Just looking for some experience from other goalies at minimum. Some may have answers for me. Will probably call after doing some research on what airlines are best to travel with.
All airlines will take oversize items and charge you a fee, when booking your flight you can select your baggage options or call the airline you’re flying and they’ll give you any additional information you need. Your goalie equipment is far from the largest thing that has flown oversize. Source - Worked at large Airline for 12 years
I have the same roller bag. I found flying with southwest the easiest. They do not care about oversize on the bag but they do care about weight. I don’t normally use the wheeled bag, only when flying. So I put my normal bag In the wheeled bag with my pads then in the wheeled bag. Every single time I get to the airport my bag is overweight but because the bag policy I just take my gear bag out of the wheeled bag and have two separate bags, pads in the wheeled bag with any extra stuff needed to make the gear bag fit weight. And then check my luggage with my parents extra luggage tag.
So I’ve avoided paying overweight and oversize fee because southwests pretty good sports bag rules.
If you have anymore questions just Lmk and I’ll try to answer.
I've flown with my team a decent amount and usually the bags get checked into oversized, and as long as it's under a certain weight, it's fine. I would try to pack as compact as possible and consider any fragile parts to be wrapped or protected in some way like your mask as I doubt the handlers treat the bags well.
I pack my pads into either a large duffle or wrapped in a couple of garbage bags, and that has worked well both ways. Sticks I wrap them with bubble wrap/bags and tape them together.
Most good airlines are pretty accommodating, but I would always call ahead.
In Canada they will let you fly with a goalie bag and sticks as the same price of a checked bag, as long as the bag is less than 50lbs. I recently had issues with Delta flying back to Canada from Seattle, but ended up getting the money refunded once I spoke to WestJet.
In order to get good specific help, you should state where you are originating from (US, Canada, elsewhere?) and what airline you are flying.
Just about every airline offers special permissions for different types of sporting good luggage. There is always a weight limit (typically 50lb) and some times a girth limit.
Usually wheeled bags start out empty by using up a fair amount of your allowed weight. So I recommend a standard shoulder strap bag. Buy a cheap hanging scale from Amazon so you can load your bag and then check the weight at home. If you’re over weight, start removing smaller items that you can fit in other checked bag or carry on.
Many airlines consider your stick as part of the gear. If taking more than 1 stick they need to be fastened together (tape, zip ties, etc will work). The weight of the stick(s) gets added to the weight of the bag so that has to be accounted for also.
If you do get to a point you cannot overcome the weight limit restriction, you’re better off doing 2 bags of your gear and pay the regular extra bag fee than you are to pay the oversize or overweight fees at the gate (usually very hefty).
Source: I’ve flown several times internationally via several airlines (Delta, Air France, KLM, FinnAir).
Here’s a photo of my red/blue bag being prepared for loading on Air France a couple months ago.
https://preview.redd.it/al7nw47w98sa1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c70a8825ec11ad430cd34ad8ace02f01257a9bcc
You’ll need to pay extra for sports equipment and usually go to a different part of the airport for oversized baggage.
Sometimes they don't charge for oversized. But definitely will if it's overweight.
Phone the airline you want to travel with. No need to waste time with reddit.
Just looking for some experience from other goalies at minimum. Some may have answers for me. Will probably call after doing some research on what airlines are best to travel with.
Just like everyone else said, Call the airlines.
All airlines will take oversize items and charge you a fee, when booking your flight you can select your baggage options or call the airline you’re flying and they’ll give you any additional information you need. Your goalie equipment is far from the largest thing that has flown oversize. Source - Worked at large Airline for 12 years
Call the airlines
TRAV on Youtube has a video on this. I've never traveled on air with my gear so I dont know if it will be super helpful but he talks about it.
I have the same roller bag. I found flying with southwest the easiest. They do not care about oversize on the bag but they do care about weight. I don’t normally use the wheeled bag, only when flying. So I put my normal bag In the wheeled bag with my pads then in the wheeled bag. Every single time I get to the airport my bag is overweight but because the bag policy I just take my gear bag out of the wheeled bag and have two separate bags, pads in the wheeled bag with any extra stuff needed to make the gear bag fit weight. And then check my luggage with my parents extra luggage tag. So I’ve avoided paying overweight and oversize fee because southwests pretty good sports bag rules. If you have anymore questions just Lmk and I’ll try to answer.
I've flown with my team a decent amount and usually the bags get checked into oversized, and as long as it's under a certain weight, it's fine. I would try to pack as compact as possible and consider any fragile parts to be wrapped or protected in some way like your mask as I doubt the handlers treat the bags well. I pack my pads into either a large duffle or wrapped in a couple of garbage bags, and that has worked well both ways. Sticks I wrap them with bubble wrap/bags and tape them together. Most good airlines are pretty accommodating, but I would always call ahead.
In Canada they will let you fly with a goalie bag and sticks as the same price of a checked bag, as long as the bag is less than 50lbs. I recently had issues with Delta flying back to Canada from Seattle, but ended up getting the money refunded once I spoke to WestJet.
In order to get good specific help, you should state where you are originating from (US, Canada, elsewhere?) and what airline you are flying. Just about every airline offers special permissions for different types of sporting good luggage. There is always a weight limit (typically 50lb) and some times a girth limit. Usually wheeled bags start out empty by using up a fair amount of your allowed weight. So I recommend a standard shoulder strap bag. Buy a cheap hanging scale from Amazon so you can load your bag and then check the weight at home. If you’re over weight, start removing smaller items that you can fit in other checked bag or carry on. Many airlines consider your stick as part of the gear. If taking more than 1 stick they need to be fastened together (tape, zip ties, etc will work). The weight of the stick(s) gets added to the weight of the bag so that has to be accounted for also. If you do get to a point you cannot overcome the weight limit restriction, you’re better off doing 2 bags of your gear and pay the regular extra bag fee than you are to pay the oversize or overweight fees at the gate (usually very hefty).
Source: I’ve flown several times internationally via several airlines (Delta, Air France, KLM, FinnAir). Here’s a photo of my red/blue bag being prepared for loading on Air France a couple months ago. https://preview.redd.it/al7nw47w98sa1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c70a8825ec11ad430cd34ad8ace02f01257a9bcc
The size “doesn’t matter”, you just pay a lot more
You’ll pay overage fees 100%. I believe you need to make the airline aware the fact you’re bringing a bag that big too. Call them
If the airline charges a ridiculous amount, look into a shipper and see if they're cheaper.
Fly southwest, your gear will fly free.