Board length sweet spot for international airline travel

Hi All,

I am trying to ascertain the board length sweet spot for a shorter longboard style board that I can travel with and still get my glide on.

Just before Covid hit I was booked for an Indo trip that unfortunately got cancelled.

When I Googled maximum board lengths* on some airlines at the time, 8 foot seemed around the sweet spot as the longest board length to take. (* as sporting goods / oversize luggage, to avoid excess baggage charges)

I wasn't organised to get a board in time for that trip but an 8 footer has been in the back of my mind ever since.

I am in Adelaide so depending on the destination will typically need a domestic connecting flight.

Here is what I could rustle up for airlines that I would most likely travel with a surfboard.

AU Main Carriers

Qantas
www.qantas.com/au/en/travel-info/baggage/sporting-equipment.html
277cm => 9'1"

Virgin Australia
www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/travel-info/baggage/oversized-fragile-items/
Actual maximum length unknown although they do mention 3m on their page => 9'10"

Jetstar
www.jetstar.com/au/en/help/articles/can-i-bring-my-surfboard-skis-or-snowboard
Jetstar Airways (JQ) international flights on Boeing 787: 2.77m => 9'1"
Jetstar Airways (JQ) domestic flights on Boeing 787: 2.3m => 7'6"
Jetstar Airways (JQ), Jetstar Asia (3K), and Jetstar Japan (GK) flights on A320, A321: 2.3m => 7'6"
(looks like I'd avoid Jetstar with an AU domestic connector if taking a longer board)

International Carriers

AirAsia
support.airasia.com/s/article/Does-AirAsia-provide-complimentary-sports-equipment-fee-for-a-surfboard?language=en_GB
277cm => 9'1"Their max length for Asian connector flights may well be shorter?

Air New Zealand
www.airnewzealand.com/oversized-items
2.5m => 8'2"

Garuda Indonesia
www.garuda-indonesia.com/id/en/garuda-indonesia-experience/on-ground/baggage/index
300 cm => converts to 9'10" though they say 9'8"
For presumably smaller planes) on Indo connectors: 230 cm => converts to 7'6" though they say 7'5"

Malaysian Airlines
www.malaysiaairlines.com/cn/en/plan-your-trip/baggage/special-baggage.html
Actual maximum length unknown. Max linear length (h + w + d) mentioned at 204cm => 6'8" although on the wave tribe page linked below they say 2.5 meters => 8'2"

Singapore Airlines
www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/us/travel-info/baggage/non-standard-baggage/
Actual maximum length unknown although I have found online references to 2.6 meters => 8'6"

Tools
* This is a great resource as a starting point when considering an airline for traveling with a surfboard though it may not be kept up to date:
- www.wavetribe.com/blogs/surf-travel/surfboard-airline-fees
* This is a handy calculator for quickly converting cm to feet and inches:
- coolconversion.com/lenght/cm-to-feet-inches/

My conclusions
Looking at the airline max lengths above, an 8 footer in a sightly bigger cover looks to be around the mark for the board length sweet spot for airline travel. Though for a bit more glide I could exclude Air New Zealand and Malaysian Airlines for international and Jetstar for domestic and squeeze in a few more inches.

Questions
* Based on your experience when traveling with a surfboard, what board length do you think is the sweet spot for air travel?
* What is the longest board length that you have traveled internationally on airplanes with? Which airline was it with? Did you have to pay any excess length charges on any legs of your trip? What about domestically in AU or on connecting flights in Indo or other countries?
* What are people's experiences here when traveling with a longer (longboard style) surfboard?

Any handy input greatly appreciated.

No idea of the current lengths.

I've taken 9.6 and 10 foot boards on Hawaiian Airlines,9.6 on Garuda many times.

The killer can be if you get inter-island flights, they tend to be on smaller planes. Which means smaller board limits.

Also if you taking more than one board hard to get a 9ft cover for more than one board and they don't usually have wheels so you are carrying it. If you have to take 2 board bag you kill your weight limit. Personally after taking a 9ftr and 2 shorter boards OS when I was younger Ive never done it again and tend to stick to around 7'6 Max as they can be put a triple wheeled cover and the weight won't break your back.

A few years ago I shipped my board 9.3 & heavy work tools as freight GC (cheaper) to Auckland on a Friday Rvo ... never again ....you have to get custom clearance from gov facility kms away from storage facility , of course it was closed all weekend by the time I got there ( my bad) , on Monday took about 3 hours before goods released .
coming back to GC no probs about an hour had everything released ...!

