Which US Airline Just Took Their Board Bag Fees From $150USD To Nil?

Effective today, surfers flying from or to California on United Airlines will no longer be charged a fee for their surfboards.

As us who live in the US deal with consistent board bag fees, on top of disgruntled airline employees finding a way to drop boulders on our surfboards-at least for those in or coming to California–it’s worth an eighth of Bender’s fist pump before the end credits of The Breakfast Club – for no other reason than a small victory for surfers around the globe.

This tiny win comes in the wake of Hawaiian Airlines changing their policy on allowing only two boards per bag to allowing three or more. Previously, Hawaiian Air would forcibly remove the third of fourth board in your bag and fly them separately. This Stab writer has forcibly flown boards back from the North Shore in socks after he mistook his United Airlines flight for a Hawaiian one, they arrived in Los Angeles unscathed – a miracle in its own right. 

United is a decent airline. Their flights are relatively inexpensive, the inflight experience isn’t Virgin, but it’s also unoffensive unless you are perhaps an Asian man.

Here’s how this happened:

Surfing was declared California’s state sport. So according to an article in Markets Insider titled, “Surf’s Up! Surfboard Fees Wiped Out in California on United Airlines”:

United Airlines, California’s global airline, is getting onboard and removing the service fees for surfboards for customers traveling to or from California. Effective October 5, customers traveling with a surfboard, wakeboard or paddleboard on direct United Airlines or United Express itineraries that originate or end at any California airport will not have to pay the previous $150 or $200 service fee to check these items. The regular checked-bag fee will apply.

To help preserve California’s coast and oceans, United is donating $50,000 to Sustainable Surf, a California-based environmental nonprofit that operates as an innovation lab using surfing as a force for good—to solve the ocean health crisis by 2050.

So go on, give a Bender fist pump.