Damselfish
Contributor
It's not a one-off in the Philippines, it's a known rule for some years now. (The part about not carrying on regs - not the "fee".) And as with all airport rules anywhere, YMMV. OP sounds to me like a security guard taking advantage of a situation to make a buck.
I don't recall at the moment anyplace else with that rule, and haven't had a problem (a reg in carry-on may inspire an inspection, but not often, especially any airport they're used to seeing dive gear.) However, most airlines other than US carriers (and of course also small planes) tend to have much smaller limits on carry-on weight/size, making it difficult to carry on a reg if you want to have much else in your carry-on anyway.
I don't recall at the moment anyplace else with that rule, and haven't had a problem (a reg in carry-on may inspire an inspection, but not often, especially any airport they're used to seeing dive gear.) However, most airlines other than US carriers (and of course also small planes) tend to have much smaller limits on carry-on weight/size, making it difficult to carry on a reg if you want to have much else in your carry-on anyway.
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