Are airline bag fee's changing gear ownership

[dorsal]

One of my other hobbies/sports is skiing, and own my own equipment. I've been seeing a trend over the last few years that, due to the airline bag fees, people are slowing renting more and buying gear less - especially skis. There are many parallels between skiing and scuba with performance compared to rentals. Unlike skiing, I'm not seeing an option at destinations for renting higher performance gear.

Have we seen something similar in the scuba world where folks are buying less gear as the bag fee's are making ownership less attractive (especially bulky gear) ?

 

[SoFlaDiver954]

I may b*tch and moan, but I'doubt rather pay baggage fees than not bring my gear. Even if I could rent similar gear, it will not be set up like my rig. I also know exactly the condition and performance of my own gear, whether or not high end rentals might be "better."

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

American and United have me considering storing a set in Cozumel. We have a airline compliant suitcase that we can get 2 full sets in and it weigh 46#. Regs and computers go in carryon.

Our gear adds $50 a trip. That $50 let's me dive a rig that I set up exactly how I wanted and I have more faith in than rental equipment. I doubt I can rent a bcd, reg, computer, and fins for $50 a week, but I've never checked. While I haven't been on a ski slope in 20 years, No matter what happens to me on a ski slope...I can still breathe. 120 feet deep and I can't say the same.

The hassle of an extra bag and the chance of a lost bag adding stress to a dive trip is more of a reason to store gear or rent it. The bag cost is minimal considering a week long dive trip in Cozumel is going to cost me $2000. $50 I'd about 15 less Bohemia Obscura's (THE best beer in the world) so I'm probably better off...and skinnier...dragging the extra bag.

I would love to have a bcd and fins stored in Cozumel so I could throw everything else in a carryon and go when airfares were cheap. Lately we have been catching great deals on Southwest to Cancun so Gear has been included in the fare. If Southwest changes their policy, I may change my mind.

Safe travels,
Jay

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I've been able to barely fit all my gear and clothes in a carry on plus an under-seat sized bag. It requires some tetris packing skills, but it can be done. Even the weight isn't that bad, about 32 pounds in the carry on bag. It really helps to travel with a BP/W. Taking the wing off and folding it, then putting the plate midway in the bag with clothes and other soft stuff above and below it (so you don't lose space to the bend of the plate) is very effective. Taking the cam straps off and laying them flat is a trick I added this time, and it made a big difference. I was able to stay below the Mayair limit (40 + 11 pounds) with no problem at all. And that's with a stainless plate. I'm considering getting an aluminum plate for travel which would save another 4 pounds or so.

 

[Damselfish]

Thing with this is, in scuba different people will have fairly different definitions of high performance gear. I don't think that is true in the same way with ski equipment. So I'm not even sure what renting "higher performance" gear would mean. And the people that have their own gear and really care about what they're diving in, are going to pay the baggage fee and take their gear in all but the occasional special situation. It's still usually cheaper to pay the fee than rent anyway. (I think the nuisance of traveling with heavy bulky gear is more of an incentive to rent than baggage fees.)

If I need to rent gear, I want a reg that is reliable and breathes well, fins that fit and don't suck, and a BC that fits and works (and it would be nice if it's not fraying and faded.) These things have more to do with age, inventory, and maintenance. Would a place have both "low performance" and "high performance" gear? The crappy faded stuff that doesn't get serviced as often, and the nice stuff that does? I imagine there is a set of customers that would be interested in renting an elaborate BC, titanium regulator, and pimped out fins and see that as high performance, but I'm guessing not enough to make it worth most ops having all that stuff.

 

[The Chairman]

No one seems to budge on this during any of our invasions or surges. Lots and lots of gear and the resultant baggage.

 

[Scubadeep1]

If you travel more than once a year it may benefit you to look into getting an American or United Credit card, yes there is an annual fee of about 69.00 but if you travel more than once a year it pays for itself as you get free bags and priority boarding.

 

[NYCNaiad]

I always bring my own gear. Most of the divers I know do the same unless they are going on a trip where they are only diving a day or two. (Even then, I think it's worth it. This is life-saving equipment & far more critical to me than the gear I owned when I used to ski.)

I just end up packing far fewer clothes & stuff allowing my gear to take up most of my bag. I also try to include what I can on carry-on so if my bag is lost, I still have the important bits like my primary & my computer.

 

[KeithG]

I suggest that the crowd needs to wake up and finally realize that the airlines have reduced their ticket prices by charging for luggage. Your base ticket price is not sky rocketing, but you now have to pay for any (some, all, most) luggage.

In my experience most luggage charges are trivial. Way less than the cost of a two four (that is a case of beer, tall boy MooseHead is over $55). One thing I have noticed is that an overweight bag penalty seems to be way more severe than the cost of an additional bag?

This new (well 5 years ago at least) airline trend has led to the "gate check" phenomenon. The game is to not check your bag at checkin time (since it costs money) but to allow it to get checked in at the gate. It is then free. On our recent trip to Bonaire the gate people spent a whole hour trying to convince people to turn in their carry on luggage "for free".

But there was a twist: This experience was new to me as normally a gate check is a "sky check" - you check it at the gate and then get it at the landing bridge, it does not become "baggage". On our last trip it was very clear that the gate check luggage became baggage. You could not claim it at the bridge. It went into the bowels of the plane and (hopefully) appeared on the luggage carousel at your final destination.

P.S. my answer is NO.

 

[drrich2]

Unlike skiing, I'm not seeing an option at destinations for renting higher performance gear.

If you're like, ahem, 'some' of us, and there's more than one 'x' in your XL sizing on some things, odds of the rental fleet having your size is iffy.

That said, there's something about the notion with rental gear, the airline won't get a chance to lose it in transit, and it won't arrive late (a hassle at a land-based destination; downright awful if you're boarding a live-aboard the day of arrival).

So, what's high performance? The priciest gear is apt to be your computer and regulator (assuming you're not real picky about BCD; some would be), and those things fit in your carry on anyway. Wetsuits are bulky but need to fit; are you an average size and not too chubby? Mask fit is rare enough for some people that many are well-advised to take their own mask. If you like downloading computer dives to your home computer, what are the odds that rental computers do that? If the computer's not going home with you, are you packing a notebook to download to?

I like my own mask and computer. I like my 2XL OMS slipstream and XL Atomic Smoke-on-the-Water fins, size 13-14 (still not quite big enough; I wear a 15) boots or the size 15 boots, 2XL Sherwood Avid BCD, 2XL Henderson AquaLock hood (largest they make and stretchy material yet still pulls on my lower jaw unpleasantly) and Henderson 2XL 5 mm gloves. I'm not an easy mask seal person. My 3XL Henderson Thermoprene wetsuit fits snug but okay since the material is so stretchy, the 4XL shorty is comfy, and I'm not lean.

Basically, I'm not a guy you want showing up fearless at a foreign dive shop saying 'Okay, gear me up.' And while my dimensions/needs aren't average, there are a lot of people who overlap me in one more more areas. How many threads do we see snide references to seeing obese divers on boat trips? How many wetsuits over 2XL do you see in rental offerings? Especially 4 or 5 XL?

Richard.