be good to know ahead (especially if that airport/airline only accepts cash for example). Also, if you have a transfer flight on a different airline that both carriers will accept your bike on board.
In the case of both Bolivia and Morocco, I was actually planning on ending my trip around 1500 km away from the starting point, which would make it very painful and expensive to have to public transport the way back and therefore decided to take my own bike.
For a surfboard, it depends on how many days you plan to go surfing, and how much they charge you to rent a surfboard. In the case of the Canary Islands, I surfed for 28 days, and the rent would have been 20,- a day, whereas taking my own board roundtrip cost me 100,-. So that was an easy decision. Rent in Indonesia is a lot cheaper though.
Something else people often do is buying a (second hand) surfboard at the destination, using it during the time they are there, and reselling it again at the end of their trip. This worked extremely well in places like Bali and Itamambuca, Brazil where there is a very lively second-hand surfboard market (Facebook Market place and joining Facebook groups is usually the way to go)
But I dó want to take my bicycle, I am sure of it
So, let´s say you decided that you dó want to take your own bicycle. You will need to take it apart and store it in a bike box because packing your bike in a plastic bag won’t be accepted by all airlines. If you have a larger budget and are making a round trip, the safest way for your bike is to purchase a bicycle suitcase with a hardcover.
However, I have always use the card box option. I usually go to the local bike shop wherever I am a little bit before my flight and ask if they have a spare carton bike box left (they usually do, as this is the way any new bikes they will sell in their shop come in). Most of the time they give it for free, but of course, in some places, they will charge you a very small (think: 5 euros) fee for it (basically, because they know you need it!).
Check the measurements
Check the measurements allowed by your airline (make sure to check this before getting the box on the ´oversized or special luggage´ section on the website of your airline). When I flew to Bolivia from Colombia, my box was actually just a little bit too big (I did not know). However, I was extremely lucky to have a very nice man doing my check-in who measured, saw it was too big, saw my worried face, then with a wink measured again and quickly moved it and said ´it´s exactly the right size!´ After which he added that he thought people traveling and cycling should be promoted and that he did not want to punish me. However, there might be just a few of those cool people out there, so better to make sure your box is within the allowed measurements.
Take your bicycle apart
After this, it is time to take your bike apart. For a nice instruction video, see here. Whatever you do, make sure you let the air out of your tires, take off the tires of your bicycle as well as your pedals. Then, remove or fix the handlebars sideways and probably you will have to take off the seat as well and potentially bend the steering wheel. I tend to wrap some parts in bubbly foil, to avoid that the spokes will get damaged as people will toss around the box. The good thing is that you can now fill the rest of the box with your sleeping bag, tent, and other things, which will save you on the rest of your check-in luggage. Make sure you close the box with some extra ducktape to avoid it opening and your sleeping bag and other essentials getting lost somewhere on the way.
Taking your surfboard
First of all, make sure you have a proper travel bag for your surfboard. Whereas I usually just have the sock for protection, when I take my board on the plane I have a travel bag which protects my board a lot better. I also pick a board bag which is just a little bit bigger than my actual board, giving me enough space to wrap my board carefully in bubble wrap. I also tend to wrap towels around the nose, and my wetsuit around the borders. A surfboard is very fragile and not everyone is taking as loving care of it as you do.
How much does it cost to take special equipment?
This actually depends a lot on the airline and it would be wise to check beforehand when deciding which airline you will take. Count on a 40-50 euro per trajectory within Europe and around 80,- for intercontinental flights.
For information (though this is outdated quickly) on taking your bicycle, check here and for info on taking your surfboard, check here.
However, I do have some amazing news to share. I actually found that premier airlines like Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways allow you to take your surfboards or bicycles for free as long as it stays within your weight limit. Considering the limit is 32 kg it is very unlikely that your surfboard would exceed this limit!
When I flew to Indonesia from Spain, Singapore Airlines was actually also the cheapest option and allowed me to take back a second-hand board I had bought in Bali and had gotten to love.
Be on time
One final note, I am not really one to be at the airport hours before, but when taking my special equipment, I know things can get a little longer as sometimes you will have to go to a different part of the airport to pay, or potentially have to drop off your equipment at the ´oversized luggage´ section of the airport.
Also, when arriving at your destination, quickly ask where you can expect your oversized luggage, as sometimes this will not show up on your baggage belt.
I hope this little info has been useful for you, and now… off to go cycle and surf the world!
