Airtravel with PakCanoe

Does anyone have experience traveling with a PakCanoe or Ally on Delta and/or Alaska Airlines? Specifically, as a 3rd checked bag. Any hassles or issues? Thanks!

You need to first check the written rules for each airline as they are complex. After that you should call the airlines to confirm your understanding. A third bag is generally considered "excess baggage" and besides cost big bucks might not even fly on the same flight.

Years ago people said that a pakcanoe was within the size/weight limits common 20+ years ago, I have no idea if this still holds true, excess and overweight/size combo could cost you $300 per flight!

I flew a Folbot Yukon on Southwest about three years ago without any problem. They have an size exception for "sports equipment".

I've done it a few times (17' PakCanoe)--Alaska Airlines several times, Delta once. It's not a problem. I make sure the bag weighs 50#, and it's just another bag. (My bag on the last trip was 0.5# over, and I had to pull some poles out and put it in another bag---danged picky clerk! A partner checks his whole thing and pays the weight overage (which probably comes out similar). Alaska Airlines does have a "sports equipment" category which is worth checking. I haven't used it, as I learned of it after flying.

I wasn't directly involved in the shipping but my group found it cheaper to mail it. Of course you need someone like an outfitter to receive it. And if it's going to a Canadian destination, it's best to drive over the border, go through customs personally, then ship it.

Paddlinhal said:

I wasn't directly involved in the shipping but my group found it cheaper to mail it. Of course you need someone like an outfitter to receive it. And if it's going to a Canadian destination, it's best to drive over the border, go through customs personally, then ship it.

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Good points. It really depends on the situation, e.g. excess baggage fees, shipping fees, airlines, number of airlines, number of bags (per bag gets more expensive as you have more bags) etc. The last couple of trips we flew with it as baggage, both in Alaska (one airline) and Canada (6 airlines). This trip to Canada, we're driving it (11 hours, across the border) to the penultimate destination, because with the smaller airlines, they wanted the gear one week before flight. Flying with it all is by far the simplest, though may not be the cheapest. And then there are glitches like the one week pre-delivery. We had 4 weeks of food on one trip, 7 weeks on another, which results in a lot of stuff.

recped said:

You need to first check the written rules for each airline as they are complex. After that you should call the airlines to confirm your understanding. A third bag is generally considered "excess baggage" and besides cost big bucks might not even fly on the same flight.

Years ago people said that a pakcanoe was within the size/weight limits common 20+ years ago, I have no idea if this still holds true, excess and overweight/size combo could cost you $300 per flight!

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Thank you!