I agree you are better off dealing with the baggage guys outside if you can. They made me go inside to check my "golf bag" from FLL on United for a domestic flight but no extra charges resulted last July. I tried pretty hard to convince the guy that curbside check in for the bag was routine without success. However, I made a bunch of flight legs and was forced to pay excess bag charges only once including a few smaller commuter planes. So, the golf bag worked out overall. I don't think you can check at the curb for
international flights however.
I researched the question of getting bags onboard flights fairly extensively for the article that appears at the following link. Some of the ideas e.g. checking at peak time, trying to pick the counter clerk etc. might help.
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=1018 Although if American now has a policy for all gold bags it might get tougher. I just checked American's current listed limitations from:
http://www.aa.com/content/travelInfo...llowance.jhtml
Surfboards, Kiteboards, Wakeboards One surfboard, Kiteboard, or Wakeboard $80 (or $160. R/T, yow!)
Exception:
Kiteboards and wakeboards and containers that are less than 62 linear inches and under 50 lbs. are free in place of one 62 inch bag in the free allowance. 70 lbs
115 inches - Acceptance conditional on aircraft size and load conditions
- Exception: If the Kiteboard/wakeboard is less than 62 linear inches and 50 lbs., the above conditions do not apply
- If this item is in excess of the number of pieces allowed in the free baggage allowance, excess baggage charges apply in addition to the $80 special items fee.
and
Golf Clubs One golf bag with golf clubs, golf balls, and shoes Free in place of one 62 inch bag Maximum free weight on golf clubs is 70 lbs. Size is limited to the size of a hard-sided golf case. - Swingless Golf Club load strips are considered dangerous goods and are not allowed in checked or carry-on baggage.
I notice they don't give dimensional requirements for the golf bag. This may help as our "golf bags" are normally longer than the other more common variety. I try to remember to print out the airlines actual baggage restrictions when they are favorable to show tough counter clerks. It isn't all that uncommon to get a hard case who won't acknowledge their own rules without you showing them (sometimes not even then, I had to pay to fly a snowboard on Frontier from Denver despite arguing with the idiot for quite a while. It was later refunded, sigh). In general I would keep it short, light and lucky as enforcement can vary.
FKA, Inc.
transcribed by:
Rick Iossi