Can walking poles be sent as free baggage at Santiago airport in 2023?

[chooleekr]

Spain airports do not allow walking poles to be carried on board. However, even at Santiago Airport, it is not allowed to carry it on the plane, but it was sent as free baggage.Can walking poles be sent as free baggage at Santiago airport in 2023?. Thank you.

 

[dick bird]

I guess anything legal can be sent as 'free baggage': I assume you mean checked baggage that goes in the hold with all the other suitcases etc. All they do is attach a sticky label to it and hope it arrives at the other end. But I would take the precaution of wrapping or packaging your poles in a cardboard tube or something similar if you want to be reasonably certain of their arriving at the other end.

 

[Kathar1na]

I think that this may be the question: If I buy a plane ticket with a fare that does not include the transport of any of my bags or other items in the hold, for example an Iberia 'Basic' ticket for a flight from Santiago to Madrid, € 59, on 7 February 2023, can I still check my poles at the Santiago airport without having to pay for this because there appears to be a long-standing agreement at this airport that guarantees that walking poles with be transported free of charge.

My answer would be: I don't know. I know that this agreement existed for many years because not only did I read about it in an online news article, I even went to several airline desks when I passed through Santiago airport a few years ago and they all confirmed it. That included not only Iberia but also low cost carrier EasyJet.

I see no reason why this does not continue to be the case in 2023 but perhaps a traveller can confirm it based on own recent experience or because he/she did or does what I did: Ask them.

A word of caution as to the quality of information sources: When I asked this question at the general information desk at Santiago airport the staff had no idea and they had never heard of it.

 

[Kathar1na]

We are in January 2023 and not many pilgrims will have flown from Santiago this year, with or without their poles. This is an entry on the Gronze forum [translated from Spanish]:

For my flight from Santiago with Vueling on June 1st, 2022, I asked the check-in person about the procedure for poles and the answer was "At this airport they are checked in free of charge". Of course the person didn't say anything about flights from other airports. I was not very happy because I had already sent my dear old staff by mail for the "modest" price of 35,00 €. What a bummer.​

 

[Tico15]

Spain airports do not allow walking poles to be carried on board. However, even at Santiago Airport, it is not allowed to carry it on the plane, but it was sent as free baggage.Can walking poles be sent as free baggage at Santiago airport in 2023?. Thank you.

after my first camino many years ago, the staff or walking poles had to be sent as checked baggage which got to be expensive getting back home. On my second camino I simply mailed them from Correos to myself in the States. They even already had a nice triangular box to pack it in and it was much much cheaper them paid extra checked luggage. I repeated this for my next three caminos and it’s worked great. Just ask for the location and hours of the Spanish Correos, which is close to the Cathedral, and mail anything back to yourself to save the cost of extra checked luggage.

 

[C clearly]

Can walking poles be sent as free baggage at Santiago airport in 2023?

This seemed to me like a simple question, with the answer "Yes, as far as we know, since we haven't heard of any change in policy."

The policy of checking walking sticks without charge, for flights of all airlines out of Santiago airport, has been in place for a number of years now.

I guess anything legal can be sent as 'free baggage'

???
Airlines typically charge (i.e. it is not "free" of charge) for baggage in excess of the items that are specifically allowed with your ticket fare.

 

[Kathar1na]

Just ask for the location and hours of the Spanish Correos, which is close to the Cathedral, and mail anything back to yourself to save the cost of extra checked luggage.

The advice to send walking poles from Santiago back home by the Spanish postal service Correos is frequently given on the forum because people don't know that poles can be checked at the airport for free. Yet this has been common practice for at least some ten years.

Posted on Mundicamino in August 2014 [translated from Spanish]:

For my return flight from Santiago de Compostela airport I flew with Iberia and the stewardess confirmed that poles were free of charge for pilgrims. ​

​

This is, as a Spanish news article says, one of the servicios gratuitos más desconocidos de los aeropuertos - one of the most unknown free services at Spanish airports.

 

[chooleekr]

Thanks to all of you who responded. Helped me a lot. Thank you.

 

[LTfit]

Unless the rules have changed, yes. For years and years the Santiago airport has not allowed poles in backpack as carry on (whereas it was then possible from Madrid, Bilbao and Barcelona). Due to this rule, the airlines I've used have always allowed them to be placed in cargo for free.

 

[Synnove]

I can confirm that you can put them in cargo for free. Did that today on a flight with Ryanair.

 

[Hopeful Pilgrim]

I think that this may be the question: If I buy a plane ticket with a fare that does not include the transport of any of my bags or other items in the hold, for example an Iberia 'Basic' ticket for a flight from Santiago to Madrid, € 59, on 7 February 2023, can I still check my poles at the Santiago airport without having to pay for this because there appears to be a long-standing agreement at this airport that guarantees that walking poles with be transported free of charge.

My answer would be: I don't know. I know that this agreement existed for many years because not only did I read about it in an online news article, I even went to several airline desks when I passed through Santiago airport a few years ago and they all confirmed it. That included not only Iberia but also low cost carrier EasyJet.

I see no reason why this does not continue to be the case in 2023 but perhaps a traveller can confirm it based on own recent experience or because he/she did or does what I did: Ask them.

A word of caution as to the quality of information sources: When I asked this question at the general information desk at Santiago airport the staff had no idea and they had never heard of it.

I returned from Santiago Airport last Friday. Checked walking poles into Vueling desk free of charge.