Posts
29097
Joined
11/25/2008
Location
Thru-out, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
6/29/2022 6:20pm
I travel a lot for work and often take a gear bag with me (I squeeze a bit of Moto, Off-Road and ADV riding in to my travel/work).
When traveling by air there are a couple of good things to “know before you go”:
1. If you don’t travel a lot and you’re buying the Cheapest Ticket that you can find? Be aware that you REALLY need to know the “Baggage Fees” and be sure to look at “size and weight” requirements/limits/additional fees for your bag.
SIZE is one of the limitations/additional fee considerations.
WEIGHT: Know the weight limitations & WEIGH YOUR BAG. If your bag’s weight is right at the limit? Assume your scale is off a little bit and make it a pound or two lighter than the limit…unless you’ve got a really good scale.
Some of the larger Gear Bags can be considered “over sized” by some of the airlines.
Travelers Hint: Sometimes you can spend a few dollars more on a ticket that has considerably better "baggage allowances" & other perks. Study the various tickets that are available for your flight and the benefits that they provide.
2. TSA: assume they’re gonna go through your bag. Zippers, latches and clasps need to be UNLOCKED & all sections need to be able to be opened. Here’s a pic of my bag with the Zip-Ty’s they used to seal it up after they inspected it (also, that’s the tag they’re gonna leave in your luggage to let you know they did their thing). This DOES NOT HAPPEN IN YOUR PRESENCE. This usually happens in the “Baggage Handling Areas” that are after you drop it off at the counter.
Buried amidst all that is a back-pack with a laptop, I-pad and other electronics that they inspected.
They put another tag in the laptop to let me know they inspected it/pulled it.
They put everything back like they found it. They almost always do.
I pack so that what they want to look at (electronics) is/are easy to pull out. Pack accordingly if you can.
My bag is one of the bigger bags available and often is a little heavier than the std limit (55 pounds in my case/my airline). I travel a lot & get a few perks for being a “mileage club member” of my airline: I don’t pay additional fees for over-size or weight up to 70 pounds.
I’m gonna say it AGAIN…Know ALL the weight, size and baggage fees BEFORE you go! I’ve seen friends get some VERY UNPLEASANT SURPRISES at the airport!
My bag was just over the 55 pound std weight and they labeled it “Heavy”. That’s an add’l fee.
Note: as I recall, Southwest allows 2 bags…or they “allowed” 2 bags last time I’d inquired…for NO CHARGE.
Note II: Airports are Pure Insanity lately…lines/wait times to check your bag can be hideous…
Check your Airport/Airline web-site for these wait times.
Good luck & I’ll see ya at the races!
Manny
When traveling by air there are a couple of good things to “know before you go”:
1. If you don’t travel a lot and you’re buying the Cheapest Ticket that you can find? Be aware that you REALLY need to know the “Baggage Fees” and be sure to look at “size and weight” requirements/limits/additional fees for your bag.
SIZE is one of the limitations/additional fee considerations.
WEIGHT: Know the weight limitations & WEIGH YOUR BAG. If your bag’s weight is right at the limit? Assume your scale is off a little bit and make it a pound or two lighter than the limit…unless you’ve got a really good scale.
Some of the larger Gear Bags can be considered “over sized” by some of the airlines.
Travelers Hint: Sometimes you can spend a few dollars more on a ticket that has considerably better "baggage allowances" & other perks. Study the various tickets that are available for your flight and the benefits that they provide.
2. TSA: assume they’re gonna go through your bag. Zippers, latches and clasps need to be UNLOCKED & all sections need to be able to be opened. Here’s a pic of my bag with the Zip-Ty’s they used to seal it up after they inspected it (also, that’s the tag they’re gonna leave in your luggage to let you know they did their thing). This DOES NOT HAPPEN IN YOUR PRESENCE. This usually happens in the “Baggage Handling Areas” that are after you drop it off at the counter.
