Hiking poles on the plane in Santiago!

[peregrina2000]

I have just boarded an Iberia flight to Madrid, and so far have seen two people come on with collapsed poles attached to their backpacks.

The topic that never dies……

 

[Levi]

Just in the last few weeks (travelling to and from the camino) I've seen people travelling to and from Dublin with hiking poles in their carry on backpacks.....

 

[roving_rufus]

Just in the last few weeks (travelling to and from the camino) I've seen people travelling to and from Dublin with hiking poles in their carry on backpacks.....

Dublin airport permits them to be taken through security (it's info buried in their website and twitter). It's very different to Santiago airport which has not allowed them throughfor many years.

 

[Kathor1]

@Levi, @roving_rufus and others, please please don't distract from the main topic. Don't dilute the thread with comments about poles in other airports. Don't even mention their names ...

This is huge: It concerns poles in carry-on backpacks when departing from Santiago airport. It appears to confirm a message that was posted a few weeks earlier (need to find it) that said that the policy at Santiago airport has changed (again) and that poles are allowed as carry-on, at least when they are folded up.

The moderators' standard forum message (need to find it, too) about this topic may have to be rewritten!!!

 

[Levi]

I wasn't at all clear (not unusual!). These pilgrims were travelling to ...and from...Santiago to Dublin.

 

[Bedspring]

I have just boarded an Iberia flight to Madrid, and so far have seen two people come on with collapsed poles attached to their backpacks.

The topic that never dies……

I saw people at Naples Airport in April boarding with poles. It really is frustrating, do you pay £30 for hold luggage, per flight, or risk having your £x cost poles confiscated.

 

[Kathor1]

people at Naples Airport in April boarding with poles

@Bedspring, as a fairly new forum member you may not be aware of the long discussions we had on this forum about walking poles on planes. It goes back to at least 2017 when I learnt the word scofflaw. The word and the discussions, especially about the meaning and practical application of the lists of prohibited items in cabin baggage in the applicable EU law as well as on airline websites and airport websites, will be etched into my memory forever.

This thread ought to be exclusively about poles in or on backpacks of passengers departing from Santiago de Compostela airport in the year 2024. Of course it won't be.

We could start a game with a set of rules: 5 points whenever someone writes TSA. 3 points whenever someone mentions a cheap IKEA bag for checking poles. 20 points if the word scofflaw appears in a post.

 

[Bedspring]

@Bedspring, as a fairly new forum member you may not be aware of the long discussions we had on this forum about walking poles on planes. It goes back to at least 2017 when I learnt the word scofflaw. The word and the discussions, especially about the meaning and practical application of the lists of prohibited item in the applicable EU law and on airline websites, will be etched into my memory forever.

This thread ought to be exclusively about poles in or on backpacks of passengers departing from Santiago de Compostela airport. Of course it won't be.

We could start a game with a set of rules: 5 points whenever someone writes TSA. 3 points whenever someone mentions a cheap IKEA bag for checking poles. 20 points if the word scofflaw appears in a post.

This stuff is an ongoing issue in the Climbing world for years, can you take ropes and quickdraw into the cabins, probably other pastimes have a similar issue.

At the end of the day, this is about aircraft safety and binary. Either it is safe or is not safe, and should be a national or international standard, and not down to the whim of who ever is in charge at a particular airport

 

[Flog]

This stuff is an ongoing issue in the Climbing world for years, can you take ropes and quickdraw into the cabins, probably other pastimes have a similar issue.

@Kathar1na is simply trying to keep this important thread relevant, as this very specific issue, departing SdC with hiking poles, is an ongoing concern for many on the forum, but instead you decide to introduce and include climbing ropes.

Sometimes I think herding cats might be easier..

 

[Kathor1]

not down to the whim of who ever is in charge at a particular airport

Santiago de Compostela airport had a very clear policy that was enforced rather strictly, and they had put up extra posters specifically about poles that I had not seen in other airports: Poles were not allowed to take into the cabin BUT all airlines allowed you to check your poles for free. Even when you travelled with Ryanair or EasyJet and held the cheapest no-frills ticket.

I don't know what their risk assessment was or is. But this situation with the free checking of poles at Santiago airport was rather unique. This policy ended about a year ago. Since then you will have to pay if you check your poles and when this option is not included in your ticket.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

I take it that nobody has specifically checked with Santiago airport as yet whether or not this is now the official policy? (i.e, that folded poles are now allowed as carry on luggage).

