[cha1n]

Anyone done it? Seems something like a moon warrior would come in over their limit listed with regards to l+w+h=158cm. Slightly annoying when they allow surfboards up to 300cm under sporting equipment!

[dave]

We flew KLF to val di mello about 8yr ago with mats no bother. Can't remember if we had to pay extra or not.

[SA Chris]

I believe you pay extra for luggage regardless of if it's a surfboard, a bag of surfboards, an enormous snowboard bag with everything crammed into it or a bouldering mat. Them's the breaks.

[cha1n]

Yeh it's not looking promising. I've given them the spiel that they're potentially losing out on hundreds of thousands per year from climbers due to their policy but I'm not holding out much hope.

It says under their baggage section that they allow surf boards up to 300cm under sports equipment (Which you can take instead of a suitcase) but perhaps I interpreted it wrong.

[SA Chris]

Yeah, you can take sports kit instead of luggage, which is OK for snowboards, as I can get most of my kit in the snowboard bag, but would clearly be difficult for a bouldering mat (worth seeing if feasible though, dependant on duration of trip?) but you can get a lot into hand luggage too.

[slackline]

I've given them the spiel that they're potentially losing out on hundreds of thousands per year from climbers due to their policy but I'm not holding out much hope.

You should substantiate that claim and present it to those responsible for policy to make a stronger case.

Personally I'm not convinced its true.  People have been travelling to climb with large amounts of kit for decades with much more substantial loads than a square piece of foam (viz. mountaineering).  Their solution?  Pay what it costs to ship it.  We paid for an extra bag when we went to Peru a few years back with mountaineering equipment.  Holidays are a luxury not a right.

Moving things costs money and is based not just on weight but space, the rules are clearly stated, dislike them and think they're unfair if you want, try and convince them too, but is the phone-jockey really the person to be pitching to?  Likely they don't give a shit as they're not in a position to make the decision that policy should be changed to cash in on the "hundreds of thousands per year" you think they're missing out on.

[cha1n]

Ha, I appreciate chances were slim. I only mention it as for this trip alone there's nearly 10 people who are taking different flights due to baggage rules. If this type of thing is happening on every KLM flight then it cost be losing them a lot of business. I wouldn't have mentioned it if there weren't many other carriers who were more forward thinking and SAA actually list bouldering mats under their sports equipment.

Alas, they're unable to help. Bastards.

[T_B]

It's a business decision. For every tight-wad climber who doesn't want to pay excess baggage, plenty of other people do having chosen to fly with KLM for other reasons (schedule, for example). For the airline it is therefore an additional income stream.

[yetix]

Thread resurrection, checked through a few but as this is the most relevant thought best to post here rather than creating a new thread. so delete this post if not allowed.

Flying with KLM to Rocklands in June and my pads will likely exceed the dimensions by 20-40 cm (depending on if i take 1-2 pads strapped together). I'm wondering how strict they are with this, and if I need to change my booking to have sports equipment rather than normal baggage (as it is currently)

[SA Chris]

How much is cost to change to sports gear? From flying to the alps I've found ski carriage with them much compared to budget airlines.

[Coops_13]

Thread resurrection, checked through a few but as this is the most relevant thought best to post here rather than creating a new thread. so delete this post if not allowed.

Flying with KLM to Rocklands in June and my pads will likely exceed the dimensions by 20-40 cm (depending on if i take 1-2 pads strapped together). I'm wondering how strict they are with this, and if I need to change my booking to have sports equipment rather than normal baggage (as it is currently)

I've not flown with KLM but I've taken a Moon Saturn and Grand Wrap (both big pads) with mates taking two strapped together on South African Airways, Easyjet, Ryanair and never had an issue - just say it's your bag and it'll go to oversized baggage.

I generally always plastic wrap mine and it hides the fact it's a pad

[yetix]

How much is cost to change to sports gear? From flying to the alps I've found ski carriage with them much compared to budget airlines.

+£60ish each way from a quick look

Thread resurrection, checked through a few but as this is the most relevant thought best to post here rather than creating a new thread. so delete this post if not allowed.

Flying with KLM to Rocklands in June and my pads will likely exceed the dimensions by 20-40 cm (depending on if i take 1-2 pads strapped together). I'm wondering how strict they are with this, and if I need to change my booking to have sports equipment rather than normal baggage (as it is currently)

I've not flown with KLM but I've taken a Moon Saturn and Grand Wrap (both big pads) with mates taking two strapped together on South African Airways, Easyjet, Ryanair and never had an issue - just say it's your bag and it'll go to oversized baggage.

I generally always plastic wrap mine and it hides the fact it's a pad

That's what I was thinking of risking, just wondering if people have been questioned doing this when using KLM and asked to pay more for the item exceeding size requirements?

[SA Chris]

KLM seem to be the more chilled out about baggage than most in my experience. My ski bag is usually over max weight by a kg or two. Must be the really excellent blow.