Buried amidst all that is a back-pack with a laptop, I-pad and other electronics that they inspected.
They put another tag in the laptop to let me know they inspected it/pulled it.
They put everything back like they found it. They almost always do.
I pack so that what they want to look at (electronics) is/are easy to pull out. Pack accordingly if you can.
My bag is one of the bigger bags available and often is a little heavier than the std limit (55 pounds in my case/my airline). I travel a lot & get a few perks for being a “mileage club member” of my airline: I don’t pay additional fees for over-size or weight up to 70 pounds.
I’m gonna say it AGAIN…Know ALL the weight, size and baggage fees BEFORE you go! I’ve seen friends get some VERY UNPLEASANT SURPRISES at the airport!
My bag was just over the 55 pound std weight and they labeled it “Heavy”. That’s an add’l fee.
Note: as I recall, Southwest allows 2 bags…or they “allowed” 2 bags last time I’d inquired…for NO CHARGE.
Note II: Airports are Pure Insanity lately…lines/wait times to check your bag can be hideous…
Check your Airport/Airline web-site for these wait times.
Good luck & I’ll see ya at the races!
Manny
Great info. I've never known them to zip-ty bags back up. Meaning the zippers in place of a lock?
Allegiant Air charges ala-cart for everything including the seat you pick (if you choose a specific seat which you don't have to)
Most airlines weight limit is 50lbs, some of the budget airlines is 40lbs...It never fails that I see someone with their bags open and re-packing their belongings to get under the weight limit!!
Put that good info to use, still a few fleas that want to work U in the whoops of dirty jerzz...
Hope you're well!
M
The Shop
Oversized varies from airport to airport, your bag you checked and had no issues with may very well be considered oversized on your flight back.
In saying that I have flown with my helmet as carry on on domestic flights and overseas flights many times and have never had an issue.
My peeps ain’t fools!
“Additional Fees SUCK!”
On the way back ... your bag is too big, you have to buy a box to put it in, and that will be $400 dollars ..
So i ask how much too big it is, and she cant tell me. So i ask how can it be too big, when you cant tell what the limit is and she calls security.. they turn up and threaten to have me arrested .
My wife intervenes, with the paperwork that shows the bag conforms, to the airline standards, and she still insists it doesnt, despite not measuring it.
Then Mrs pulls out a tape measure from her bag , and proves its within the size.
Then she says its overweight.
So Mrs pulls out my MX boots, and removes all her dirty laundry, and puts it in the bin, and tells me to put the boots on, and then pulls a small ratchet strap out , and ratchets the thing down about 6 inches... by now there is a huge queue, and we are not stepping out.
Security guy is not happy.
Supervisor gets called, and Mrs properly loses it, floods of tears , real meltdown, the supervisor tells the woman to print our passes, which she does , and the supervisor turns and gets the hell out of there , Mrs reaches for the passes, and literally just smiles and laughs at the woman .. i was stunned... funny as fuck.
Got pulled at Berlin airport security once , for having a full slipper clutch and ECU in my hand carry. That was a challenging conversation.
Pit Row
U call a brother!
For work my bags where always searched, then they told me its because of the laptop in it. Take that as caryon if you dont want your checked baggage gone through
More than a few times!
One tip that just came up on my last trip is take off your helmet visor when checking your bag. I usually just lossened them but kept them on the helmet but on my last flight the visor was cracked in half. Luckily I had an extra but worth bringing up.
Hey there! Thanks so much for sharing your insights on air travel with a gear bag. I totally agree with you about being mindful of baggage fees, size, and weight limits. It's always better to play it safe and have a lighter bag than risk going over the limit. And thanks for the reminder about unlocking zippers and clasps for TSA inspections - it definitely makes the process smoother. Oh, and by the way, I recently came across this website vonbaer.com that has a great selection of leather bags. Thought you might be interested. Anyway, I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to say thanks for the helpful tips and wish you all the best with your travels.
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