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A passenger traveling with a surfboard on a JetBlue flight was forced to abandon it in order to board!
Ecuadorian surfer Jorge Sangachi was scheduled to fly from New York JFK airport to Guayaquil José Joaquín de Olmedo (GYE). He had originally booked his ticket with United Airlines, whose policy allows multiple boards per bag provided the total weight does not exceed 100 pounds. However, United automatically rebooked him on a JetBlue flight, likely due to a last-minute schedule change.
JetBlue’s policy is much stricter, however, allowing only one board per bag. Sangachi was carrying four boards but told the JetBlue agent he had only two. The agent still required him to remove a board from his bag to comply with the rule. After an hour of unsuccessful negotiations with the staff, he was forced to abandon one of his boards at the airport. Hoping another surfer would pick it up for free, he filmed the scene and posted it on Instagram.
According to Sangachi, JetBlue stated that while they accept surfboards as checked sports equipment, there are specific conditions regarding packaging, size, and quantity, including a limit of one board per bag.
Reminder of JetBlue’s surfboard policy
Specifically, JetBlue’s baggage policy for surfboards includes the following:
Flat fee: $100 per board (one-way), regardless of weight or size, provided they fall within permitted limits.
Maximum weight: 100 lbs (~45 kg); exceeding this limit incurs an additional $150 overweight fee.
Limit of one board per bag, a rule strictly enforced (unlike other airlines such as Delta, American, or Alaska/Hawaiian, which allow two boards per bag). The board must be packed in a suitable surfboard bag (a hard case is recommended but not mandatory).
There are no oversized baggage fees, which is an advantage for smaller boards.
Surfboards are not accepted on certain routes (Bermuda, Haiti, Peru, Port of Spain, Santo Domingo, Santiago) but are accepted on flights to Puerto Plata and Punta Cana.