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Flying to and from Spain with excess baggage: Everything you need to know, airline by airline
Sports equipment, golf clubs and musical instruments all have their own special rules – and extra charges
With dozens of world-renowned courses, Spain is a true golf paradise, and many holidaymakers plan on getting in a round or two during their trip. These days, more and more people choose to bring their own clubs with them rather than hiring them on the costas, simply out of preference for using their own gear.
But golf clubs, along with other oversized or excess luggage like musical instruments and sporting equipment such as bikes and surf boards, obviously don’t fit in conventional luggage, and so are subject to their own rules, and often additional charges to boot.
Here are the regulations regarding excess baggage with some of the major airlines:
Iberia
When it comes to sports equipment, passengers must make sure they comply with the transportation and packaging requirements of the equipment so that they can check it in without problem. The price for carrying this gear ranges from 35 euros to 135 euros, and full details can be found on the airline’s website. In general though, the maximum weight is 23 kilos and extra charges will apply for anything heavier, up to a max of 32 kilos.
With musical instruments, people generally have a choice. If it’s something small, say a flute or violin, visitors can treat the item as their carry-on luggage, once it doesn’t exceed 30x120x38 centimetres. Anything larger can be placed in another seat, but this will cost you and you will need to contact the airline’s Reservation Centre in advance.
Finally, passengers can check the instrument in. The maximum size and weight are 190x75x65cm and 23kg.
Ryanair
Anyone carrying sports equipment or musical instruments can take them on board as long as they fit within the permitted hand luggage limit. If it exceeds those dimensions, passengers can pay an additional seat fee to place it in the seat next to them. To do this, when booking your flight, you must buy an additional ticket and enter the word ‘EXTRA’ as the first name and ‘ITEM SEAT’ as the last name.
Another option is to check in the equipment and pay the applicable fee. It must be taken into account that if this luggage exceeds the permitted limit of 20kg (30kg for bicycles), travellers will have to pay the excess weight fee.
Air Europa
Regarding sports equipment, it must be taken into account that “transportation is subject to the availability of space on the flight,” the airline stresses. An extra cost will have to be paid for the object (between 40 euros and 200 euros) and it must be transported as a single package with a maximum weight of 23kg, with the possibility of increasing it up to 32kg by paying the corresponding fees.
Musical instruments can be taken on board as hand luggage once they’re no bigger than 55x35x25cm or 115 linear centimetres and the weight doesn’t exceed 10 kilos. Anything bigger and the passengers will need to pay for another seat.
If you want to check it in, you can do so by replacing one of the suitcases included in the allowance if it does not exceed 158cm in height, length and width and 23kg in weight (32kg for an extra fee).
Vueling
On its website, Vueling states that in order to travel with your sports equipment or musical instrument "it is very important that it is correctly packaged to be able to be transported." In this case, all excess baggage will be subject to an additional charge and can be added during or after booking.
The maximum weight allowed is 32kg and the size mustn’t exceed 2.70 metres. The price ultimately depends on the type of the additional luggage.
Image: John Hughes Golf
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