Traveling with DW foilboard?

[SUPladomi]

I'm planning on taking a trip this winter to Salinas Del Rey in Columbia primarily for winging, but I am considering taking my DW foilboard. Anybody with experience traveling with DWBs or SUPs have any advice to offer?

[jondrums]

I'm curious on the same thing.  I am looking to travel with my 8ft Kalama downwind board, and I'm thinking its going to be difficult.  I still have an old coffin bag from my windsurfing days, but the airlines seem to have a dimensional limit that isn't going to work.

United Policy is:
115 total inches (length + width + height) if you're flying on United
Measure less than 80 inches (203 cm) if you're flying on United Express

The board alone is 96"x22"x6" which is more than the limit so with the bag its going to be a lot more than that.  I expect a nice person at the desk might let it slide, but it would be pretty awful to  show up at the airport and get turned away

[Dusk Patrol]

Some carriers use the linear measurment approach Jondrums describes. I think others have a length limit (e.g. 9'5).

Check with your carrier and see what its policy is in the event the board does exceed their size limit... It might be a matter of just paying for the oversize luggage. It could be $50 well spent, AND get you out of the all or nothing scenario of having the board rejected completely.  Chances are with a foil board it will slide through. We're not talking egregious 10' sups.

This made me remember something I wrote years ago, as it says, in excrutiating detail:   

https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,33688.msg380846.html#msg380846

[spindrift]

One not so great aspect of living in a non airline hub town is that you often must take a small plane to connect to the big plane that actually takes you to your destination. So the limiting factor is the board length the small plane can accommodate and that is usually a shortboard. I have been known to drive my longboard to Seattle and leave my car at relatives when staying in the islands or Mexico long enough to make it worth while.