Flying with a surfboard on Hawaiian Airlines
Counts as a checked bag · up to 318 cm · 23 kg.
- since November 2025 Alaska and Hawaiian take several boards in one bag up to 10 ft 5 in (about 318 cm) nose to tail and 50 lb (23 kg)
- bags up to 9 ft 7 in (about 292 cm) on E175 regional jets
- standard checked bag, no special item fee; overweight fees above 50 lb
- Hawaii residents on interisland Huaka'i by Hawaiian fares get one free checked bag, surfboards included
- fins off or well padded; surfboards are on the limited-liability list
- joined oneworld in April 2026; flights are moving to the AS code after the merger with Alaska, so pages are changing
Hawaiian Airlines's sports baggage page · checked 2026-10. Rules and fees change: check before you fly.
What surfers say
- Refused (2025, SAN-HNL): A longboard world champion had his 9'6" boards turned away because the packed bag was about five inches over the old limit; Hawaiian refunded his fare and bag fees, and after his post went viral Hawaiian and Alaska raised the limit to 10'5" in November 2025. source
- Damaged (2025, Hawaii-Tahiti): A reader commenting on that story said boards flown to Tahiti came back so badly damaged that repairs cost hundreds of dollars. source
- Mixed (2025): Several readers said the result depends on the agent: one has paid anything from nothing to large fees for boards on the same airline, another always brings a printout of the policy to Maui check-in and still ends up waiting for a manager. source
- Refused (2023, Oahu-Maui (interisland)): A big-wave surfer could not get his boards onto a short interisland flight even after repacking to meet the limits, and booked a last-minute Southwest flight instead; Hawaiian revised its rules within weeks. source
Surf trips on Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaii, Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Tahiti, Sydney, California, San Diego, California, Los Angeles.