When an airline makes a change that they know passengers won’t like, they tend to do it quietly and hope that no one will notice (Spoilers: they always notice). But when it’s a change that’s good for passengers, they usually yell it from the rooftop.
Not Hawaiian Airlines. Welp, not this time, anyway.
As of last Wednesday, January 8, 2025, passengers who are flying with surfboards, bicycles, and other bulky sporting equipment (things like fishing equipment, scuba diving gear, canoes, and golf clubs), can now check in these items as standard checked baggage.
Before, they would be charged extra for their being oversized.
There are a couple of caveats:
- Bicycles and windsurfing equipment up to 70 pounds (32 kg) will be accepted as standard baggage, while all other permitted sporting equipment is not allowed to exceed 50 pounds (23 kg).
- Sporting equipment will be subject to dimension requirements:
— Up to 62 linear inches (132 cm) for bowling equipment, baseball equipment, boogie boards, wakeboards, skim boards, permitted firearms, fishing equipment, football/tennis/paintball equipment, and scuba equipment.
— Up to 115 linear inches (292 cm) for bicycle equipment, windsurfing equipment, archery equipment, canoes/canoe paddles/kayaks, golfing equipment, hockey/lacrosse/pole vault equipment, skateboards, ski/snowboard equipment, surfboards/paddleboards/kiteboards.
Passengers will still be able to bring equipment that’s larger than the above dimensions, but they’ll be charged additional oversized/overweight baggage fees.
Hawaiian Airlines will still not permit hang-gliding equipment on any flights.
Prices for checked bags
Inter-island: $30 for the first checked bag and $50 for the second. So if you bring one suitcase and a bicycle up to 70 pounds and 115 linear inches, you’ll pay $80 for the 2 checked items.
Between Hawaii & the mainland: $40 for the first checked bag and $45 for the second. So if you bring one suitcase and your fishing pole bag that’s up to 62 linear inches, you’ll pay $80 for the 2 checked items.
First class passengers, those who book tickets with the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard, and all those on international flights (except Australia and New Zealand) can take two checked bags for free. Those flying to Australia or New Zealand get one free checked bag and must pay $100 for a second checked bag.
Why the Change?
Back in November 2023, professional surfer Billy Kemper posted on social media about the problems he had checking in his surfboards. At the time, he was traveling with 2 surfboards in a single bag. The bag exceeded 50 pounds, but even after adjusting his luggage to meet the airline’s requirements, he was still denied boarding.
Following this incident, Hawaiian updated its policy to allow surfboard bags of up to 100 pounds. They also reduced special baggage fees, but this latest policy change, happily, goes one step further.
“Hawai’i is synonymous with surfing and many ocean and land-based activities that draw visitors from around the world,” Sandra Wang, product manager for the airline, said in a news release. “We are excited to extend this new benefit to our visitors and kamaina so they can enjoy their favorite sports and hobbies while exploring Hawai’i and anywhere they travel in our network, including Asia, Oceania and the U.S. continent.”
Oh, and the same goes for Alaska Airlines, too. In fact, it already had. Which, thanks to Alaska buying Hawaiian, maaaaaaaay be why Hawaiian’s now doing it, too. 😉
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