The airport staff at Kahului have seen it all before so your chances of getting your kit through for free are low. Oceansource has some good reports on flying back to the mainland on United (click on the Windsurfers tab).
If you’re flying to Oahu on Hawaiian for a connecting flight, even on another airline then see if you can get your bags checked though to your destination. You will probably have to pay the $100 charge for one set of gear to Honolulu but might get a better deal on the connecting flight since once the bags are in the luggage system they probably won’t get weighed/inspected again. At the very least it saves you the hassle of dragging your bags around again.
The best tip of all is to make use of the porters at Kahului. These guys work for tips, so $20 here can save you a lot in excess fees and hassle as they are working for you and know how to organise things to get you a good deal. Compared to the normal hassle of getting windsurfing bags through an airport it’s nice to just get the bags out of the van then relax while a porter sorts everything out and takes the bags off your hands.
admin travel
Air New Zealand operate the piece system out of Maui - you get two pieces up to 46kg total. After that it’s USD$85 per piece, or USD$30 if a bag is over $23kg.
The only catch is that they list the maximum bag length as 250cm, a little shorter than most airlines who quote 270cm. That shouldn’t be a problem with most modern kit, though it can be tricky to get a board bag as short as modern boards.
Overall it’s a great deal, they’re the cheapest other than Air Pacific for some routes. I should be flying with them so will update when I’ve done it first hand!
admin travel
Air Pacific have some really cheap deals out of Maui, the cheapest by far on some routes it looks like. I had to call up to get the excess baggage rates - 30kg, then USD$85 per 5 kgs over. So a good deal to be had if you have no or little kit, but the excess baggage rate will eat up any savings on the fare if you have much over 30kg with you.
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Airports
Kahului (Code OGG)
Honolulu (Code HNL)
Flights
You can fly direct to Maui from San Fransisco and LA. If you’re coming from the UK, Heathrow to Maui is likely via one of these. Top tip - a return ticket to Maui seems to work out much cheaper than a single ticket. If you’re arriving in Honolulu you’ll need to organise a flight to Maui. Hawaiian airlines have one way flights between Maui and Oahu from $39 at the moment.
I had good luck with Kayak for tickets and flight planning. If you’re bringing kit make sure you check the airline’s policy. Ocean source has a good listing of airlines policies but it’s not always up to date, and of course luck plays a part.
If you’re flying to or from Sydney, JetStar seem to have the best deals especially for one way flights at USD $460. However they’re likely to be more strict on bagage than the non-budget carriers. I’ll post an update once I’ve tried them with kit!
admin travel
The best tip of all is to make use of the porters at Kahului. These guys work for tips, so $20 here can save you a lot in excess fees and hassle as they are working for you and know how to organise things to get you a good deal. Compared to the normal hassle of getting windsurfing bags through an airport it’s nice to just get the bags out of the van then relax while a porter sorts everything out and takes the bags off your hands.