This is more for the Aussie blokes, it’s very important if your thinking of going to Indo. You can book through Qantas and end up with Jetstar, actually that’s what will happen. Now we have our problem and my other brother[from the Phill Edwards board] has just encountered it. They are using these airbuses and the biggest board you can take on them is 2metres, can do a 6’6" if your board cover fits perfect, they have a mark on the wall. Now considering , I reckon , underestimating, with family guys with mals, your average big guy[needs at least a 7’ 0"] what’s the average sized board, 7’0" 7’6", anyway it’s in the fine print and you’re gonna turn up at the airport and need some serious vaseline, who goes to Indo without a gun, not to mention the family man with his mal, who has to battle the young maniacs on the beach breaks. The Balinese need the the tourists.He, my brother Peter, has already booked to go to G’Land and is quietly freaking, because he can’t get his proper boards there, he’s already paid and they don’t do refunds. Don’t get too excited you American guys, the boards will be there, remember this is our Hawaii, cheers H.
Has anyone considered freighting the boards to their final destination. Our (US) airlines for the most part, have board length restrictions of 115" basically a 9’6" board or less. If you have a REAL gun then you have to freight it. 3-4 days advance of your trip. I know the hassles but it’s rapidly becoming the norm these days. Sorry for your woes. Best of luck…
Cheers,
T.
The best alternative is Garuda, the problem is this is brand new and the people ar’nt going to know about it untill they get to the airport and then be told they cant take their boards. Just an average guy who weighs 80 kilos or more is going to ride bigger than 6’6" and they just can’t and won’t take them. Real guns, like for big surf are’nt needed, but you do need the right boards and imagine working all year , getting to go on your holiday, turning up at the airport and finding out you cant take your boards, ouch, H.
Airbuses? Which model?? I flew back from South Africa last year on a A340-600 and you can shlep a board up to 3.70m (according to the friendly ladies at South African airways) on that monster!! Just call it a “windsurfer”, pay the 80 bucks and be done with it… Come to think of it, the leg from frankfurt was on a Lufthansa A319 and my 9’6" (and a 9’0 piggybacked) came out unscathed… so the smaller Airbusses should ave the hold for it… yeah the 80 bucks covered CPT-FRA-AMS…
Extra info:
They’ve got it here: http://ww3.flysaa.com/travel_support/baggage_information/za_sporting_equipment.html
I checked for you:
http://www.qantas.com.au/info/flying/beforeYouTravel/sportingEquipment#jump7
You can go to 2.77m (call it a windsurfer!!) and
http://qantas.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/qantas.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=316
so Jetstar should handle your “windsurfers” just like qantas…
good luck guys!!
hrmm… captain, an aweful lot of windsurfers going to indo this season…
Na Dave, I’m not sure what an airbus is, that’s just what my brother told me, thing is they have cages for the luggage and a line on the wall to measure the 2 metres, and they can’t fit anything in bigger than that and it’s just happened and it’s in the fineprint, so the travelling surfers are gonna find out at the airport, which would suck. It would have been me, I’m going there soon and I did’nt know, lucky my mate is travelling Garuda and he’s a small guy, so his biggest is 6’6", so he takes mine and I take his, lucky for me, but this new and it’s real, it’s not about paying extra, cheers H. p.s. It’s Jetstar, little brother of Qantas, the main flights to Bali.
Dang, that really sucks! I thought surfing was the national sport of OZ!!! Someone get Nat Young to call the CEO of Qantas! Anyway, Garuda (from Europe) on their local website claims a “call us to see what fits the aircraft” policy on “windsurfers” so give them a call to be sure. If they won’t take your boards I guess we’ll see threads on swaylocks about bisects???
I hope this gets sorted as I am planning to go to OZ in Dec 07 and will most likely wanna take a board home with me…
It does suck, but I’d bet that it will become more and more prevalent. Smells like it could be an opportunity for some surfers at the destination points to make a little money handing boards shipped in by freight. If I was the tourist who couldn’t take his board with, I’d sure consider using an advertised service from somebody who would accept the shipment, make sure the board was ready to go when I arrived (maybe even deliver it to the lodging place), then prep and ship it back.
-Samiam
maybe there is a payout from surftech involved. i heard about thier new board rental program… 400 boards in indo to use at a nominal fee, same sitch at most famous surfing areas. watch this evolve in the next few months…
As I was reading this post I was thinking of those small boards they used in Bali on Morning of the Earth.
What were they something like 5’7".
Anyway this does suck. The best way to fight this would be to just fly Garuda. Let the word spread that QF and Jetstar
don’t want to cater for surfers. There getting enough monopoly as it is.
I once fly to Bali with Singapore airlines with a stopover in Singapore. Sure it took a little longer but stopover was good for something different and it didn’t cost any more than going direct.
cheers, JD
Hey JDHOGG, sucks big time, the only reason my brother found out, after he booked , was because a guy[bigger] came into his shop trying to find a board that would fit into Jetstar’s criteria.My brother then did all the leg work to find out that it is the truth. The reason I did this [my first post] was to alert and try to get the word around. You could only imagine the feeling of anyone, let alone the guy who has worked all year and whether it be the family guy with his mal or the hard core ripper, who needs at least a 7’0", getting told at the airport , ‘your boards are not going’. The Balo’s need the people and on a much lower level, gun shapers , like myself, don’t need any less work. cheers H.