has anyone tried bringing a longboard on a plane (US-Philippines)? checked in of course! do they charge extra for this? how much? will a board bag be enough in terms of protection? my bro just moved to carslbad... i think that's between LA and san diego (1 mile from the beach... kakainggit!) and he might be able to get me one and bring it over around april or may. does it help if he has that Sports traveler thing by PAL? it usually gives you extra baggage allowance for scuba gear and that's really heavy but i'm not sure about a 7-9 foot board! i'd like to figure out the shortest possible board for my skill level too (beginner) so it's easier to bring to LU or where ever. maybe those hybrids or funboards. thanks

I've got a pro longboarder friend in the states and she's travelled between LAX and Manila before with 3longboards.She said that you can't exceed 32kg's and the cost is approx.50-75dollars US to travel one way,per board.But you can usually say there is only one board in the bag and they don't deal with the drama of unzipping your bag and unpacking it all to check,unless they're SUPER bored!

A standard boardbag is good,but you also need to add a bit more protection.Airport staff are trained to destroy surfboards Depending on what kind of fins the board has,if the fins are removable it makes life a lot more easier.If the fins are glassed in.Try wrapping a towel around the centre fin and sometimes I get my sk8shoes and put them on the side fins to prevent them from being snapped off and digging into the other board.You can buy special foam blocks that fit over fins,umm...I think they're about AUS$30.You just have to try and create the least amount of area for the board to slide,but not make it so heavy that the airport staff purposely drop it.I usually put a layer of bubblewrap around my boards as well as chuck my boardies and bikinis in along the rails,tail and nose.

the sports traveller thingy with PAL doesnt cover surfboards,only scuba gear like you said and other kinds of water sports,but not surfing..!which is a bit of a bitch!The maximum length board they'll allow is 8feet I think?not positive about that though.I've brought a 9footer over before on PAL....they hassle you a bit,but just smile and be polite and they should let you get away with.You've paid your airfare,you've chosen their airline,so they arent going to give you the flick for an extra foot of surfboard If all else fails,make a huge scene and generally say that their airline sucks..hehe..I'm joking

The shortest board you should go for depends on how tall you are.Just figure out however tall you are,and add your arm span to that...that's the minimum length of board you should be riding.

hope this helps you out a bit ocean!

this helps me a LOT millie. thanks

by armspan you mean 1 arms length right? i hope so because if it's armspan like wingspan for birds, that's gonna be a pretty big board! twice my height! wow...

Have your bro take another airline to PI. PAL cost much more to bring your board to Manila. I've used Korean Air from Calif before and cost me only $75 w/out hassle. But this was back 3yrs ago.

For the surf bag, make sure to get the bag with 1/2" thick foam at the minimum. Remove all the fins, if its glassed on, put some support for them. Also, make sure ur rails are protected nicely. Use those pipe insulation to protect those rails.

so that's an extra $75. i thought you just substitute it with one of your heavy bags since you're allowed two of 70 lbs. each and that's it, free. oh well...

You cannot substitute. A surfboard is considered an "oversized" luggage and will cost you additional mola.

yep,sorry...I meant one arms length

well, i guess that's just gonna make owning a board a bit more expensive...  

it'll be worth it ocean!!!trust meh!

If you're not keen on spending extra coin,just hit me back and I can always cart along an extra board with me when I go back to the Phils

ur right, millie. Those at the airport really do that. Friends from Cabarita had the same complaints... and they had longboards with them. They had a  hard time at the airport and the more when they got on a bus from manila to la Union!
   if you don't add extra layers (cloth, bubble wraps, etc.) before you stick it in the surf bag, you'll surely get dings all over your surfboards.

.... that's one reason why surfers from all over just buy their boards here and resell them when they leave.

... plus, by the way, you'll get more delays because some might think that you're bringing in long guns stuffed in the bag... yup GUNS, ammo!... because of the terrorism.

hydro is that Cabarita over here!?

Dale said that you contacted him about their boards...pretty good price! ...that could be another option ocean?..the guys are shaping over there and selling their boards for 3-5000pesos for shortboards and 5-7000 for longboards and guns

thanks millie! i might take you up on that. when are you coming back anyway?

those boards you mentioned sounds ok...reasonable i guess (wouldn't really know ). but who's dale? i don't think i've asked anyone about boards outside this forum.

one more question. where exactly is "over there"? manila?

thanks. ... i'm going nuts with these smileys  

heya ocean,

not too sure when I'll be back,but I'm hanging to get back there so badly!I'm missing everything over there sooo much,so maybe after April sometime.... ,but if I cant get back anytime then,it'll def. be December

ohhh..I meant Hydro had contacted Dale already.He's one of the shapers.The boards are a pretty good price,cheaper then what you'd pay for a board anywhere else in the Philippines If you want his email addy I can throw it out to you...cos it might be worth looking into.

Over here..Oz!Théres a place called Cabarita not far from where I live...beautiful waves

millie,you mentioned cabarita? do you know those cabarita surfers their cool guys!!i met a couple of them here in the Phils,San juan la union!!

i have a cousin who lives in Cab..havent caught up with him for a while tho..hehe..he's half oz/half fijian.Him and a few of his mates went surfing over in the Phils sometime last year I think it was!!??I've talked to him for like 2 seconds since he came back and he's just bailed again,but I was thinking maybe that was him and his mates that you guys had met??

Yup mills, longboarders from Cabarita... but that was I think about 1 1/2 or 2 years ago.

I emailed Dale alright but hasn't given any info yet. Has he been emailing u?

ahhh ok..maybe it wasnt my couz..

yeh..got a couple of emails from him.He said u contacted him,so maybe he'll get back to u soon!