Damn them and anyone who won't light a candle to stay up all night damning airlines!

The only tickets we can get to Thailand (confirmed) are on Thai Air - who has a fishy policy regarding sporting goods.
Got told on the phone sure no problem just let us know how big it is, then the pleb on the phone let slip that we'll have to pay US$200 each way when we try to check it in.
So they consider it a surfboard and will charge us 5kg of excess baggage, regardless of how much our total baggage is.

... they weren't going to tell us until we got to the airport though were they? #@%$#!ers.

By way of consolation though ... there's 5m/s showing on the wind radar :wee: off to the park for a landboard tonight!
http://www.imocwx.com/amds/am1_wj.htm

why not get a Golf Bag, and it should fly for FREE. Golf Bags do not count as your luggage limit.

Indeed, many companies make a "Golf Bag" that will hold all your kite stuff.

Yeah they do - on Thai Air ... still paying for it
Looks like I might be able to pick up a cheap board over there though, maybe even a new (old model) one for less than $300 :D and then mail it back to Japan :wee: wife suggested that ...!

How much to post, FedEx, or what ever to your destination and then back?
This is whatr we are doing when we head to Antigua next month. It will cost way less than checking it.
Plus we have someone to recieve it there. That could be an issue I suppose.

Best option seems to be buy something cheap in Thailand and send back to Japan. Things seem really cheap there ...?

Well you can't let your wife do all the spending while shopping for what ever she said she wants

I don't know about Thailand but most kite surf shops will rent / demo boards to tourists. Kites ..... not so much .
Take one good range arc like the 15m Syn or Phanny and look in to renting a board ?

I should be able to pack my three Syns into my suitcase ... then "all" my clothes into my carry-on. I travel light
Thanks to Feyd and Rip for including the PL straps when I bought kites from them ... I might even be able to squeeze 3 kites into one kite bag. Although when we went to Indonesia way back before I had any arcs, I put my Airush with spars installed into the suitcase with harness, pump, bar etc and had space for shoes. Wasn't a bad way to travel.

And hey, I can only sweat-soak one pair of undies at a time ...

The Kiteboarding Asia shop says they'll only rent to people who can prove they're experienced riders ... I got the experience, just not the skills do I count? :D they seem to have some VERY cheap boards though, 2k8 models etc. Won't be a problem, I think ... depending on the postage. Although I might even just pay to take it back on the plane ...?