2 Pairs of Skis on Delta?

[gincognito]

Anyone have any experience bringing two rigs on Delta airlines? Best deal for me right now looks like it's with them but I'm reading only one pair allowed. How strict are they? Should I expect problems with a tele and alpine set-up (ie two pairs of boots and two pairs of skis)?

Thanks for any experience sharing.

Sick and ashamed and happy (and willing to wear the tele boots on board),
d.

[splat]

denis - The restriction is weight-oriented. I believe Delta's cutoff is 50 lbs.
If you're lucky, it's 75 lbs. Key to remember, however, is that all airlines count one boot bag and one ski bag, even if seperate, as one bag.

Based on my experience with the AJ Kitt skibag (which will hold 2 pair of both, plus a water buffalo) -
if it weighs in at around 60 lbs., they seldom, if ever, say a thing.

[Superstar Punani]

Hey gin!

Not speaking from personal experience, but here's the blurb I found, since I was also looking at United policies...

"Sporting goods" Delta baggage policy

"One item of skiing equipment is accepted as part of a customer's free checked baggage allowance.

One item of skiing equipment is defined as one or a combination of the following:
one pair of skis
one pair of ski poles
one pair of bindings
one pair of ski boots
Items of ski equipment in excess of the free allowance will be charged $80 per item."

Perhaps you can remove the bindings and stuff 'em in a single ski bag?

Also, as Splat mentioned, heads up on the 50lb allowance

Worst case, just brace yourself as you bend over the check in counter and have a stranger fuck you in the ass to the tune of $80.

[splat]

Knowing you're a worldly man of endless travels, Pu-

How many strokes do they get for $80?

BWAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pollard]

I don't remember what airline I flew to mexico but they charged me 150 to take my board. If they don't charge for one I'd just get a bag that holds two pairs.

[Superstar Punani]

Knowing you're a worldly man of endless travels, Pu-

How many strokes do they get for $80?

BWAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The answer to your question, of course, depends on whether you're in Bangkok, Manila, San Salvador, or Amsterdam

[fineline]

you shouldnt have a problem, Ive done it twice with THREE pairs of skis, 2 poles, a pair of boots in there and a pair slung over my carry on backpack, a helmet, and lots of other crap that I jammed in my enormous ski bag, oh and a bundle of gates. Haha I couldnt even carry the thing, and it looked like I had 2 dead bodies in there but it got through anyway... maybe I was just lucky though a friend of mine got stuck with quite a hefty fine, I guess its a gamble- You should be totally fine with 2 though.. if not just wink at the checker lady (or guy mind you, gotta do what you gotta do eh?)

[Mcwop]

I have taken two pairs on United and Southwest several times. They don't seem to look so long as it is a single bag. You are more likely to get shit if they feel your total bags exceed say a 2/3 bag limit (e.g. suitcase, ski bag, boot bag, and carry-on). Too many times the airline schleps do not know their policies.

[splat]

I don't remember what airline I flew to mexico but they charged me 150 to take my board. If they don't charge for one I'd just get a bag that holds two pairs.

OUCH!

[This End Up]

Giving the sky caps a fat tip usually get my overweight and/or odd shaped bags checked in. The ladies behind the counters are sticklers, 50.3 lbs = $80 extra charge

[Mountainman]

Flew to Alaska and Salt Lake on delta with 2 pairs of skis, boots and shit load of gear. never got charged anything.

[spanky]

Giving the sky caps a fat tip usually get my overweight and/or odd shaped bags checked in. The ladies behind the counters are sticklers, 50.3 lbs = $80 extra charge

Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner. I follow the same philosophy. I pack two pair of skis in one ski bag, make sure to check my bags with a sky cap and always give a tip. Avoid the ticket counter at all costs.

One thing to make a note of is the airline responsibility. Chances are if your bags are lost you might not be able to claim more than one pair of skis in a single bag.

It's been mentioned before, but it's always worth mentioning again... Carry your boots on the plane with you. Pack other gear in a "boot bag" and check it as part of your equipment allowance. I typically keep my carry-on bags out of sight from the sky cap so they don't question my boots not being in the checked "boot bag"

[shamrockpow]

And if you carry your boots on, at least you've got those if they lose your skis and everything else. Even worse if youre coming thru Logan.

The only reason I wouldn;t go to the skycaps is if you wanted to have a chat with that cute chilean ticket counter girl (mention that i ski, i could teach her sometime, etc). And since most of the delta ticket counter people seem to be named dorris, not much chance of that...

[Arty50]

The number one rule is don't ask, don't tell. No, I'm not talking about the Clintonian gays in the military policy. If they don't ask how many skis are in the bag don't offer them this information. And if they do ask, be sly.

Frankly, 99% of the time they won't care about how many skis are in there. They do care however if it weighs over 50 pounds (70 pounds on international flights). So just make sure it comes in under that and you're golden. On my last trip I had a pair of 188 G4s with Rossi 140s (not light), Spatulas with S916s (heavy as fuck), and two pairs of poles all stuffed in a SkiTube. Total weight: 48 lbs. So if you're just carting along two pairs of skis, I wouldn't worry.

