I'm off to Jakarta in may flying jetstar. They reckon were flying in an A320 which only allow 1.9 metres of board. Has anyone tried to slip longer boards on board or does anyone know a reputable freight company that can get boards over there and then picked up at the airport. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
190cm is lucky if its a 6 ft board once its in a bag. I went last year and stressed on this a bit but the crew at Perth airport didnt even blink. I personally had boards 6ft to 6'6" in a coffin. I taped up the excess in the bag and folded it over. i think a couple of guys had 6'8" and no dramas. If its gets big and hollow, shortboards fit in the waves better. Just put bigger fins in. harder to paddle in tho
I had that problem, I booked a flight to go to Melbourne from Bali through Perth as I wanted to break the flight up as I hate the midnight flight back to the east coast. And then by fluke I found out about the restrictions, my problem was getting our boards back from indo as we flew over in an A300, anyway short story is the cheapest way is unaccompanied baggage, which is checked in at qantas freight about a week before your flight and the theory is that it will be at the freight terminal at your destination. It is half the per kilo rate of excess baggage, BUT!!! they told me surfboards get charged by the cubic inch or meter or whatever, we worked out roughly over the phone it was going to cost $300 for 2 boards from bali to perth, and ironically they would probably be on the same plane.
The other alternative that my mate did, he had a 6'4" he had a small saw in the boardbag to cut the nose off and then get it put back on in Bali, but he was ok he put the board on an angle, as they had a mark on the wall to measure.The guy in front was not so lucky , had a 6'8" and had to break the nose off with his foot to get it on board.
Cheers guys, really not keen on cutting the nose of my longer boards. Got a few options. Lucky the flights are super cheap otherwise no one would fly with them.
I got in touch with a baggage handler at Perth airport. Really nice guy, said no dramas at all. They can chuck the boards in the bulk cargo section if they don't fit in the 1.9 metrecargo crates. Don't know if it worth the risk, still might send them through either export air or jetta. Just stressed about getting there and someone saying your boards haven't arrived yet or can't get em out of customs.