 

[unadara]

I flew out of Santiago on Wednesday. There were 3 flights going to Dublin, I did not see One person in the Passport queue or boarding carrying poles on their carry on bags. I had paid for mine as Check in baggage.

 

[Kirkie]

@Bedspring, as a fairly new forum member you may not be aware of the long discussions we had on this forum about walking poles on planes. It goes back to at least 2017 when I learnt the word scofflaw. The word and the discussions, especially about the meaning and practical application of the lists of prohibited items in cabin baggage in the applicable EU law as well as on airline websites and airport websites, will be etched into my memory forever.

This thread ought to be exclusively about poles in or on backpacks of passengers departing from Santiago de Compostela airport in the year 2024. Of course it won't be.

We could start a game with a set of rules: 5 points whenever someone writes TSA. 3 points whenever someone mentions a cheap IKEA bag for checking poles. 20 points if the word scofflaw appears in a post.

I cannot find this emoji as a kind of like so have to reply: . Must look up scofflaw again. When it is really important.
Edit:
Oh dear! I found the Scofflaw par excellence! No name shall be uttered...

 

[Kathor1]

I take it that nobody has specifically checked with Santiago airport as yet whether or not this is now the official policy? (i.e, that folded poles are now allowed as carry on luggage).

Yes, somebody did so. It was forum member @Hopeful Pilgrim. I found the post that I had been looking for! It is dated April 20, 2024, so very recently. Here is the full quote and the link to the post:

My husband and I posted our poles back to UK from Santiago. This was to avoid the security issue at Santiago airport - we had to check them in at the airport last September [in 2023]. We were amazed to see a young woman in the departure lounge carrying her folded poles. When we enquired she said that she had taken them through security with no problem. I made my way back to security and asked an English speaking guard if poles could be taken through and she said yes! When did this change?​

​

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/walking-poles.86344/post-1247224

There were only four replies. None of them provided an answer to "When did this change?" or a further confirmation of such a change of policy at Santiago airport.

 

[Bedspring]

Santiago de Compostela airport had a very clear policy that was enforced rather strictly, and they had put up extra posters specifically about poles that I had not seen in other airports: Poles were not allowed to take into the cabin BUT all airlines allowed you to check your poles for free. Even when you travelled with Ryanair or EasyJet and held the cheapest no-frills ticket.

I don't know what their risk assessment was or is. But this situation with the free checking of poles at Santiago airport was rather unique. This policy ended about a year ago. Since then you will have to pay if you check your poles and when this option is not included in your ticket.

Thats a shame regarding the Airlines.
As far as I am aware, it is not within the remit of individual airports to make exceptions https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32006R1546 , the confusion regarding trekking poles is that they cross over with walking aids, which due to disability laws ( I assume) they have to allow.


What's a Scofflaw. I know I will google it, "a person who flouts the law, especially by failing to comply with a law that is difficult to enforce effectively" Ah, well I am an anarchist, so do not believe in laws.

 

[Kathor1]

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32006R1546

Let us not go there. Let us not even try ... .

The link leads to COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1546/2006 of 4 October 2006 amending Regulation (EC) No 622/2003 laying down measures for the implementation of the common basic standards on aviation security. And as I saw immediately when I checked: This Commission Regulation is: No longer in force, Date of end of validity: 19/08/2008; Implicitly repealed by 32008R0820 - and the latter is also no longer in force.

It's futile to discuss this in the given context.

Let's focus on the reality of folded poles on or in carry-on backpacks at Santiago airport and the year 2024. Not what a website or a law says or is believed to say or ought to say but how this is currently being handled at Santiago airport.

PS: I'll award 10 points though.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I cannot find this emoji as a kind of like so have to reply: . Must look up scofflaw again. When it is really important.
Edit:
Oh dear! I found the Scofflaw par excellence! No name shall be uttered...

Using the "S" word twice in one posting to gain 40 points? Kirkie, dear heart, I am shocked!.

 

[C clearly]

At the end of the day, this is about aircraft safety and binary. Either it is safe or is not safe, and should be a national or international standard, and not down to the whim of who ever is in charge at a particular airport

Ah, well I am an anarchist, so do not believe in laws.

Safety is not binary. Compliance with binary rules is binary. The question of "How safe is safe enough?" is a matter for endless debate among public safety decision makers.

