If you flew to nationals, please share your flying experience

[tkexi991]

Airline flown: American
Type of fencing bag(s): hard golf case
Point of origin: IAD
Reason for choosing airline: cost & Direct flight
Cost to check a fencing bag: Ultimately $15, though American tried to charge me $150 on the way back on the grounds that it wasn't *golf clubs* in the golf bag (I was foolishly honest when they asked what was in it). When I complained, they gave in.
Positive/negative experiences: See above. Otherwise good - flight uneventful and happily direct.

I carry at least one (old) golf club in my fencing bag for the very reason mentioned above.

[DonnaP]

Airline: American
Origin: Hartford/Springfield
Type of Case: SKB hard case golf bag - only pack blades (and one old golf club just in case) - rest of gear goes in carry on - had bag lost one too many times.
Reason: cost, direct non-stop flight, good times
Cost for Bag: $15 each way.
Comments: would have been great except for the 7+ hour delay leaving Hartford due to T-storms in the area.

Generally I dislike American, still do. Overall their customer service stinks.

[lefty_monster]

Airline flown: Southwest
Type of fencing bag(s): Hard golf bag. Carried masks and body cords on in backpacks.
Point of origin: TPA (Tampa International)
Reason for choosing airline: Southwest is the best! And we had a voucher.
Cost to check a fencing bag: Free. It was one of my two allowed checked bags.
Positive/negative experiences: Perfectly positive. Nobody gave me heck about it being oversized. Everyone is friendly. When I arrived and discovered that a bolt was gone from one of the handles on my bag, I went to the claims office where they promptly whipped out a bunch of tool boxes and said take whatever I needed. Even though I couldn't find a bolt that fit, they were so helpful! Suggested that I go to home depot and told me where the nearest one was.

[JohnK]

Airline flown: Southwest
Type of fencing bag(s): Wheeled Bag
Point of origin: Baltimore/Washington International
Reason for choosing airline: Frequent flier miles built up, Reputation on fencing.net for not being anal about oversize bags, BWI is best airport in DC area.
Cost to check a fencing bag: Nothing
Positive/negative experiences: Two-stop flight back was rather long (chosen for low cost). However, better than having taken the previous flight to Baltimore, which depressurized due to a hole in the fuselage.

[Guided by Wire]

Positive/negative experiences: Two-stop flight back was rather long (chosen for low cost). However, better than having taken the previous flight to Baltimore, which depressurized due to a hole in the fuselage.

Was the fuselage FIE?

[Emfuser]

Interesting that nobody seems to have paid an oversizee fee for a fencing bag or hard case. Only one near miss on that one.

[noodle]

i saw people that did get charged oversize.

[lewis]

i saw people that did get charged oversize.

Flew USAIR. 2 stops going, one stop on the way back. Philly hub of course. Picked it for the cost, actually had a propeller plane from philly to mpls. $15 on the way for the wheeled fencing bag, $20 on the way back (????). Broke the suitcase handle on the way there, but did not charge extra even tho they claimed it weighed it 65 pounds on the way home. Suspect it did not actually but got home at midnight and did not weigh.

I like sw because there are no hidden fees and the service is actually pleasant. Unfortunately the airports can be inconvenient..... delta is the worst. Continental will hold the plane and united replaced the fencing bag it dropped off the conveyor belt plus everything in it..... of course since it was on the way TO the tournament there wasn't much in it but blades and socks and underwear....

[Emfuser]

i saw people that did get charged oversize.

Any idea which airline?

[flechewounds]

Airline flown: Southwest
Type of fencing bag(s): {ex: hard golf case, wheeled fencing bag, carried fencing bag, etc) - fencing bags
Point of origin: LAX
Reason for choosing airline: Preference for Southwest
Cost to check a fencing bag: $0
Positive/negative experiences: No negative experiences

[oiuyt]

Airline flown: Delta
Type of fencing bag(s): Wheeled fencing bag
Point of origin: PHL-SAL-DFW-PHL (fencing bag only on DFW-PHL portion as someone else brought it to the tournament for me). All three travel days involved plane changes in ATL.
Reason for choosing airline: Only convenient schedule to SAL
Cost to check a fencing bag: $15
Positive/negative experiences: T-Storms in Atlanta delayed return ~4.5 hours. Bag missed connection, although I made it (edit: connecting flight was also massively delayed). Flight attendants handled delay well, although sitting out on a taxiway for the first couple of hours wasn't fun.

-B