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Figure Skating Travel Woes
When a figure skater travels by plane to an important ice skating competition, the following items must be carried on to the plane:
- Skate bags with figure skates (of course!)
- Competition costumes
- Practice costumes
- Warm-up jackets or sweaters
- Competition Music
Airlines allow each passenger to board a plane with one personal item (such as a computer) and one carry on bag that must fit in the overhead compartment or under the seat. These strict limitations make it very difficult for figure skaters. I know this from a personal experience.
Recently, I traveled to a major competition with my children. Five of us were traveling. We had the following with us as we began to board a United Airlines plane home:
- Two small skatebags with skates, skate guards, and gloves inside
- Competition costumes in a garment bag
- Sweaters, coats, and jackets (in a 2nd garment bag)
- Lap-top Computer
- Books and games to use on the plane
- Food in a grocery bag
- An opened tote full of the stuffed animals that were thrown on the ice after the children's performance
- Backpacks
- Purses and wallets
The United Airlines check-in attendent told us that the loose tote with the stuffed animals counted as a carry-on bag. He tried to take my little girl's doll away saying that since the doll was packed in an additional bag, that she had too many items! He even said that the plastic grocery bag of food counted as a carry on item.
Each person in my family did carry two bags on to the plane, but we were told that the second garment bag had to be checked since my husband happened to be carrying both garment bags. The problem was that he was not carrying one small item and one larger item. (He wouldn't permit one of us to trade items with my husband to conform with United Airlines' one small bag and one larger bag policy.) To solve this problem, we took the jackets and sweaters out of the garment bag and wore them as we boarded the plane.
In my opinion, what we went through was ridiculous. The plane was very empty and although we may have looked overloaded, we were traveling with the correct amount of carry-on luggage. Figure skaters must travel with their skates, jackets, and competition clothing. Why are airlines making things so difficult?
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