Do anarchists believe in international standards?

 

[PiesIrlandeses]

Last Friday, departing Santiago, there were definitely passengers boarding with collapsed walking poles attached to their bags.

 

[David Tallan]

@Bedspring, as a fairly new forum member you may not be aware of the long discussions we had on this forum about walking poles on planes. It goes back to at least 2017 when I learnt the word scofflaw. The word and the discussions, especially about the meaning and practical application of the lists of prohibited items in cabin baggage in the applicable EU law as well as on airline websites and airport websites, will be etched into my memory forever.

This thread ought to be exclusively about poles in or on backpacks of passengers departing from Santiago de Compostela airport in the year 2024. Of course it won't be.

We could start a game with a set of rules: 5 points whenever someone writes TSA. 3 points whenever someone mentions a cheap IKEA bag for checking poles. 20 points if the word scofflaw appears in a post.

I have thought about being a scofflaw many times, ignoring the regulations of the TSA. But then I realized the retribution that the TSA could take. I didn't want to risk such from the TSA, so I considered a cheap IKEA bag for checking poles. Would that solve the TSA problem? I wasn't sure. I thought about writing the TSA and asking, but figured they would nix the cheap IKEA bag for checking poles and suggest something made in America.

Then I realized I wasn't flying via the US and hadn't needed all of the TSA references I just used to collect points.

 

[Kathor1]

Then I realized I wasn't flying via the US and hadn't needed all of the TSA references I just used to collect points.

The game is not competitive. It is a collaborative game: All the points will be added up. We ought to aim to keep the total to a low number.

 

[Undermanager]

It's amazing isn't it, that the airport Santiago can't clearly publicise in writing everywhere what the latest security policy is regarding poles, as it causes such a lot of pain in the bum hang wringing in an industry worth a fortune to Spainish businesses. It's not hard, is it?

 

[Kathor1]

It's amazing isn't it, that the airport Santiago can't clearly publicise in writing everywhere what the latest security policy is regarding poles, as it causes such a lot of pain in the bum hang wringing in an industry worth a fortune to Spainish businesses. It's not hard, is it?

I've been following these forum discussions - poles and Santiago airport - for many years. I did not keep statistics but to me it feels like the overwhelming majority of comments in these threads were not made by people who arrived at Santiago airport and had their poles taken from them unexpectedly. They commented with great passion sometimes, and even greater convictions, but either they did not have poles at all with them, or they did not fly from Santiago, or they had tickets that included checked luggage anyway, and next to nobody actually went to the airport desks of the few airlines serving Santiago airport and asked about the free of charge option.

I did so several years ago although I did not have poles with me: The staff at the airport's information desk had no clue whatsoever about the then current arrangements. The staff at the airline desks knew, though.

 

[Bradypus]

I flew from Bristol to Porto a couple of days ago with Ryanair. Even if poles were allowed they probably wouldn't fit in the dimensions of Ryanair's very measly free cabin baggage allowance. After Porto I took a train to Valença to begin walking from there. At an old-fashioned shop a couple of hundred metres from the station I bought two wooden broom handles. Very cheap (€3 for the pair), made from renewable material and biodegradable. If I need a shorter length I just grip further down the pole. After a day's walking the bottom of the pole splays into a fairly soft pad of fibres which deadens sounds and is pretty good at preventing slippage. I resisted the temptation to buy the shop cat in his box by the till.

 

[C clearly]

The moderators' standard forum message (need to find it, too) about this topic may have to be rewritten!!!

That can be found in the FAQ section, cleverly titled "Am I allowed to carry hiking poles / walking sticks into the airplane cabin with me?"

I have updated that thread with a few more notes, but it is interesting that most of it remains as valid now as it was years ago. The only significant change is in point #7 which referred specifically to different practices at Santiago airport.

I want some points but can't think of any relevant reference to scofflaw, TSA or IKEA.

 

[C clearly]

After a day's walking the bottom of the pole splays into a fairly soft pad of fibres which deadens sounds and is pretty good at preventing slippage

Why don't you buy a mop like this in the first place? It should be quite good for sound deadening and probably hospis would let you carry it into the albergue.

 

[Bradypus]

Why don't you buy a mop like this in the first place? It should be quite good for sound deadening and probably hospis would let you carry it into the albergue.

