Lufthansa/Turkish Kite gear policy

[nafets]

I booked LH already. Apparently in Economy class you get 23kg checked in + a free ski bag. Let's see what they say at the check in counter, but I will go prepared

[macguffin]

Just been to the US and back with LH. My 2C:

1. Tight seats
2. The infotainment is close to archaic
3. Food,… should not even mention
4. For 2 kgs overweigh they wanted to charge me
5. 1.5 hrs delay
6 second bag+ 90 euros
7. Both ways, paid internet and it did not work

By comparison, same route EU DEN EN last Christmas with Turkish:


1. 2 23 kgs bags per person
3. 3 course meal with steel forks and knives and you can choose between 3 menus (they hand out the a la carte sheet earlier)
3. Infotainment monitors were the size of the ones in premium economy class in LH
4. LH-> old airbus, Turkish -> new dreamliner ( and difference is huge)
5. Turkish, we merged our 2 bags into one 32 kgs boardbag free of charge and then still we had 4 more bags allowance

I can say many more things, but moral of the story for me is, Turkish is first choice (if possible).

Wow, that's definitely a serious difference... Anyhow, Turkish Airlines does not really give you this information on their website. If you show up at their check-in with two 23kg bags, one of them being a 140cm surfbag, and the person behind the counter just says "No", then you have a problem. Therefore, I always try to rely on info I can show/proof during check-in, e.g. written free surf luggage confirmation by the airline or info on the airline's website.

I am not questioning your info, but mostly, you're at the mercy of the people behind the check-in counters, and those people usually do not work for the airline, but for the airport. That's also the reason why one oftentimes has a different experience leaving from their home airport, compared to the check-in process at some far away destination.

Just like ELI described earlier, no problems checking in with lots of luggage for NYC to CPT, but for the return flight, there were at least some issues. Same for me, I hardly ever have problems getting my kite equipment onto a flight in MUC, but for return flights, I have quite a few very interesting stories to tell... ;D

Pro tip: Always make sure you have a return ticket! One of the intermediaries Skyscanner redirects you to once gave me two one way tickets hidden behind one booking number (the lovely people at Emirates did not even know their system had such an option), and then different luggage allowances might apply for the two flights...

[jyka]

I have had issues with turkish with kitebags. They want to charge extra for them.
Nowadays there is a clear info on turkish website where they tell how much you have to pay extra if you carry kitesurfing gear. About a month the price from EU to zanzibar was 80€ one way extra payment for carrying kite gear.
If you carry 2*23 kg of stones that's fine, but if you have one 20 kg kitebag you'll get "fined" =(

BTW, klm/air france also have now kitebag info on their site and you don't have to pay anything extra, just inform they beforehand of your kite gear and that's it.

[nafets]

Update:

I flew LH both ways and did not have any problems checking in a free ski/snowboard bag. Just make sure you reserve on time either online or via phone.

Regarding the flight... What a mess. Seats are tiny and you are basically provided no food onboard. One spoon of mashed potatoes, spoon and a half of beef and roasted vegetables. For "dinner" a really small sandwich. That was it.

Next time I will know to bring food onboard. Unfortunately for me, a direct flight to CT beats the service of Turkish or Qatar airlines.