Also, I'd like to second the advice to carry on your boots. While losing my skis would seriously piss me off, losing my boots would make me go postal. I've put too much money, time, and effort into getting them just right; as I'm sure most all of us have. Most every airline will let you carry on a bag and a personal item. In my cast this means a backpack and my bootbag. I've never had anyone give me trouble.

[gincognito]

Thanks guys. This info is gold.

Regarding boots as carry-on, I used to always just bring 'em with me without a bag, but got busted for it last year. Was told that I'd need to find a bag and check-em in. But in a reasonably sized boot bag they'll be okay on board?

Anyhow, sounds like I can book a Delta flight, do some strategic packing and take my chances.

Thanks again.

Sick and ashamed and happy (and the TGR message board, is there nothing it can't do?),
d.

[warthog]

Boots as carry-on has always been my philosophy. Have boots will travel. I can replace everything else if I need to. I demo all my skis, since I live in Florida. Gives me a shot to ride all the new junk, and my investment is low. Plus, I hate wrestling with ski gear and worrying about my gear getting the shit beat out of it. Good luck- just weigh it before you leave. My buddy packs all his tele gear in the bag, with all of his clothes surrounding it. He never gets charged. You should be fine.

[teledave]

I normally fly Delta with at least 2 pairs and sometimes three (fat tele's, mid tele's, occasionally alpine) and always alpine and tele boots. 3 pairs of skis and some other stuff thrown in the bag pushes right at 50 lbs. I've been asked about it once, I told them I had some other stuff in it besides just my skis, you know for protection. My travel bag has a zippered bottom compartment that my 2 pairs of boots will fit in, and the upper compartment would hold waaaay more gear than the weight limit allows. I'm usually overweight on at least one of the two bags and I've never been charged for it.

The key to getting your stuff there and back hassle free is to use the skycap and tip generously. Treat the skycaps like they are your best friends and they'll take good care of you. They are used to dealing with the fatcat business types that treat them as some lower life form and then try to give them the least tip possible after giving them major hassles. For my 2 bags I normally tip $10, which always seems to impress the skycaps but I think it's pretty well deserved since my bags are big, bulky and heavy. I always smile when I get my bags back with big orange Priority Handling tags on them, especially when my stuff makes it on a flight and half of everybody else's doesn't.

The skycap is your friend.

[Shredhead]

I fly Delta all the time with two pair in a single bag. I have to go to the counter because I'm on a pass and they do stick to the weight limit pretty closely.
In addition to your boots, I would always carry on enough gear to get by for a day or two. Gloves, goggles, ski pants, hat, etc.

[glademaster]

It shouldn't be a problem. We flew international (they tend to be even stricter) with 3 pairs of skis in 2 bags between 2 people. The big bag was a pair of V-Ex's and a pair of Spatulas plus a ton of clothes, musta weighed about 70 or 80 pounds and we had no trouble at all. Of course, that was Air Canada, but as long as you keep it from looking like you have 2 bodies in the bag, you shouldn't have trouble. As for boots, I just stick them in my suitcase(a massive duffle bag) and pack around them, I've flown twice with that setup since 9/11 and never had trouble. Good luck.

[supercow]

anybody had any experience with mailing their stuff to their destination? If this airport nonsense gets any crazier I might just pay the $ to have skis poles and the rest just shipped to my hotel ahead of time and fly with my boots as everyone has said.

I'm so pissed that I got one of those snowboard sporttubes which was great to protect my 3 pairs of skis plus clothes and all the rest from the abuse that the stupid airline folks dish out(have you ever watched those guys throw ski bags around? I shudder everytime I see a bag tossed onto the cart its amazing that those gorrillas don't break more skis). Anyway, I used a drill to widen the holes on it so it would accept a masterlock padlock so it would be secure and nobody could steal my shit. Now they won't let you lock your bags! Without something in the hole the sporttube won't stay closed and the new pin that they're selling is too small now that I made the hole bigger.

[EPSkis]

FWIW - On United, I checked a bag w/ 2 prs of skis, 2 prs of poles & several pieces of ski clothes. No questions asked.


Here's one for the "Not Recommended" list:

Do NOT - under any circumstances - travel with a bag you'd previously used to store model rocketry components in.

[Arty50]

Without something in the hole the sporttube won't stay closed and the new pin that they're selling is too small now that I made the hole bigger.

I have a SportTube and use a heavy duty piece of bailing wire folded in two. It's cheap, fills the hole perfectly, absolutely will not break, and is extremely easy to open if they want to look inside. Also I only twist it once around, it's such a heavy guage that any more would be overkill and just make it hard to open. I did this on 10 flights to, in, and from Argentina and it never broke or came loose.

[Buzzworthy]

My EC friends from PA and NJ come in every year. One brings his board, skis, boots, poles and all his ski clothes wrapped around them for padding on Delta for the last 4 years in a row and no problems ever.

[p.blz]

If you really want to have some fun......

wear your boots

[dubu]

Heh , Alaska air seems to let you "slide'.... last year I had: tankers, rex, some rosii bandits, and some other skis, plus 4 pairs of poles, plus my boots, plus random padding. stuffed into an Atomic uber huge ski bag. the thing easly was over 100#, it was real hard work just rolling it. They had to use two people to put in on the convator belt behind the counter. No extra fees, seattle to reno and back.. he..
So I guess it just depends.