Because it has been persisting down with rain now and again and a lot more is forecast for tomorrow. The mop would absorb lots of water and mud and end up weighing more than my pack. And sneaking it past hospitaleras in that state might be tricky...

 

[KevinWilcox]

Do anarchists believe in international standards?

Of course we don’t. Standards are just more rules imposed on us by the bourgeoisie. (I know, pointless reply in all senses).

 

[Jeff Crawley]

@Bedspring, as a fairly new forum member you may not be aware of the long discussions we had on this forum about walking poles on planes. It goes back to at least 2017 when I learnt the word scofflaw. The word and the discussions, especially about the meaning and practical application of the lists of prohibited items in cabin baggage in the applicable EU law as well as on airline websites and airport websites, will be etched into my memory forever.

This thread ought to be exclusively about poles in or on backpacks of passengers departing from Santiago de Compostela airport in the year 2024. Of course it won't be.

We could start a game with a set of rules: 5 points whenever someone writes TSA. 3 points whenever someone mentions a cheap IKEA bag for checking poles. 20 points if the word scofflaw appears in a post.

The game is not competitive. It is a collaborative game: All the points will be added up. We ought to aim to keep the total to a low number.

Does the winner/loser get presented with an award? The Golden Hiking Pole of Decathlon for instance?

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I flew from Bristol to Porto a couple of days ago with Ryanair. Even if poles were allowed they probably wouldn't fit in the dimensions of Ryanair's very measly free cabin baggage allowance. After Porto I took a train to Valença to begin walking from there. At an old-fashioned shop a couple of hundred metres from the station I bought two wooden broom handles. Very cheap (€3 for the pair), made from renewable material and biodegradable. If I need a shorter length I just grip further down the pole. After a day's walking the bottom of the pole splays into a fairly soft pad of fibres which deadens sounds and is pretty good at preventing slippage. I resisted the temptation to buy the shop cat in his box by the till.

View attachment 170578
View attachment 170579

If you can rustle up a couple of metres of the ubiquitous paracord you can make a handy and adjustable strap/lanyard. There are two videos on this YouTube account which might be of interest

James Goedkoop

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

 

[Bradypus]

@Jeff Crawley I have a couple of ribbon lanyards with me - from waterproof pouches I carry my phone and documents in. They stay in my pockets and never round my neck. I hadn't got around to attaching them when I took the photo yesterday. A couple of screw eyes later and this is the Mk.2 version...

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Does the winner/loser get presented with an award? The Golden Hiking Pole of Decathlon for instance?

How about a couple of second hand broom handles? Seems like @Bradypus might have a couple to give away soon...

 

[Camino Chrissy]

And sneaking it past hospitaleras in that state might be tricky...

Yes, if they see you they will enlist your help with mopping the floors.

 

[VNwalking]

We could start a game with a set of rules: 5 points whenever someone writes TSA. 3 points whenever someone mentions a cheap IKEA bag for checking poles. 20 points if the word scofflaw appears in a post

10 Bonus points for this post:

Why don't you buy a mop like this in the first place? It should be quite good for sound deadening and probably hospis would let you carry it into the albergue.

You won't have a problem with this, @Bradypus. Just be prepared to use it.

And sneaking it past hospitaleras in that state might be tricky

 

[Jeff Crawley]

@Jeff Crawley I have a couple of ribbon lanyards with me - from waterproof pouches I carry my phone and documents in. They stay in my pockets and never round my neck. I hadn't got around to attaching them when I took the photo yesterday. A couple of screw eyes later and this is the Mk.2 version...

View attachment 170603

An elegant solution - use what you got!

 

[sharonmonty]

This is one of the best threads ever

 

[CWBuff]

We could start a game with a set of rules: 5 points whenever someone writes TSA. 3 points whenever someone mentions a cheap IKEA bag for checking poles. 20 points if the word scofflaw appears in a post.

TSA
Cheap Ikea Bag
Scofflaw
I just bought a map

do I win a free night at The Leon Parador?

 

[Walkalong]

More than 20 flights over 7 years carrying poles in the cabin - never an issue.

If the poles are not needed to aid mobility then why carrying the additional weight? Style, vanity?

Inanimate objects are not the safety risk.

