If you’ve landed on this article, I think it’s safe to say you (or your player) are interested in knowing how to fly with your ice hockey equipment.
Maybe you're already set to fly overseas for hockey (ex: for a season, tournament) and you just want to make sure you got all your ducks in a row planning wise.
OR
Maybe you're still exploring the idea of playing hockey somewhere and you want to better understand how this aspect of the process works.
In this article, we're going to give you a ton of insider knowledge and information based on our first hand experience.
Since a number of our partners have flown overseas many times as former pro players and we've since helped countless players in flying overseas with hockey gear (often for the first time) for well over a decade…we’re well suited to cover the topic.
We’re writing this piece mainly from the perspective of flying from North America <-> Europe as we have extensive experience helping players play pro hockey overseas in Europe- but 90% of the info we share below with you can be directly applied to traveling anywhere internationally with ice hockey equipment.
Table of Contents:
- Hockey Pre-Travel Preparation
- Hockey Equipment/Bag Weight
- Airline Selection
- Importance of Flight Connection Times
- Day of Travel (with your Hockey Gear)
- Passport, Immigration, & International Bag Re-Checking
- Landing + Picking Up Your Hockey Gear
- What To Do If Your Hockey Gear Is Delayed
- Conclusion
Let's grab our gear and hop on board...
Hockey Pre-Travel Preparation
The first thing you're going to want to do before anything else is you want to make sure that you're doing a bit of pre-trip planning ahead of time.
To start before you book anything, you want to check the baggage policies for sports equipment per each airline(s) you’re consdiering flying with.
Depending on which major carrier(s) you decide to fly with (ex: British Airways, Air Canada, Lufthansa, etc), most will have a specific section under their sports equipment baggage policies that shows their rules for hockey equipment.
If you're not sure, simply open up a new browser tab and search: [Airline Name] hockey equipment policy
Here’s two quick examples below of what these baggage rules for hockey gear will look like.
The first from Air Canada...
And the second one is from Air France's sports baggage policy for hockey equipment...
As you can see...they're pretty similar.
What you’re looking for here is to see if the airline counts bags and sticks together, if they have a stick limit (some do), and to get a sense on if they have a fair hockey baggage policy.
Short answer = most decent airlines do
Once you see that they do, take a screen shot of it per the airline(s) you’re planning to fly with.
Why?
Because what can happen sometimes (based on our personal experience) is that you pack all your hockey equipment, you get to the airport, and the airline staff member checking you in at the counter for that particular airline may not know their own airlines policy for a set sport.
In our case, for ice hockey gear.
They might just think that a hockey bag and sticks are two separate items and might try to double charge you...or make you pay extra.
If you have that screenshot or a printout showing their policy, you’ve made it easy for them to reference that.
For a lot of major airlines, hockey equipment counts as one item as long as you follow the size/weight limit rules they set. Some airlines limits on sticks though we’ve found while other airlines are a bit lax here.
We'll touch a little bit on the importance of choosing the right flights and airlines in a little bit…but just keep the above in mind if you're flying XYZ Airline…just look at the sports equipment section, look at that page we have here for that and that will help give you an idea on if that counts as one item.
Hockey Equipment/Bag Weight
Another key part that can help you save on cost is to try to get your hockey bag and sticks combined to weigh under 50 pounds (23 kilo) to avoid an additional overweight baggage fee.
For most players (forwards/defense) with standard player gear, you bag, hockey sticks, and even add a little bit extra stuff combined in your bag can usually fit under that 50lbs/23 kilo limit.
For goalkeepers, your gear overall is often a little heavier. You'll usually push quite close (or over) the weight limit, so you might want to pack your hockey gitch or that extra stuff in your hockey bag and port it over to your other suitcase to avoid that extra fee.
If the team's covering your travels, it’s obviously a bit less of a big deal on the weight, but if you're paying for it out of your own pocket, these tips above can help save you a bit of money…so it's a good tip to keep in mind in your packing of equipment.
Remember: just try to keep your hockey equipment under 50 pounds (23 kilos).
The easiest way to do that is to weigh your gear at home or on a friend's scale (local gym probably has a scale too). Simply step on the scale to see what the bag weighs and then you put the bag down and do the math difference there.
As a last option if you can’t find a scale ahead of time anywhere, just arrive at the airport a few minutes early and bring your gear over to any baggage scale as they all weigh bags. That’ll show you how much it weighs. From there, you can move around a few items easily without being rushed before moving over to the main check in line with all your baggage in hand.
