UKC

Hi all! Does anyone have any recent experience flying with a bouldering mat? Can I use standard luggage allowance? I know you pay extra for things like skis but a bouldering mat doesn’t seem to be an option! All of the forum posts I can find are quite old so I’m not sure how accurate they are anymore! Mainly concerned with Manchester to Paris.

Thanks in advance 😊

Normally it has to go through as "sports equipment " and you have to take it to the "oversize" check in part when checking in.

Some mates have had with trouble with Air France but never with Easy Jet or Ryan Air.

Wrap it with black film wrap (sold for wrapping parcels etc), just tell them it's a sleeping mat if they ask. You can pack stuff inside the pad when folded up too of course. Job done. I took one to Font with Ryanair years ago, just take it to the oversize baggage area and it's fine, no questions asked when I did it.

Last time my mates and I bundled three pad together (BIG poly bag and parcel tape) and booked it as a “bike”. Booking one pad as a bike is quite expensive but between three it seemed reasonable.

Most cheap airfare companies (a'la SLeazyjet and RiistoAir) will often not end up being feasable with pads.

Mid-sized ones (Moon Warrior or so sized) will often fit in the maximum sports equipment dimensions, but can still be spendy. Bigger pads, it depends.

The best I've found is Norwegian, for whom even the gigantic Organic Big Pad will fit (with stuff stuffed between... or two such behemoths tied together even) and even two Warrior sized pads strapped together will be fine. And no extra costs (as in it is considered a normal baggage, so might be included in the fare). Naturally, extra baggages will be extra, but for shorter trips that's fine (clothes, shoes etc will fit just fine in the carry-on).

Wings are better

All gone a bit Hitchhikers Guide ... "the trick with flying is to throw yourself at the ground and miss."

I'm presuming the bouldering pad is just in case you fail

Steve

If you’re going to Font you could rent mats there