 

[CWBuff]

Lucky you
Apparently enough people had a different experience and were told to leave them behind or the poles were simply confiscated

 

[sydneysister]

Last year husband and I chuckled and proudly let camino mates know we carried our poles in the cabin on our Bilbao to Athens flight. Hopped off the airport bus in Athens city, put the pole-holding pack down to look up directions to our hotel and just like that the pack was gone. Karma?? The thief got poles and five weeks of camino clothes.

 

[Kathor1]

More than 20 flights over 7 years carrying poles in the cabin - never an issue.

Did you mean to say that you were on 20 flights from Santiago de Compostela over 7 years and carried your poles through their security lines and it was never an issue and you are a pilgrim who does not need a cane in daily life? That would be a truly unusual experience.

For a summary of the situation regarding poles in airplanes in a more global context, see the excellent FAQ that moderator @C clearly put together and has now updated again. You find it here:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/am-i-allowed-to-carry-hiking-poles-walking-sticks-into-the-airplane-cabin-with-me.73727/post-1008836

It was put together in 2022, it is updated regularly and it covers the varied experiences of forum members and their poles in airports around the world. Highly recommend for prior reading, i.e. before posting and before travelling.

 

[Kathor1]

It's amazing isn't it, that the airport Santiago can't clearly publicise in writing everywhere what the latest security policy is regarding poles [...]. It's not hard, is it?

It would certainly be useful for their passengers if they provided such information. I don't find the website for the airport of Santiago particularly user-friendly. It does not really have a website of its own, their website is just part of the general AENA website that covers all Spanish airports.

Zurich airport would be an example of how things could be done differently, in a more user-friendly way and with information that is more relevant for the specific passengers groups that the airport serves. Zurich has an interactive search function and clearly spells out its purpose: to find out if items in your carry-on or checked baggage are permitted or prohibited. Important: Even if items are permitted in baggage, they may be subjected to an additional security check and not cleared for transport if any doubts exist. All information applies only to departures from Zurich Airport. When you enter walking pole as a search term you get two options, one for walking stick without attachment and one for walking stick with ice claw. Their German version is even better and even more informative for their passengers where they distinguish between Wanderstöcke and Trekkingstöcke.

Since this thread is not about whether walking poles are permitted or prohibited in cabin baggage in other airports than Compostela I won't post the result of these searches on the website of Zurich airport in this thread.

 

[Saranger]

Just passed through SCQ airport (5/18/2024) and put my Diamond Z poles dutifully into my hold baggage as I have since 2015.

To my astonishment, there were pilgrims in line at security with Leki and other collapsible poles who sailed through with them as hand baggage! I was so incredulous I asked the security officer if hiking poles are now allowed in cabin baggage and she said yes, as long as they are collapsible (not a long wooden staff). Wow. I’ve never had a problem in any other Spanish airport with poles as hand/cabin baggage, only in SCQ. They’ve joined the 21st century! Whoo hoo.

 

[Kathor1]

asked the security officer if hiking poles are now allowed in cabin baggage and she said yes, as long as they are collapsible (not a long wooden staff).

Thank you so much for this feedback, @Saranger. You are the second forum member who not only saw people with folded walking poles after the security lines at Santiago airport but even asked the security staff for confirmation that walking poles are now allowed as part of cabin luggage when flying from Santiago de Compostela.

 

[Walkalong]

Did you mean to say that you were on 20 flights from Santiago de Compostela over 7 years and carried your poles through their security lines and it was never an issue and you are a pilgrim who does not need a cane in daily life? That would be a truly unusual experience.

For a summary of the situation regarding poles in airplanes in a more global context, see the excellent FAQ that moderator @C clearly put together and has now updated again. You find it here:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/am-i-allowed-to-carry-hiking-poles-walking-sticks-into-the-airplane-cabin-with-me.73727/post-1008836

It was put together in 2022, it is updated regularly and it covers the varied experiences of forum members and their poles in airports around the world. Highly recommend for prior reading, i.e. before posting and before travelling.

What is a Camino, if not a “truly unusual experience”?

Refer to point #4 in the link you so kindly provided.

Casually strolling the uneven ground across Spain has helped my arthritis. Still hope that it may help Trochanteric Bursitis. The same can not be said for standing in long lines on concrete floors in airports which can be extremely harmful. Though a nice long walk, with the aid of trekking poles, does help recovery.

People walk with many types of disabilities. Why carry trekking poles if they are not needed to aid mobility?

Only once have I encountered one security screener who’s manager quickly pointed out that the trekking poles were a mobility aid, even if not being used at that instant of time.

