“I get to pay next month’s mortgage AND you’re not going to take my board? This is awesome!” Photo: Hawaiian Airlines
Paying airlines obscene fees for the privilege of letting them destroy your surfboards is one of the greatest joys a surfer can experience. Well, not really, but you know what I mean if you’re a surfer. Each airline, it seems, has different policies regarding surfboards, and some are easier to travel with than others if you’re bringing a stick. And even if we think we have it figured out, policies regarding surfboards as baggage can change in a matter of months or weeks, making it tough to plan.
Well, some airlines in particular have found a new way to inhibit surfers from packing boards of a certain length, according to three-time world longboard champion, Joel Tudor. Tudor shared a PSA for longboarders traveling to Hawaii after his boards were rejected entirely by Hawaiian Airlines.
The short version of Tudor’s story includes getting to the check-in counter and having his boards turned away because they didn’t fit within the airline’s updated size requirements. They then refused to refund any of his ticket costs or the original baggage fees (the same fees they charged to not accept his boards). Tudor warned surfers to steer clear of flying with Hawaiian, and possibly Alaska Airlines.
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“I’ve never in my life had a problem taking longboards (to Hawaii),” the San Diego native says of his 35 years traveling between California and Hawaii. After explaining the debacle at check-in and the lack of help he was given to trouble-shoot the problem, Tudor concluded with a warning: don’t fly Hawaiian or Alaska Airlines. “Make it make sense,” he says about the updated policy, which limits board bags to 9’6″, even though the airline sponsors longboard events in Hawaii and makes a point to advertise to longboarders.
According to the Hawaiian Airlines website, weight and length limits can vary depending on which country you’re flying in or out of. The airline’s current policies kicked in on January 8, 2025, with some board bags qualifying under their “free baggage allowance when travel is non-stop, direct and/or connecting service.” As enticing as that sounds, any board bag weighing more than 100 pounds and exceeding 115 inches long (~9’6″) “are not accepted on any flight.”
Plan accordingly.
