United baggage rules updated - RETRACTION!!!
- Thread starter ggunn
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
- Messages
- 53,688
- Reaction score
- 7,869
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
Your hotels have bathroom scales? It still takes two of you I bet.
dreamdive
Contributor
That's nice Patrick, but sometimes they checked my orders.
Brules
Contributor
Best $14 I ever spent.....:
And who takes 50lbs worth of dive gear lol???
And who takes 50lbs worth of dive gear lol???
mchiapetto
Contributor
I admit I am probably more than a little anal about this but I make a list of what I put in each bag when I am packing at home. Then I weigh the bags so I know where things stand. At the end of the trip, I use the list to put the same things back into each bag. So even though I carry a portable scale similar to what Brules shared, I know in advance the bags will be OK. That way I avoid any last minute shuffling at the airport. And all this even though I have status with United that allows me to take three 70 pound bags each. But we generally get by with two checked 50 pound bags for dive gear plus other stuff for the two of us and two carry on bags each with essential dive gear (reg/computer/mask/etc) and most of our clothes (i.e. swim suits and flipflops).
If you think those rules are tough, try taking a golf bag through United. My wife, some friends, and I are going on a golf trip to Scotland soon. Out golf bags can only contain a set of clubs, one pair of golf shoes, and balls. They said they will open every bag, and if there is anything else in it, they will charge a $200 fee for oversized luggage. It doesn't matter how much it weighs.
Curious. Just like they asked that Brady cheat, how many balls? I've played in Scotland many times. On some links, a dozen might not carry you!
No rules on balls. We are going to check on tees, gloves, and a towel.
---------- Post added May 9th, 2015 at 09:29 AM ----------
A number of years ago, Frontier Airlines, then owned by a different group than they are now, briefly implemented the worst policy for scuba gear you can imagine. There was a great outpouring of rage in ScubaBoard, and people were encouraged to call in and complain. I called several times, and in the first few calls I made, I had people explain the policy for me very clearly, and they tried to explain why it was not only fair, it was actually quite generous. Finally I got through to someone who essentially said (in almost these words), "That policy is no longer in effect. I'm a diver, so I understand. Those of us who dive convinced the leadership that the policy was idiotic, and they rescinded it."
The policy was that they charged a pretty large fee (I can't remember how much) for scuba gear taken onto the plane. They had a list of the total amount of gear that could be taken onto the plane for that much money--after that you would be charged more. The people who told me it was not only fair but generous pointed out that the list included a scuba tank, spear gun, and other gear that just about no one even thinks of bringing on a plane. "Don't you think that is a cheap price for being able to carry a scuba tank and spear gun on a plane?" I was asked. The problem was that the fee was charged for ANY amount of scuba gear you had up to that limit. In other words, if they checked your bag and found you had a scuba mask in it, you would be charged the full scuba fee in addition to the fee you paid for the bag. They thought that was fair.
But that idiotic policy was rescinded after that barrage of complaints, mostly from ScubaBoard members. Maybe there is an interesting precedent in that.
OP
What do you mean, tough? Those were the rules originally quoted to me for dive gear, and I packed accordingly. I had a bag (a cooler, actually) packed with only dive gear for me and my wife, and it weighed about 75 lbs. Now with their retraction of those rules for dive gear, I have to start over and distribute our dive gear over the rest of our luggage to get all the bags under 50 lbs. I would love to fly under the same rules as golfers, and it hardly seems fair that we divers cannot do that.
When I said weight didn't matter for the golf bag, I was actually going in the opposite direction. A golf bag with clubs, balls, and shoes won't come remotely close to the normal 50 pound limit. It will be lighter than most carry on bags. Both my wife and I will be carrying our bags in Scotland, and you can believe we won't be packing anything more than we have to.
Similar threads
