Simple Guide to Understanding Airlines’ Ski Baggage Fees
Simple Guide to Understanding Airlines’ Ski Baggage Fees
Published : 11-Nov-2014 10:57
With a great deal of variation existing between airlines' ski baggage fees and policies, travel search site Skyscanner has launched a straightforward online guide to the cost of bringing ski equipment on flights to the slopes at: http://www.skyscanner.net/news/ski-fees-guide.
The guide analyses more than twenty leading airlines offering flights to ski destinations, looking at whether they allow ski equipment – such as skis, boots and poles – to be taken within the normal hold luggage* allowance or whether a ski fee is charged, if there are weight and dimension restrictions on the hold luggage and, and if these are exceeded, what the additional cost of hold and extra luggage is.
The guide highlights the significant variation in baggage policies between the different airlines; while some of the airlines looked at do allow ski equipment to be carried within the normal hold allowance, most no frills airlines require passengers to pay an extra 'ski fee', meaning passengers have to purchase a further piece of baggage to accommodate their skis, boots and poles. This ranges from £50 return with Jet2 up to £100 return with Ryanair.
Skycanner found that the result of these differing charges means that what may initially seem like the cheapest option could more than triple in price when all the fees are added to become the most expensive total price.
For example when looking on 7 November at flights from January 3rd – 10th 2015 from London (Stansted or Gatwick) to Grenoble, the company found, for example, a Ryanair flight from London to Grenoble for £24.99 each way came to £189.98 with ski carriage for Ryanair compared to £189.14 with BA including ski equipment up to 23kg and £171 with Norwegian Air including ski equipment totalling 40kg.
The guide also highlights that it is not just the differing fees that travellers need to consider when choosing their ski flights, but also length restrictions of baggage. Some airlines (Air France Air Berlin, Delta and KLM) have generous policies allowing passengers to bring baggage of up to 300cm on board while others (US Airways, Austrian, Iberia, Lufthansa and United) will not permit normal hold baggage to be over 158cm in length. It is likely that anyone taller than around 5ft6 would have skis longer than this and as such would be forced to pay for extra ski baggage with these airlines.
For a further level of complication, some airlines also have different policies according to the class of ticket bought. Air France, for example, offer the inclusion of ski equipment in the 'classic' ticket fare price, but do not permit included ski equipment for passengers travelling on their 'mini' flight ticket; Iberia also operates a similar policy.
"We strive to offer the most transparent pricing on our site and this guide takes that one step further by offering clarity around the varied and often confusing ski fee charges that airlines impose. We hope that this will enable customers to make an informed decision when choosing the right flight for them, or indeed whether it is cost effective for them to fly with their own ski equipment," said Skyscanner's Mary Porter.
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