UKC

I am thinking of a trip to somewhere like magic wood next year and was wondering how easy it is / how much it costs to get a bouldering pad over in the hold of a plane? Anyone have any experience of this? Are there any special steps needed to prep the pad beforehand?

Many thanks to any replies....

Check the max dimensions of checked baggage and if your pad is under your good to go!

I've even put things in the pad and packed it up with cling film before to maximize my weight allowance.

Should also probably add I've never done this with budget airlines who might be more prone to being dicks about it.

As per ebdon's comment, it's probably worth checking the max dimensions first, but you should be fine if you're taking a standard size pad. If you've got something bigger (Organic Big Pad, Moon Saturn etc...) this could present more of a problem, but even then I'd be surprised it's an issue otherwise I'm sure I'd have heard about it.

What I'm trying to remember (and can't) is whether or not I booked it in as an additional bag/sporting bag or if I used it as my main bag outright. If you have a taco pad then you can stuff your standard travel duffel within it, which makes for the ultimate protective layer. If you do this you'll then need to buy a few ratchets in order to secure it, but these don't cost much and are always useful if you're carrying multiple pads around (be that at home or abroad).

Hopefully that's of some help

I've managed to get away with bundling three pads together and wrapping them in polythene and booking the bundle as "a bike" with Easyjet. As the size and weight of the bundle was comparable with a bike box I couldn't see any grounds for complaint. The cost split between three seemed reasonable.

All depends on the airline. I went to Australia and then onto South Africa with a huge Organic pad and a big hold bag with no issue because we had 2 hold bags and some huge weight limit (30+kg). The pad just counted as my second piece of hold luggage... But we couldn't fly on to America with it because the baggage rules were different for flights into the USA (I think we only had one piece for that flight or a lower weight limit?).

Easyjet seemed fine with my Organic Big pad being booked on as hold luggage when going to Font, no questions asked at all!

most helpful, thank you.

Thats a fantastic idea. Thank you.

How much did that cost, if you dont mind me asking?

My only suggestion would be to read the terms very carefully, abide by them and carry a copy of them, also leave plenty of time for discussions... We’ve found a couple of times on different airlines that they have tried to use the charge for an overweight bag (€200+) instead of oversized (€50) and would only relent when we showed them their t&cs.

good advice. I will defo bear that in mind

My wife booked the flights so I don't have the receipts to check, but it was just booked as the standard 15kg hold baggage