A few more helpful tips:
- keep your gear nice and organized (ex: taping your sticks together, etc)
- label all your hockey baggage and luggage with your name & contact info
- add a little cardboard or padding to the ends of your sticks before taping them together if you don't have a stick bag- luggage gets thrown around a little bit and you don't want to show up with broken blades
- make sure your equipment is dry- before flying, try to ensure your equipment is aired out by airing it out the day prior or if you are on the ice the day prior, have it out with good fan/circulation. If your gear is wet, that can easily add 5-10 pounds to the bag weight
- check to see when the airline recommends you check in sports equipment- some will want you to check your sports gear in 48-72 hrs or more prior while others are fine with same day at the airport.
Not that we've covered everything on luggage planning...it's time to look at airlines.
Airline Selection (when you’re traveling with hockey equipment)
What's the best airline(s) to choose when you're flying with hockey gear?
Good question. Choosing the right airline when you’re traveling with hockey gear is super important.
Our primary rule of thumb here is to avoid the super ultra budget carriers at all costs.
They’ll vary per each region, but think equivalents to Ryan Air/Wow Air in Europe or Spirit/Frontier Airlines in North America.
You don’t want to fly on these airlines with sports equipment. They’re ultra cheap budget airlines for a reason.
If these airlines held kangaroo court in the locker room, they’d probably try to charge you $5 for stretching your arms out mid flight…so aim to avoid these airlines altogether.
We’re not advocating for picking the most expensive flights either…just to avoid the cheapest of cheap airlines.
When traveling with hockey equipment, it's worth spending a tad bit more just for the liability in terms of their sports friendly policies with baggage. You’ll have a more relaxed trip and it’ll just be a better experience all around.
Knowing what airlines to avoid will save you 80% of the headaches.
With that covered...we now need to talk on the importance of flight connections. Keep reading...
Importance of Flight Connection Times
If you’re flying internationally with hockey gear and you have an additional flight once you land in that country, you’ll want to ensure you have ample time before that next flight.
This is crucial for two main reasons…
1) The first is leaving enough time for your hockey bags to make it to the next flight.
2) The second is to leave time for passport/immigration & bag re-checking if you need it (which we’ll cover later in this blog)
On the time between flights part, always aim to leave yourself at least 2 hours minimum between flights. If it's a really large airport (ex: Heathrow in London), you may even want to leave a little bit more of a time cushion.
If your flight is running late, you might be able to make it in time (on foot) through concourses/gates to make it to that next flight….but if the connection is too short, there’s less likelihood for your gear to make it too through the logistical maze of bags moving about.
That extra window you create by having a long enough connection can help ensure there's more likelihood that your gear makes it onto that next plane (to get to the final destination).
Now it’s time to walk through what it’s like the day of traveling internationally with your hockey gear…
Day of Travel (with your Hockey Gear)
Checking In
The first thing is going to be checking in. The process is similar to regular check-in as you would for any other flight, but you need to consider a bit more as you’re traveling with sports equipment.
We've already touched on a couple of the things you can do proactively in your pre-hockey travel in preparation….like weighing your bag and making sure you took a screenshot of your airlines sports equipment policy for hockey equipment.
Arrive To The Airport Early
What you want to do here is you want to arrive early. You want to make sure that since you have sized bags or sports equipment, given that extra time to ensure the likelihood of it getting on the plane.
If you would normally get there a few hours early for security, just do that same thing. If it's a really busy airport, maybe bake in a little bit more time for check in in case lines are long.
When you walk up to the check-in counter, be friendly and let the agent know that you have hockey equipment.
If you smile, are courteous, and let them know if you have a screenshot if they ask and you say "Hey, this counts as one item," there's much more confidence in them knowing that it does count as one item as it comes across that you’ve travelled with sports gear before.
A lot of times they'll know that, but you reminding them of that (with a smile) makes it even more likely.
Bring all your bags up as you would for any other international trip and they’ll either collect all your bags there or sometimes, they’ll ask you to drop the sports bag off to the side (as it’s a bigger item) once you’re all checked in.
Two things you want to do:
- Make sure that you have all of your hockey equipment labeled (beyond the airport labels so they know where it's going). Make sure you have a clear label with your name and contact info just in case something comes off (you want to be able to identify your bag later)
- If they have you drop off your bags at the side, make sure someone there loads it onto the turnstile or takes it. Don't just leave it somewhere assuming someone's going to pick it up.
Once your hockey gear is checked in, it’s pretty straightforward. You just go through the normal process of going through initial airport security and get ready to get on your plane.
