bjwang

I need some travel advice helping to choose between two itineraries. Let me lay out the situation: I am traveling from Honolulu (HNL) to Huatulco (HUX) to go on a surf trip. I am planning to get there via two layovers at LAX and Mexico City (MEX). I am bringing a large board bag with surfboards inside that are 9’ long.

My two flight options are to fly:

Delta/Aeromexico all the way through.
HNL to LAX, Boeing 767
LAX to MEX, Boeing 737
MEX to HUX, Embraer 170 *(sporting equipment policy disallows board bags longer than 7’, however, anecdotally, passengers have gotten longer board bags on the plane without issue. There are obviously no guarantees though.)

Combo of United and Interjet on separately booked tickets
United on 1 ticket:
HNL to LAX, Boeing 777
LAX to MEX, Airbus A319

Interjet on a separate ticket:
MEX to HUX, Airbus A320 *(no restriction on board bag length)

Issues to consider:
If my boards don’t make it to MEX on United, then the airline has no responsibility to get my boards from MEX to HUX since that separate ticket is on Interjet. It’s not feasible to fly back to MEX to pick up my boards, and my trip would be ruined.

If I travel on Delta/Aeromexico, there are no flights on that last leg that are on wide body planes. Their policy on narrow body planes is to disallow board bags > 7’, although the travel agent says plenty of people make it down there with their long surfboards. In fact, there are no flights between MEX and HUX that are on wide body planes, so other carriers are not a better option.

Interjet doesn’t partner or have code shares with any major airlines that will allow me to book on the same ticket from HNL to HUX. Technically the Airbus A320 is a narrow body plane, although it is much larger than the Embraer 170, leading me to believe that there are better odds of the airplane fitting my boards.

Unfortunately there’s no clear cut answer, which option do you think gives me better odds of having my boards arrive in HUX?

Thanks for reading my novel, looking forward to hearing everyone's responses.

Taoyuan

The usual risks of separate tickets aside, that kind of speaks for itself.

bjwang

Thanks Taoyuan, appreciate the feedback.

ritesa

American has codeshares with Interjet to HUX (search via Google Flights).

There are a few other itineraries that could be an option, e.g. United via IAH and maybe even Westjet via Canada.