Flying with a pony bottle

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Hi folks. This is an old thread but I have a related question. Are you being charged extra fees for any types of pony bottles? I check AA, Delta and United web sites and they all state that these are not included in the scuba gear allownace and subject to extra charges. Thanks.
I have flown with my 19 cf pony many times, US Airways and now, American. Sometimes it's in checked luggage, sometimes in my carry on. I have never been charged extra for having it. Just my experience
 
Hi folks. This is an old thread but I have a related question. Are you being charged extra fees for any types of pony bottles? I check AA, Delta and United web sites and they all state that these are not included in the scuba gear allownace and subject to extra charges. Thanks.
Never.

As talked about in previous posts, the airlines do not open your bags. TSA (insert foreign equivalent here) does and their rules are simple. The valve must be removed and the open tank available for inspection. . .

I put a couple pieces of blue tape over the open end to keep out bugs and small children and have never had a problem
 
As for scuba gear allowances....

Maybe 6 years ago, Frontier Airlines (before it was sold and turned into the very worst carrier on the planet) introduced a new policy regarding scuba gear. They announced it as a positive--for a mere $100, you could carry up to a specified amount of scuba gear, including a scuba tank and a speargun. I emphasized "up to" because the policy said that the existence of ANY scuba gear up to that amount would require paying that $100 fee. Have a snorkel mask in your luggage? That'll be $100, sucker. There was a real uproar on ScubaBoard, and in part because of that, people flooded Frontier with complaints. I was one of them, and I made a couple calls to people who clearly had no blessed idea why that was such a stupid policy. What is wrong, i would be asked, with charging that much money to enable people to bring scuba tanks and spearguns on a flight? I tried to explain that only a tiny, tiny, tiny portion of divers bring those items, and 99% of people bring gear you would not even know was there unless you opened the luggage and looked. They were adamant about it. Maybe you could get away with it, but if they saw you had a scuba mask in your luggage, you would have to pay $100.

Eventually I was put through to someone pretty high up who told me to relax. He was a scuba diver himself and understood the stupidity of the rule. Sane people in the company had communicated that message of idiocy effectively enough that the new rule had been rescinded within 24 hours of its announcement.

I suspect that more than a few airlines have such rules that they will simply not enforce. If your gear (with the exception of cylinders and certain batteries) is stowed away in your luggage, no one is going to say anything.
 
The valve definitely has to be screwed off completely, that much I know because we've carried bottles abroad.

Checking for a client who wanted to take a bottle abroad however, his particular destination also required him to carry a certification that the bottle had been inspected recently. But that might depend on your destination and the center you are planning to dive with (or fill your bottle at).
 
Hi folks. This is an old thread but I have a related question. Are you being charged extra fees for any types of pony bottles? I check AA, Delta and United web sites and they all state that these are not included in the scuba gear allownace and subject to extra charges. Thanks.
Why tell them? I don't. They don't give me a break for scuba gear like they do golf clubs.
 
Never.

As talked about in previous posts, the airlines do not open your bags. TSA (insert foreign equivalent here) does and their rules are simple. The valve must be removed and the open tank available for inspection. . .

I put a couple pieces of blue tape over the open end to keep out bugs and small children and have never had a problem
it is all in how you present your luggage at checkin time. if you have a pony bottle tucked away inside your luggage (checked or carryon), then it does not exist and no extra fees apply (except for oversize or overweight). if you drag up a naked tank all by itself, then it exists and will be charged special handling fees.
 
I fly united to bonaire 3x a year. I put my 19cf pony in my checked bag with the valve off. Never had any problems. When I get there I just put it back together and get it filled.
 
In another recent post someone complained that the TSA confiscated his tank (full size) because he had taped over the opening, presumably not using just clear tape. If you are flying a smaller airline to a dive destination and their inspection staff (the airline apparently hires the TSA employees) know what tanks are, probably no problem. Technically a pony tank can be used as a "cudgel" and as such is banned from being carried on board. The TSA is pretty sloppy about enforcing that one, but the TSA also failed to catch 90% of the simulated weapons carried aboard in a test a couple of years ago.

And of course, regardless of airline policy and regardless of TSA formal policy, the TSA will gladly remind you that their inspectors have the sole and final word in all matters. And the supervisors will NEVER allow the agency to lose face by overruling what an inspector says.

Then if the idiot puts a greasy finger in your tank neck...no nitrox for you!

Flying is such fun these days. I wouldn't mind so much, if there really was any security to the dog and pony show.
 
In another recent post someone complained that the TSA confiscated his tank (full size) because he had taped over the opening, presumably not using just clear tape.
The rules do actually require the valve hole to be open, not taped. I use 2" electric tape that does not leave a residue, both ends folded back for easy removal, and hope for the agents to be reasonable. So far, no problems. I've seen a few pull the tape up enough to peek, but they can't really see anything - just a show.

I flew my pony several times before TSA finally adopted rules about tanks. The Spare Air company is the one who got them to write some up. Better to have rules.

Then if the idiot puts a greasy finger in your tank neck...no nitrox for you!
Technically, any time the valve is removed, the tank is due for a viz - but as long as I feel confident it's clean and I'm the one who depends on it, fine with me. I do offer to share with anyone, make an announcement onboard to just grab if needed as I'll have the valve on and will understand, but it's been many years since anyone did.

I would not ask anyone to partial pressure fill my pony with nitrox. In fact, I wrote "air only" boldly on it. I haven't had a viz in years tho as I only dive Cozumel anymore, and they don't require such - just hydro.
 
This February I flew two al13s USA to Mexico, checked bag with westjet. Valves removed. Didn't ask about paying more but the policy allowed for a stiff cost per tank. Security inspection opened my bag but closed it up without issue.
 

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