Once you arrive, the next section comes in handy
Passport, Immigration, & International Bag Re-Checking
If you’re flying internationally with hockey equipment and you have to make a connecting flight, you need to know about passport control/immigration and bag re-checking when you land at that first airport.
One part that really surprises a lot of players when they travel overseas with hockey equipment for the first time is, let's say, for example, you're flying from anywhere in North America over to Europe and your final destination is Prague, Czech Republic….but you first flight lands in Paris, France at Charles de Gaulle airport en route to Prague.
When you initially land in the EU on that flight, you need to go through passport control/immigration…and also collect your bags to re-check them in for your next flight leg(s).
This is because you’ve landed in a new region (Europe- Schengen Area). You need to go through proper entry…and your bags need to go through security again before proceeding.
If you're going over to Europe as a player, you may (or may not) have a set contract for the team you're playing with depending on your situation.
If you don't have a contract yet, that's fine. You can simply state that you're flying over for a professional hockey try-out or flying over to finalize a contract with a team. You have a 90-day visa-free window to travel within the Schengen region if you are a player from North America.
Your passport will get stamped and you'll continue on in most cases...
Once you've gone through this process above, you’re back in the airport waiting for your next flight(s). If you are just flying one flight such as arriving in Stockholm, Berlin, etc and it’s your final destination, you’re all set for this section.
For those of you flying into Europe on one flight and then continuing on another flight to your final destination (as is common), you just want to keep this in mind as it adds a little extra time.
This is the other primary reason why we recommend leaving the several hour minimum gap between flights when you fly over and have an additional flight.
Landing + Picking Up Your Hockey Gear
The next section is going to cover arrival at your hockey destination.
When you finally arrive at your final destination airport, it’s time to pick up your hockey gear.
Sometimes your hockey equipment will come rolling around on the baggage carousel. Other times, since it’s a bit larger specialty luggage, your hockey bag or your sticks might not roll around the baggage carousel with all the other luggage.
Don't be surprised if you have to go to an oversized items pickup that might be in a separate area. It just might be off to the side of the baggage carousel, where the bags get picked up.
If you’re waiting a bit and unsure, ask someone working at the airport and ask, "Hey, I’m picking up larger sports equipment bags. Do I pick that up here or does that get to a separate area? If so, where is that?" Generally, they'll point you in the right direction of where you pick that up.
Hopefully your gear arrives on time. If it doesn't though, you want to know what to do
Our next section will cover this for you so you know what to do just in case your gear is delayed.
What To Do If Your Hockey Gear Is Delayed
If your hockey gear is delayed for whatever reason when you arrive to the final airport, you will want to file a claim before leaving the airport.
In the majority of cases, your gear will get there with hours to a few days tops.
If you arrive but your gear doesn’t, it’s always good to double check to make sure your hockey equipment didn’t just arrive at a different section of the airport. Sometimes there's some confusion here if you're flying to a different region and English is a second language for a person.
If your hockey gear does not arrive though, which can happen sometimes with hockey gear when you're doing multiple flights, you'll want to give a detailed description of the bag, hockey bag color, what type of bag it was, any other description that helps give details.
From there, you want to get a reference number and baggage tracking info from them to ensure that they're going to follow through on their part in terms of getting your bags to you.
Having been through this ourselves as former players, we’ve found being polite but persistent is the best approach here.
Stating something along the following lines is helpful to use:
"My sports bags haven’t arrived yet, but it’s really important for me to have them by tomorrow."
You want to be calm and clear of "Hey, I need this for a game tomorrow" or "Training session tomorrow", even if it's a couple days out. You want to be persistent with them so they can try to be helpful to help you get your hockey bag as quickly as possible.
By you being kind plus touching on the importance of getting your gear asap for sports, they’ll hopefully want to try their best (in their control) to get it to you as fast as they can once it arrives…whether that’s getting it to you the next day or them flying it to your final destination say you’re catching a train that same day to the city where the team is located.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the main part for you to take away is just understanding that traveling internationally with your ice hockey equipment is less stressful once you know the rules of it.
By just reading about all of these already…you now have a big leg up in your understanding now...based on our years of experience going through it and talking with countless players.
With good planning, timing, & packing well…you’re putting yourself in the best position to have a good flight experience all around. And you also know what to do in the few worst-case scenario (delayed bags) situations.
We hope this post was helpful, and if you are a player (or are helping one) and you're motivated to play overseas in Europe, we might be a potential resource for you in helping you to play at the next level. Dish us over a nice message introducing yourself and we'll let you know if we can help.
