Traveling International

[Hays33d]

With clubs of course. I'm flying United to England in August.

They have instituted these asinine bag fees along with American (anyone see the beauty there? American=fees; how appropriate).

The only policy I can find on their web site is for domestic flights or to and from Canada. Has anyone traveled United internationally since this has been enacted or know what the deal is with bringing a travel bag of clubs across the pond?

[Hays33d]

Found it myself.

Maybe this will help someone else.

United International Baggage Rules

Not a good sign really.

62 linear in/
158 linear cm (length + width + height)

That makes this product way over the limit:

http://www.golfsmith.com/products/BB00T6

Anyone hit by any hassles on this?

[Harry Longshanks]

Hays-

Almost always, there are exceptions for golf clubs and skis hidden in those limitation clauses somewhere. And unfortunately, you never know what you are going to get in terms of a counter agent. Some know the rules, some know the restrictions but not the exceptions, some don't even care. I always print out the exception clause (if I can find it) and take it with me. If I can't find it, I call (and if they say there isn't an exception, I call back and try again until I find someone willing to look for it and give me contact info in case I got hassled. Post-9/11, I took 2 snowboards with bindings and boots and a pair of ascent skis, plus avalanche safety gear in 1 board bag (in addition to my regular suitcase and carry on backpack) to Europe (3 different planes and 2 airlines to reach destination) with no problems. EDIT: This is for domestic, but here's what I was referring to: http://www.united.com/page/article/0...3,00.html#golf

  None said:

Golf equipment Allowance/Requirements 1 golf bag with clubs and 1 pair of shoes. Allowed in place of one checked bag. Maximum weight/size 50 pounds/62 linear inches (23 kilograms/158 linear centimeters) Other information: Must be enclosed in full-length protective cover (vinyl/cloth/nylon/or hard-sided case).

EDIT EDIT: I see your point about the size issue (limit of 62 linear inches). I can't imagine that is correct, because otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to travel with my Club Glove Burst Proof 2 - which I have done several times. Not to mention my snowboarding gear.

[DJYoshi]

I fly and travel international a bunch...even with the new baggage rules. longshanks is right... there's exceptions on common over-size items like ski gear, golf gear, boarding, etc. the oversize/overweight commonly refers to oversize luggage. BUT i'll tell you, get to the airport EARRRRRLY
they are thorough when it comes to checking what's inside. I normally carry 2 pairs of shoes inside of my golf bag and you should really watch when they scan your stuff b/c they have every right to pull it apart and not pack it the way it's intended to be packed.... especially the airline you're flying.... what I'd do would be curbside tip a skycap to give you priority baggage tags. Hit him off with $10 and you're good to go. put it on there and you'll see your bags go in last and come out 1st. they're waiting for you b4 anyone else's come out when you get to your destination.

[MrSandman]

I flew to Australia recently, and had no problem with the extra bag. I think some airlines make a baggage fee exception for sporting goods, baby carriages, etc...

I do not know about United specifically. But the baggage fee cannot be any more than club rentals would be.

[erova]

if it's one thing I wish I bucked up the cash for when I flew to england is directly shipping my sticks to Hoylake. Dragging the clubs on the various taxis, trains, tiny hallways, stairs, etc. is easily one of the biggest hassles ever.

[Harry Longshanks]

  erova said:

if it's one thing I wish I bucked up the cash for when I flew to england is directly shipping my sticks to Hoylake. Dragging the clubs on the various taxis, trains, tiny hallways, stairs, etc. is easily one of the biggest hassles ever.

If you don't mind telling us, how much did it cost (roundtrip)? Who did you use and how long did it take?

With the cost of checking baggage now, I would consider doing that domestically. EDIT: I just realized that you said you wished you had done it. But if anyone else has info, I appreciate hearing your experiences.

[erova]

nah, Harry, i WISH i did it.

i didn't even check getting a quote.

but i've heard good things about these guys for shipping clubs domestically and internationally:

https://www.theluggageclub.com/

[MrSandman]

The move I like to do is use my golf travel bag as an extra suitcase. My actual golf bag is pretty small, so I can fit a ton of other stuff (extra shoes, clothes, etc...) in the bag. Going to Australia we included all of our snorkel gear in the golf bag, as well as some extra clothes and shoes.

[DJYoshi]

  MrSandman said:

The move I like to do is use my golf travel bag as an extra suitcase. My actual golf bag is pretty small, so I can fit a ton of other stuff (extra shoes, clothes, etc...) in the bag. Going to Australia we included all of our snorkel gear in the golf bag, as well as some extra clothes and shoes.

Sandman..I DO THE SAME THING!

[Hays33d]

My boss did the same thing by packing everything in the cover bag, but that was before all of this extra fee nonsense that cropped up. I'll probably do that and see how it goes. I'm not too hot on shipping my clubs over ahead.

Thanks for your input, guys!

[gortyl]

Well, it's not England, but maybe it will give you a general idea. I just shipped three golf bags from Missouri to Pebble Beach and it cost us $564 total roundtrip or $188 per bag. It was a no-brainer for us. Obviously, I'd guess at least double, maybe triple that to Europe, but I agree with erova, if I had to do Scotland again, I'd ship. My wife still has pictures of me dragging that damn bag (along with our other luggage) through Heathrow on a cart with a broken wheel. Brutal.

Back to the shipping - I used http://www.golfbagshipping.com . I gave a review of them somewhere else in this forum, no time to look it up, but in short, they were awesome. The customer service was amazing and it was very easy.