Fees
What every airline charges to fly a surfboard
Twenty-two of 61 airlines add no board fee: the board flies as a checked bag, so you pay what that bag costs on your fare. Twenty-four charge a board fee, from $20 to $230 each way. Eight more print one only in euros, pounds, Brazilian reais or South African rand. Six publish no figure at all.
The fee is not one number
Fly from the US to Tokyo on Japan Airlines and a board costs $200 a bag. On ANA it rides free inside your checked allowance. Same route, same board.
British Airways, Delta, Qantas, Emirates, Singapore and American add no board fee. Your board is your checked bag, and you pay whatever that bag costs on your fare.
Ryanair, easyJet, Frontier and Japan Airlines charge a separate line item on top. The difference is not distance or aircraft. It is which column the airline files a board in.
On a route where two fares sit close together, the board policy can cost more than the gap. Check it before you pick the cheaper ticket.
"Counts as a checked bag" is not the same as free
"Counts toward your checked baggage allowance" says nothing about what that allowance costs on your fare. On a basic fare with no bag included, the board pays the bag price, and an oversize fee can land on top.
| Airline | Board fee | Counts as a bag, and still costs | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada AC | $100 | Fixed board fee of CA/US$100.00 - $120.00 each way. | Policy |
| Avelo Airlines XP | $100 | No surfboard-only fee, but every board bag is over 62 in, so it pays the oversize fee on top of the checked bag. | Policy |
| Fiji Airways FJ | $200 | Oversized and special handling (bulky item) fee from the USA/Honolulu to all FJ destinations: USD 200 per item, prepaid or at the airport. | Policy |
| Frontier Airlines F9 | $75 | Standard checked bag price (varies by fare option/route/date) applies, plus oversize fee since boards exceed the 62-linear-inch standard: +$75 for 63-110 linear inches. | Policy |
| Jetstar JQ | $40 | Oversized item handling fee per item, per flight, on JQ international flights: USD 40 at booking or Manage booking, USD 45 at the airport. | Policy |
| KLM KL | not published | No fee when the board replaces a checked bag. On flights to or from the US, Canada and Mexico, KLM says an extra fee may apply and prints no amount. | Policy |
| Lufthansa LH | not published | Its pages disagree: one says sports gear can ride in your free allowance, another says large sports gear always pays a flat rate by route. | Policy |
| United Airlines UA | not published | Counts as one of your checked bags. United publishes no separate surfboard figure. | Policy |
It runs the other way too. Three airlines give a board a free sports allowance on top of your luggage: Air Tahiti Nui, Airlink / FlyAirlink and Garuda Indonesia.
So the question is not whether the board counts as a bag. It is whether you pay for the allowance it counts against.
The ladder: every published board fee
Cheapest first. The bar is the board fee alone, one way. Checked-bag and overweight fees still apply on top.
Off the ladder: eight airlines print a board fee only in euros, pounds, Brazilian reais or South African rand. We do not convert it.
| Airline | The fee as printed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus EI | Prints a board fee in euros and pounds only, for flights within Europe. To and from North America the board rides in your bag allowance. | Policy |
| Azul Linhas Aéreas AD | Prints its board fee in Brazilian reais only, with the highest rate on US and Europe routes. | Policy |
| easyJet U2 | Prints its large sports equipment fee in pounds only: 55 online, 60 at the airport, per flight. | Policy |
| FlySafair FA | Prints its sports-equipment fee in South African rand only, per item, per flight. | Policy |
| Ryanair FR | Prints its large-sports-item fee in euros and pounds only: 60 online, 70 later, per one-way flight. | Policy |
| Transavia (France & Netherlands) TO | Prints its water-sports fee in euros only, per single trip, on top of your hold bag. | Policy |
| Volotea V7 | Prints its special-baggage fee in euros only, per flight. | Policy |
| Vueling VY | Prints its special-luggage fee in euros only, and the price depends on when you add it. | Policy |
Each way is the number that matters
Airlines publish the one-way charge. Nine of the 24 that charge say so outright: per flight, per segment or each way. So Royal Air Maroc's $230 becomes $460 on a round trip, and a connection can add more.
On a connecting trip, the airline that sold you the ticket may not be the one that flies you. The operating carrier's rules are the ones the agent applies at the counter.
The airlines that will not say
Some airlines take a board and publish no price. They price by weight tier, by route, or only over the phone. You find out at the counter, with a board bag in hand.
| Airline | Why there is no number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Allegiant Air G4 | No Allegiant page mentions surfboards. Sports gear in general flies as a checked bag. | Policy |
| KLM KL | No fee when the board replaces a checked bag. On flights to or from the US, Canada and Mexico, KLM says an extra fee may apply and prints no amount. | Policy |
| Loganair LM | Publishes fixed fees for golf, ski and dive gear, and none for surfboards. | Policy |
| Lufthansa LH | Its pages disagree: one says sports gear can ride in your free allowance, another says large sports gear always pays a flat rate by route. | Policy |
| United Airlines UA | Counts as one of your checked bags. United publishes no separate surfboard figure. | Policy |
| Viva Aerobus VB | Publishes a fee for sports items in general, but no Viva page names surfboards. | Policy |
6 of the 61 carriers take a board and publish no figure you can check before booking. Separately, one does not carry a board at all: Breeze Airways.
How to avoid a surprise at the counter
Before you book
Find the operating carrier, not the one on the ticket. Ask two things: does the board count inside an allowance, and does this fare include that allowance. Confirm the weight limit either way.
If the airline charges
Pay online when the airline allows it. Airport prices often run higher, and you pay again on the way home.
If the airline will not say
Call and get the figure before you buy the fare. An unpublished fee is the one you cannot plan around.
If the bag is the problem
A fee only matters if the bag gets on the plane. Check your bag against each airline's size cap in the bag fit checker, read how airlines measure a board bag, or, for anything over 9 feet, how to fly with a longboard. Printing a copy for the airport? Use the one-page cheat sheet.
Every airline we track
All 61 carriers, one row each. Tap a name for its full policy, size limits and weight cap.
Will your bag even fly?
The fee is the second question. The first is whether the bag clears the airline's size cap at all.
Cheap flights to firing waves, in your inbox every week.
Cheap Waves: cheap flights to firing waves. Unsubscribe anytime.
Every policy here comes from the carrier's own baggage page, verified between 2 October 2026 and 23 October 2026, and each row links to its source. Fees are as each airline prints them, with no currency conversion. The operating carrier's counter is the final word, so check before you fly.