Remember when flying used to be fun?

Baggage.  And I’m not talking about the kind you drop on boyfriends, sisters, or Facebook.

With the airlines nickel and diming passengers these days, figuring out how to get your gear to the mountain can be migrane inducing.  Most of the majors charge $15/$25/$125 for your first, second, and third checked bags.  Then you might get slapped with $50-$150 in oversized baggage fees. We tried to come up with a super handy chart, but something shiny distracted us.  Just check online with your airline specifically about snow equipment.

So how does a Snowjunkie save some cash?  Here’s three options for your next trip:

1. Rent Gear! Bring your boots (rental boots suck), and rent skis or snowboards.  Most local ski shops carry performance packages so you’re not charging the hill on crappy gear.  Make it even easier by using delivery shops like Black Tie Ski Rentals, a service that drops rentals off at your condo.
2. Road Trip!  There’s really nothing better than a ski roadtrip with your buddies.  That way you can bring all your own gear (and other items, wink wink).  With the bottom dropping out of gas prices, your oversized baggage fees could quickly add up to a cheap road rally.
3. Ship It! The big bonus to using FedEx or UPS is that your equpiment will show up on time, and if there’s a problem, you know exactly where to find it.  Or you could try the plane — they never lose luggage.