Surfboard policy · WN
Flying with a surfboard on Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines takes surfboards with no board fee.
The fine print
Surfboards over 100 pounds cannot be checked. No maximum length published on the surfboard policy page. Keels and fins must be removed and placed in carryon or checked baggage. Transported only with a limited release of liability (no reimbursement/compensation for damage covered by the release). For Hawaii residents (valid US Postal Hawaii mailing address, no P.O. Boxes), the standard checked bag fee does not apply to surfboards. Partner-airline itineraries may have different guidelines.
Will your bag clear it?
Southwest Airlines publishes no size figure for boards, so the comparison depends on your bag's own numbers. Check your exact bag: we hold the measured dimensions of 128 board bags and print a verdict per airline.
Fair questions
Does Southwest Airlines charge for surfboards?
No board-specific fee. Standard checked bag fees and overweight bag fees apply to surfboards; oversize fees are waived
What is Southwest Airlines's surfboard size limit?
No published size cap for boards.
Does a board bag count as a checked bag on Southwest Airlines?
Yes. The board bag takes one of your checked-bag allowances, so standard checked bag pricing applies.
Airline policies change without notice, and the operating carrier's policy is the one that counts, not the airline that sold the ticket. Confirm on the airline's baggage page before you fly. Fees across all 59 carriers: which airlines charge for a board. Size math: every bag against every limit.
The fee is half the cost. The fare is the other half.
BarrelFare watches round-trip fares to 97 surf breaks against the forecast, and can hide the flights that will not take your board. The board fee only hurts when the fare was already bad.
Get the appFees change. We track them, plus cheap flights to good waves.
Cheap Waves: cheap flights to firing waves, free. Unsubscribe anytime.