Top hacks to save money on airline golf bag fees

Sadly, free carriage for your golf clubs is a thing of the past when flying commercial.

Taking your sticks with you on a golf holiday means paying hefty carriage fees but there are ways you can lower airline golf bag fees and ensure any extra money is spent in the 19th hole and not at the check-in desk.

Major airlines one by one, scrapped free carriage for golf clubs and now charge one-way fees for golfers to take their clubs on holiday. It’s over a decade since TAP, Portugal’s national airline, announced it was scrapping free golf club carriage in 2012. It was the last of the major European airlines to do so.

Budget airlines, like Ryanair and Easyjet, charge additional fees on both legs of your flight, adding significant expense if you want to use your own clubs when travelling.

A check at the time of publication showed that Ryanair charges a minimum of £50 for golf travellers and EasyJet charges £27 when you pre-pay online or £35 at the airport. *(rates may have changed since this article was first published).

Given these price hikes, Global Golfer has come up with a series of money-saving hacks for anyone looking to reduce golf bag fees from airlines.

1. Pencil in two bags for lower airline golf bag charges

Golf bag carriage is determined by a couple of things, weight and space.

On Easyjet, you can pay for additional weight in sporting goods and while cheaper than Ryanair charges, it’s still a significant expense. One way to save money is to carry two sets of clubs in one golf travel bag.

Pencil bags or Sunday bags, are the lightest, slimmest and most minimalist golf carry bags. They are ultra-lightweight bags designed for easy carrying. Two pencil bags can easily fit into a large golf travel bag along with gloves, tees and balls and towels.

They can be used at the other end with golf buggies and trolleys, or even carried if you are feeling fit. There are some cons to taking pencil or Sunday bags with you on your golf holiday.

They do strap onto golf carts but their unstructured style and lack of 6-way or 14-way divider systems means that clubs can stick when you want to pull them in and out, when looped onto a golf cart.

Also, if you are going somewhere where it could rain, such as Scotland or Ireland, pencil bags are usually less waterproof and have limited space for carrying rain suits, so you may have to wear your lightweight windtop or rain jacket while you’re playing to save space.

Another version of the pencil bag solution is to put two golf bags in one travel bag but only take a half set of clubs each.

I did this recently, when playing at Aphrodite Hills Resort in Paphos, Cyprus. I took 3,5,7,9,pw and 3 wedges plus Driver, 3-wood, Hybrid and putter.

Decide whether you like 3-9 better than 4-Wedge and play with half a set, saving you one set of golf bag carriage surcharges. Let’s be honest, to hit an 8-iron shot grip down on a 7-iron, or just step on it to make your 5-iron go like a 4-iron.

2. Dress for the links and maximise your carry-on allowance

You’re thinking I’ve got no choice, where am I going to put my shoes and all my extra stuff (caps, socks, waterproofs).

The simple space-saving solution is to wear them, that’s right, put your golf cap on and get a pair of multi-use casual spikeless golf shoes.

They work just like normal shoes, and look great with jeans or shorts, and at the same time provide all the grip you need to play golf.

A good bet is the FootJoy Contour Casual, read our review here. Sling your lightweight golf jacket on too – worse case is you look like a golf fan – which you probably are anyway.

Also, make sure you know exactly how much carry-on allowance you have and what you can store in the overhead locker on the plane. Most airlines allow carry-on luggage measuring 22 inches long, 14 inches wide and 9 inches high including wheels and handles. The three measurements added up should be no more than 45 inches.

In addition to a carry-on bag or case, you’re also allowed a small handbag, rucksack, camera bag or bag of duty-free or shopping purchased in the airport; so make sure you make use of your full allowances.

3. Golf Holiday Club Hire

If you are one of those golfers who can hit anything and isn’t precious about what equipment they are playing with, then you might want to use the fastest growing club hire service in the golf travel world.

ClubstoHire.com was set up by a group of Irish investors, including former Ryder Cup player Paul McGinley, when they realised that there was a shortage of alternatives to paying golf bag carriage fees.

McGinley and Tony Judge set up club hire services in major airports of Europe’s major golf destinations and hire out top spec equipment, including TaylorMade, Callaway and Wilson Staff from EURO 35 for a full set for a week. Take your balls, shoes and gloves in your luggage and you are good to go.

4. Own a holiday home? Keep a second set 

If you are lucky enough to own a villa, an apartment or a timeshare then buy a second-hand set of clubs from Ebay, Golf Clubs4Cash or GolfBidder, and leave them in a bag at your holiday home. You can pick up a full set of decent kit for under £750 and it would pay for itself in carriage fees after a handful of holidays.

There are lots of private holiday homeowners who rent out their villas and apartments to golfers and they are likely to have sets of golf clubs at their properties that they either rent out or provide free. Do a quick google search and see what comes out.