 

[Kathor1]

Why carry trekking poles if they are not needed to aid mobility?

I am trying to stay clear of personal interpretations of aviation security law. This has always ended not in tears but in thread closure.

In the greater scheme of things it does not matter much how an individual passenger interprets airport rules on this forum. What is of interest is how the airport ground staff applies their airport’s current rules.

And right now the Santiago airport applies their rules in a way that allows passengers with folded walking poles to take them into the cabin no matter whether the passenger regards their collapsible pole or poles as a mobility aid (although it is not a cane and not crutches) or a sporting equipment or a Camino pilgrim thing (for lack of a more appropriate word). That’s new and relevant for many forum members.

 

[peregrina2000]

And for those who are weighing the pros and cons of carrying on poles, another thing to keep in mind is that if you fly from Santiago to an airport in another EU country (or is it if you fly to another Schengen zone country? — hopefully @Kathar1na knows the answer ), you will not go through security again. Example — I flew Santiago - Madrid - Chicago yesterday. I did not go through security in Madrid, just in Santiago.

The harder nut to crack is if you are traveling from outside EU/Schengen to Madrid to annother Spanish city. When I flew from the US-Madrid-Malaga this year, I packed my poles because I had heard from several people that Madrid had not let through their carry-on poles. When you land in Madrid from outside the EU/Schengen, you do have to go through security again, so the practices in Madrid are crucial on the way TO the camino rather than on the way home.

My poles, btw, did not arrive in Málaga with me, so I had to buy another pair. But I am VERY glad that all I had to replace was my poles and not the entire backpack and its contents.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

And for those who are weighing the pros and cons of carrying on poles, another thing to keep in mind is that if you fly from Santiago to an airport in another EU country (or is it if you fly to another Schengen zone country? — hopefully @Kathar1na knows the answer ), you will not go through security again. Example — I flew Santiago - Madrid - Chicago yesterday. I did not go through security in Madrid, just in Santiago.

The harder nut to crack is if you are traveling from outside EU/Schengen to Madrid to annother Spanish city. When I flew from the US-Madrid-Malaga this year, I packed my poles because I had heard from several people that Madrid had not let through their carry-on poles. When you land in Madrid from outside the EU/Schengen, you do have to go through security again, so the practices in Madrid are crucial on the way TO the camino rather than on the way home.

My poles, btw, did not arrive in Málaga with me, so I had to buy another pair. But I am VERY glad that all I had to replace was my poles and not the entire backpack and its contents.

This is true in some airports but not in all. It depends on the layout of the airport. I have taken internal flights in Greece and then had to go through security again for my connecting flight.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

My poles, btw, did not arrive in Málaga with me, so I had to buy another pair. But I am VERY glad that all I had to replace was my poles and not the entire backpack and its contents.

Laurie, I thought you had a pair of the wonderful Black Diamond bungee smaller folding poles. I had not heard of anyone owning them that had had security remove them from their backpack. Possibly I missed a few posts on other threads saying otherwise.

 

[C clearly]

... Black Diamond bungee smaller folding poles. I had not heard of anyone owning them that had had security remove them from their backpack.

Security did not reject/remove them. As I understand it. @peregrina2000 usually carries her poles into the cabin. On this trip she had another checked bag of not-Camino stuff, so she put her poles in the checked bag. That checked bag went astray and didn't arrive until days later. She had all her other Camino things in carry-on backpack, so only had to buy poles in order to start walking.

 

[Fishtail]

I have just boarded an Iberia flight to Madrid, and so far have seen two people come on with collapsed poles attached to their backpacks.

The topic that never dies……

Yes, on Wednesday 5/16, carried my collapsed poles, one pole outside pack and one inside pack, from Santiago to Madrid to Dallas to Seattle. No questions asked. Airlines included Iberia, American and Air Europa

 

[Jeff Crawley]

STATEMENT:

I inadvertently upset a fellow member of this Forum after misinterpreting a post they have made on this thread.
I have apologised to them in a PM and do again to you all - it will teach me not to jump to assumptions without knowing the facts.

 

[peregrina2000]

I just slept for 15 hours straight, first time ever, and have come back to see how the thread has gone off the rails. My only point was to say that I had empirical confirmation of earlier statements that folded up hiking poles are now allowed through security at the Santiago airport.

Time to close and move on.