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PostPosted: Thu May 03, 2012 8:33 am 
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Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:19 am
Posts: 24
To any i9s owners (or Hobie staffers) who have actually flown with their boat: Can I expect to be slapped with an oversize bag charge? Now $100 on AA. Yikes!

I've read every post I could find on the subject in this forum. I'm planning to take my i9s with me soon and am prepared to pay extra charges but wanted to hear experiences of others. 5 days of fishing on the CA coast is worth it to me!

The weight of hull and travel bag (accessories packed separately) is 45 pounds according to my measurement. So, it should not be overweight. I plan to "tarp wrap" the hull inside the bag. I'm hoping (wishfully) that will be the end of it!

However, I'm wondering if the size of the i9s bag will catch the attention of the gate agents and cause them to pull out the tape measure?

AA considers anything over 60 inches (L + W + H) to be oversize. The length of the i9s bag (32") and the width (22") are "non-negotiable". Obviously, that only leaves 6 inches to allow for thickness (H). Thickness on the packed bag varies from 10/11 inches at the top to 14 at the bottom and who-knows-what at the bulges in the middle (kinda like me)!

In an effort to try and "tame the bulges", I tried pre-packing the hull, so to speak, with a couple of straps cinched down tight. One side benefit: sure makes it easy to drop into the bag!

Image

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Gary L.
Hobie Mirage i9s
Fishing mostly in N. Tx.


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PostPosted: Thu May 03, 2012 10:17 am 
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Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2009 10:57 am
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All of my experiences are with Southwest Airlines, which permits passengers two bags checked and a carry-on at no extra charge. Except for Orlando, FL, where I was charged $50 for my i9s bag, no charges have been imposed. The issue in Orlando was weight, not size. SW says 50# per checked item and my i9s and bag would have come in under 50# but for me stuffing in a # or two of misc. items.


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PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 6:05 am 
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I wanted to report in on my experience travelling with the i9. AA did NOT impose any oversize/overweight charges at either DFW or LAX. In fact, because I booked the flight with a Citi AAdvantage Visa card, one checked bag for each passenger is now free of charges!

The i9 hull was packed into it's own bag, alone. Weight is 47 lbs. Everything else (seat, paddle, pump, Mirage drive, pfd, etc.) was packed in a separate rolling duffel bag. I removed both pedal arms from the Mirage drive so that it would fit in the bag - one bolt on each arm using the handy wrench that came with the i9.

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Gary L.
Hobie Mirage i9s
Fishing mostly in N. Tx.


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PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 5:53 am 
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Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:59 am
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gleeloyd wrote:
I wanted to report in on my experience travelling with the i9. AA did NOT impose any oversize/overweight charges at either DFW or LAX. In fact, because I booked the flight with a Citi AAdvantage Visa card, one checked bag for each passenger is now free of charges!

The i9 hull was packed into it's own bag, alone. Weight is 47 lbs. Everything else (seat, paddle, pump, Mirage drive, pfd, etc.) was packed in a separate rolling duffel bag. I removed both pedal arms from the Mirage drive so that it would fit in the bag - one bolt on each arm using the handy wrench that came with the i9.


This is very helpful... Thanks for the info.


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 9:54 am 
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Just checking to see if anyone has any more recent experience - since airlines have been trying to get every single penny they can for the past few years.

thanks


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 4:38 am 
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Sodabiscuit12345 wrote:
Just checking to see if anyone has any more recent experience - since airlines have been trying to get every single penny they can for the past few years.

thanks


Sodabiscuit12345, we took our i11S inflatables with us on our trip from Brisbane, Australia to Seattle, Washington USA. We flew with Virgin Australia and they charged us $100 each way because they were over weight. We packed everything but the drive in the bag and all was good. We had the bags shrinked wrapped at the airport in Brisbane to keep the straps under control but when they arrived in LA, the US customs folks unwrapped them to check them out and then proceeded to put things back incorrectly. By the time they arrived in Seattle, the seat on one of the units wore a hole in the brand new bag :-( On the return trip I disassembled the seats and put them in the other suit case and filled the i11S bag with soft clothes and the like.

One of the biggest problems we had was finding a rental car that would fit both SUPs, two large suitcases, two laptops and our carry on luggage. We ended up renting a Toyota 4 Runner and everything just fit.

I have a different way of packing them now and look forward to another international flight soon.


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