How To Bring A Skateboard On An Airplane

Sometimes when you are skating you need to get out of the sidewalks and skate parks that you frequent on your regular skating spots, sometimes we need a change in scenery to really bring out the best in us. 

This means taking your skateboard onto an airplane. If you haven’t taken your skateboard on an airplane before you may be worried about a few things.

How To Bring A Skateboard On An Airplane

The last thing you want to do is trusting your skateboard withomseone you don’t trust and it ending up broken or lost in transit meaning you can’t skate the destination you are going to. This can be even more worrying if your board is sentimental or expensive.

In this guide we are going to show you some of the best advice of how to bring your skateboard on the airplane, packing it in luggage, as well as airport regulations on skating around! 

Carry It On You

One way to assure that nothing ever gets stolen or lost, and a good approach to stopping things being potentially damaged is to carry them with you onto the airplane. Everyone has a certain amount of carry-on luggage they are allowed, depending on your flight and ticket. 

Once you know how much you can take onto the airplane we suggest carrying all your prized and valuable possessions with you this means they remain safe on your person.

One thing worth noting is that if you have a laptop in your luggage it will always be searched by the authorities which is another chance to lose things, so carry this on you too. 

There’s no reason anyone will stop you bringin it with you and storing it in the overhead storage, as long as you don’t carry it mall grab. This also means that you can cave right onto the new ground once you leave the airport!

Be Prepared

One of the most important factors when looking at How To Bring A Skateboard On An Airplane is to check what the airline you are flying with allows on their flights. Even though your skateboard could fit in the overhead storage, some airlines might not allow skateboards as a matter of TSA, rather than space.

For example Southwest, Delta, United, Lufthansa, and Turkish Airlines all allow skateboards to be a carry-on item as long as they meet each airlines specific size and weight requirements.

Most of these airlines require this to be a manual skateboard, other electronic skateboards will be subject to more severe requirements.

However, nearly all airlines will allow you to check the skateboard in as separate luggage, although you may have to pay extra depending on how much luggage you already plan on sending on the plane.

Bag That Board Up

Bag That Board Up

If you plan to send your board in the luggage compartment of the airplane, there are a few things to consider. For sure, if you want to risk it and live on the edge as many skaters do, then just send your skateboard in raw alongside your luggage bag. While this is totally allowed the risk of it being broken or separated from your other luggage is much greater.

One way to ensure your gear is protected from at least damage, is to invest in a good board bag, especially if you are planning on travelling regularly. More so, if you chose to store things overhead this is another way to keep things safe.

A bag like this can keep your skateboard protected from the predictable wear and tear of travel, as well as providing some useful and practical pockets and compartments to store useful skate tools you could use while travelling around.

These travel bags are super easy to shuttle around, aren’t obviously skateboards (to prevent theft), and are a great way to travel with your skateboard in style.

Arrive Early

Even if your bag is totally packed to perfection, protected with the best gear, and fits your airline requirements, there are still a lot of hoops, or should we say conveyor belts, to get through before the skateboard safely reaches the plane.

The next method to make sure that your gear and luggage gets the start treatment without paying any extra in our guide, How To Bring A Skateboard On An Airplane, is to send it out early.

This means arriving at the airport extra extra early so that you can make sure your board is one of the first to go through all the conveyor belts and the like so that its chances of getting to the airplane are greatly increased.

The opposite, arriving late, means that your rbag will be rushed to the airplane and is more likely to get lost.

Getting to the airport early can be annoying but maybe you can get some good reading done in the quiet before the storm or just hang out at the airport bar and meet new friends.

Can I Skateboard In The Airport?

Some skaters may be shocked to hear that you can, technically. You may be asked to get off by upset TSA agents, and you should comply for others safety, but there isn’t any rule against it.

It makes sense to double check with your specific airport, a mild inconvenience on top of these previous checks.

A penny board is amazing to roll around on at the airport, the wide rubber wheels roll on the flat smooth ground of an airport like butter.

Moreover, the penny board is particularly small and nimble making it much less likely that you will bump into a fellow passenger. It would certainly help pass the time if you have time to wait in the airport.

The Bottom Line

We hope these five tips on How To Bring A Skateboard On An Airplane can help make your travels as smooth as freshly tarmaced streets. The bottom line is that you can bring a skateboard onto a plane pretty easily.

With the right checks on your airport and airline, as well as what your ticket allows, you can easily prepare to take your skateboard across the globe.

Items such as skateboard travel bags are a good investment if you plan to travel with your board a lot, but you can just as easily put your skateboard in the overhead or you can just send it through the conveyor belt and hope for the best.

In any case, happy travelling!

Cathy Welks
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