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Macaha said..
No idea of the current lengths.

I've taken 9.6 and 10 foot boards on Hawaiian Airlines,9.6 on Garuda many times.

Impressive - and committed, onya Macaha. That's great to know, thanks.

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SP said..
The killer can be if you get inter-island flights, they tend to be on smaller planes. Which means smaller board limits.

Also if you taking more than one board hard to get a 9ft cover for more than one board and they don't usually have wheels so you are carrying it. If you have to take 2 board bag you kill your weight limit. Personally after taking a 9ftr and 2 shorter boards OS when I was younger Ive never done it again and tend to stick to around 7'6 Max as they can be put a triple wheeled cover and the weight won't break your back.

I wrote the best reply to this and it got eaten by my iPad .

Great insight and info thanks SP, very valid points.

I'd be aiming to use a wheele bag, take only 2 boards (this shorter longboard style board and a mid length or hybrid fun machine). I am a cruiser / glider, definitely not a hell man.

Also I'd most likely take EPS / Epoxy boards for strength and weight saving benefits. I have a number of EPS / Epoxy boards and really like them. Mine are good as new after a number of years and they are much lighter so would also work well for traveling imho.

7'6" has got me thinking for convenience. I saw a nice custom shrunk down 7'6" CW Whalebone on their Instagram page. that could be an option. Not sure if it would give me my longboard fix (trimming, glide) at that size?

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surf1ng said..

Hoppo3228 said..
7'6" is the biggest surfboard for me to take to Bali.

If I travelled o/s lots and I really had to take a longboard, i'd get Sunova to make me a carbon compact version of one of their longboards. You can split in half. Super strong. No compromise. Super easy to travel with.

Roger that, thanks. 7'6" is always an option I guess with the right board.

Sunova is an interesting choice. I didn't realise they could custom make a size. I thought they were all fixed sizes, Their one 8 footer doesn't appeal to me (looks like a blown up shortboard or gun) so I crossed them off the list. I will have another look at Sunova. A carbon compact / split board is an interesting option, not sure if I would like riding one locally. might be weird?? And if traveling with a second board might be quite a thick package. could be even weirder . lots of girth

Easy mate. They make custom shapes also. Not just the models on the website. If you love say a CJ Nelson Parallax or HIHP, and want sunova to match shape etc (with custom dims) they will. You would just have to wait a few months to get it.

Friends of mine have a carbon compact sunova SUP. They said they can't feel a difference in the water, other than it being a little heavier. A reasonable compromise for a long travel board I reckon. Especially as regular Sunova Longboards are superlight compared to Poly.

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Hoppo3228 said..

surf1ng said..

Hoppo3228 said..
7'6" is the biggest surfboard for me to take to Bali.

If I travelled o/s lots and I really had to take a longboard, i'd get Sunova to make me a carbon compact version of one of their longboards. You can split in half. Super strong. No compromise. Super easy to travel with.

Roger that, thanks. 7'6" is always an option I guess with the right board.

Sunova is an interesting choice. I didn't realise they could custom make a size. I thought they were all fixed sizes, Their one 8 footer doesn't appeal to me (looks like a blown up shortboard or gun) so I crossed them off the list. I will have another look at Sunova. A carbon compact / split board is an interesting option, not sure if I would like riding one locally. might be weird?? And if traveling with a second board might be quite a thick package. could be even weirder . lots of girth

Easy mate. They make custom shapes also. Not just the models on the website. If you love say a CJ Nelson Parallax or HIHP, and want sunova to match shape etc (with custom dims) they will. You would just have to wait a few months to get it.

Friends of mine have a carbon compact sunova SUP. They said they can't feel a difference in the water, other than it being a little heavier. A reasonable compromise for a long travel board I reckon. Especially as regular Sunova Longboards are superlight compared to Poly.

Ahhhh wow! Who knew. A CJ Nelson Parallax is one of the boards I have shortlisted.. Sahweeet! Wait times for a custom are fair enough. I will get in touch with Sunova to enquire at some stage, they're right up the pointy end of my list now.

Great to know, thanks. Agreed, a little bit heavier is a fair compromise. Not sure if I'm 100% sold on the split carbon compact as a regular local board, but something to seriously consider as Sonova are now very appealing to me. I reckon I'd be aok to manage a fixed length 8'0".

Cheers again