best place in Cozumel

[cvchief]

Just called Delta and they want $400. per tank from LGA to CZM. Guess the 72s will have to stay stateside!

I did notice delta didn't have a price listed.
Airtran say:
Scuba Equipment - With Tank
1 scuba tank with harness - empty with valve removed, 1 scuba regulator, 1 pressure gauge, 1 mask, 2 fins, 1 snorkel, 1 safety vest, 1 knife, 1 speargun, all packed in a suitable bagI do notice here is says with valve removed. But heck they can put it back in down there.

United looks like $100? Theirs does say empty=40# max

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

Pack them in your luggage, with no valve, there is no additional charge at all! We fly with pony’s and bailout bottles all the time that way.

No need to complicate this!

 

[DandyDon]

Well, DD, I looked again and still on United and Airtran, they list a tank with 40# as ok. I didn't say it was cheap, but if you wanted to take them and leave them, it might be an option for some.
From the airlines with the excess removed:
UnitedAllowance/requirements

1 empty tank (max. pressure
40 psi)
AirtranWhat scuba equipment is allowed as checked baggage?
Scuba equipment with a tank is accepted as checked baggage for an additional fee of $79 (this fee does not apply to scuba equipment without a tank). All scuba equipment must be in a suitable bag.
Scuba equipment consists of the following when applying the additional fee:
•one (1) scuba tank that is empty or with less than forty (40) pounds per square inch (PSI) of air pressure,

Okaaaay, if you leave the valve in the tank, it will belong to TSA. The airline may allow it but it does not matter. It still won't get passed TSA.

For a few years after 9-11-01 TSA had no regs, left it up to the agents, which we who travel with ponies hated - but I left the valve in and chanced it. Finally Spare Air company lobbied them hard enough (they lost a lot of business in the uncertain times) to publish the current rule.

Thanks for the map Don! Now I wont get lost! If it cost just $79. I would take a tank down, I have a place to store it in Cozumel. I love my baby steel tanks.

Just called Delta and they want $400. per tank from LGA to CZM. Guess the 72s will have to stay stateside!

As I explained, I never declare my 19# tank. I remove the valve, cover the opening with 2" electrician tape that does not leave residues,* stick it in the bag, pad it with clothes, but leave it where TSA can get to it easily and no one tells the airline. No I cannot guarantee that you will have the same luck I have had since TSA update rules but I have had the same experience going and returning to/from Mexico, Bahamas, Seattle, California, Canada, etc. every time. Just keep the total bag weight below 50# and pay the second bag fee.
* The TSA site says it has to be open, but they know it has to be kept clean - just have to have valve already out, and I double the tape ends so it is easy to pull off. I have watched many look and replace.

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

Sounds awfully complicated DandyDon - we just throw them in our Pelicans and wave goodbye. There's no need to "declare" anything, it's not like you're traveling with a rifle or something, which, by the way, actually does need to be declared.

 

[DandyDon]

Sounds awfully complicated DandyDon - we just throw them in our Pelicans and wave goodbye. There's no need to "declare" anything, it's not like you're traveling with a rifle or something, which, by the way, actually does need to be declared.

No it's not complicated, but my expanded explanation may have left that air? You remove the valves, right?

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

Absolutely valves out, and whatever you want over the opening, we usually use duct tape, but there is really no real reason to believe that an open cylinder will somehow get "dirty" in your baggage...heck, do you take your clothes out and wash them as soon as you get on vacation? All these "clean; and "dirty" cylinder stuff is soooo over-blown. Heck, many divers smoke, with that sort of respect for your respiratory system, does it really matter what you do to your tank?

 

[DandyDon]

Okay, sounds fine. I just don't want fuzz from my cheap socks, old T-shirts, or whatever getting inside the tank I am going to breath from. There are some rules that require a viz after a valve is removed I think, but I skip those - as it's me who will breath the tank.

My 19cf is 4.38" wide x 17.4" long at 7.8# plus valve.

A 72Steel is 6.9" wide x 20.75" long at 30# plus valve.

If I wanted my 72 in Coz, it would go the same way my 19 always goes. Just have to cut back on other pounds.

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

That's what transfill whips are for, to eliminate empty cylinder syndrome, and they are not rules, they are guidelines!

 

[cvchief]

Interesting. Dumb that the airlines list that on their sites then. Still $100 isnt bad for a one way trip! of course in the bag is better....

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

It's you call, and your $100 there, cvchief. Just trying to keep the $$ in your pocket for you, and certainly have done this enough times to verify it. Just this week back and forth from Philadelphia to Cancun, with no issues or added costs in either direction.