Flying with Skis

Carol Haas wrote:
My daughter is packing to go to college for the first time and I'm
wondering what experience people have had flying Delta with skis. She's
flying from Fairbanks to Albany (FAI to SEA on Alaska and the rest of
the way on Delta). She has a fairly small quiver of skis for a
collegiate skier (4 pr skis & 4 pr poles), but I'm concerned about the 1
pr skis, 1 pr poles, 1 pr boots rule and the size of her bag. She's
flown out of Fairbanks on Alaska a number of times and never had a
problem, but never connecting with another airline. Delta doesn't have
the 1 pr ski rule, but states "One item of skiing equipment is defined
as one ski/pole bag and one boot bag which combined must meet standard
free baggage allowances" which to me is ambiguous so I phoned them. They
indicated if the dimensions (L+W+H) of the ski bag are over 62" she
would be charged $100 and it wouldn't be accepted if over 80". I
haven't measured her ski bag but I imagine it's over 80" when full and
of course she has lots of clothing packed in the ski bag to protect the
skis. I know what actually happens depends upon the agent when checking
the baggage. I suspect she may be able get by without being charged
extra flying out on Alaska, but what about coming back at Christmas time
on Delta out of Albany? By the way, she'll be attending Williams
College. Thanks for any advice.
Carol

When I flew to Sun valley (3 connections!) I put a couple wooden 1x3
planks in with the skis (length of boards was 6" longer than the longest
ski). This way the thing sticking out the most would not be the skis or
tips, and was something rather strong. Worked well and don't weigh that
much. gr

I used to fly with a soft bag with 5 pairs of skis and 3 pairs of
poles. These days I fly with a plastic box (Sportube) which fits 2
pairs of skis and 2 pairs of poles. Additional charges (if any) never
exceeded ~$50. THe only problem (and it *was* with Delta) is that
sometimes their IQ-challenged luggage staff throws the ski tube onto
the belt where ordinary luggage goes and the whole thing gets jammed.
United is great in that respect (they always carry out the ski tubes by
hand).

Anyone have a SOLID plastic ski tube they want to sell?

JK