6 Tips to travel with your board bag – and not hate it

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Traveling with your snowboard can be a pain, but after years of dragging it around we have some tips to make your life easier.

Words by Alba Pardo

Is it time for a ‘big’ trip?, One of those that you have spent months, even years, planning, imagining over and over again, and now it’s finally time to pack? Or maybe you are just a plane ride away from some decent snow so your only option is fly to ride?

No matter which one you are, if you are travelling with your gear, you want to keep reading as dragging a board on a country hop or even dragging it across continents is no easy feat. So these tips will come in handy as well as our ultimate packing list.

1- Buy a board bag with wheels

Forget the lighter over-the-shoulder board bags, just forget them. Specially when traveling by plane and with all the luggage restrictions, they are just not an efficient option and will carve a line on your shoulder flesh after carrying for a few hundred meters.  

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Thule Roundtrip

When you have to walk from one end of the airport to the other, go find the rental car, take the train, find your room, or simply take more than two steps with the snowboard bag on your back, it becomes a pain. So don’t hesitate to spend a little more when getting a new board bag and make sure it has good wheels. You will thank yourself for it.

Oh! And if you find stairs on your way, smile, breathe and drag it down or carry it up the stairs bear hug style and ignore the faces of surprise, admiration and bewilderment. It’s okay if you sweat a little now, you’re going snowboarding and they’re not.

2- Don’t forget the carabiner

If you take another bag, or a small carry-on suitcase, you will be short of hands to drag everything, and the airport trolleys are not always at hand when you need them and when you leave the airport you’ll have a problem. So a simple carabiner can make things much easier for you allowing you to attach the board bag to the suitcase and drag it on it’s handle. Bizarrly, often times it is even more comfortable to drag it this way, as the board bag weight levers agains the bag and the bag handles is a more comfortable handle.

Some newer board bags come with a velcro handle you can attach to a suitcase handle, but depending on the weight or the angle of the bag it doesn’t always work and comes undone. But a carabiner will not fail you. Just make sure is big enough to get through both straps. 

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Db Snow Roller Pro 127L

Hook the carabiner to the top strap of the board bag, and to the top strap of your suitcase, and you can use the suitcase’s extendable arm to pull the trailer you just set up.

3- Travel light, because it always weighs more than you think

Some airlines have an unwritten law that will also depend on who you find at the counter and will let you through with up to 24.5kg without charging you extra, but if you want to be stress-free, weigh your bag before leaving home, and forget about that extra sweatshirt. Plus, you’ll appreciate it when you have to carry the bulk.

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Burton Wheelie Gig Board Bag

4- Low-cost airlines aren’t always the cheapest

When you travel with “sports equipment”, which is how airlines describe snowboarding or skiing equipment, each airline is different, but as a general rule low-cost airlines have a special rate, which is more expensive than standard luggage, so depending on the destination and if the difference in ticket price is not extraordinary, it may be cheaper to fly with a traditional airline.

For example, on some routes Lufthansa and Swiss Air allow you to take snownboard equipment free of charge on top of your luggage allowance (if flying with economic stadard fare). Other airlines will allow you to check in you board bag instead of your suitcase at no additional cost, as long as it does not weigh more than 23 kg. 

For intercontinental flights, most airlines will also accept your board bag as a suitcase. But you will have to respect the 23kg limit at all times.

These are some basic tips, but you should always ask and read the small print of the airline you want to travel with, because, depending on the destination the rules can vary. So make sure you know the baggage policy before booking your flight.

5- Travel with an extra layer

If you really lack a bit of space, you can always travel with an extra sweatshirt and your jacket. A classic is to attach your helmet to your carry-on luggage, as they can be quite bulky it gives you extra room in your check in bag. And if someone asks, you can always say that you are afraid of flying, whatever.  Smile and remember, once again, that you are going snowboarding and they are not.

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Burton Wheelie Gig Boardbag

6- Airtag it!

You won’t be the first, nor the last to get their board bag lost. The more layovers your journey has the more lottery tickets you get for a lost bag, having an AirTag or some kind of tracking in it will give you piece of mind of knowing where it is, even if you end up having to rent equipment and claim the money to the airline, at least you know where it is and that you are more likely to recover it, eventually. If that happens, breathe and remember… smile, because… That’s right! You are going snowboarding!

Extra tip, only suitable for the most daring

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Boardbag in belt…

The board bag is considered bulky or special luggage, so you will always have to go to the counter to check-in where they will weigh it and then send you to a special belt to leave your board bag. Sometimes after the check on the way to the drop-off you can sneak in that extra bit in the bag. However, you can’t always rely on this trick, though, as sometimes they’ll accompany you to the other belt and keep an eye on you. 

But above all, when you travel with sports equipment, the most important thing is patience and energy. You’ll have to carry it, get into tight spaces and hold the weight for a while, but you must keep your enthusiasm. After all, you’re on your way to the mountain of your dreams.

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