Flying With Your Golf Bag

A round among the pine hills of Da Lat or beside the sea at Da Nang or Phu Quoc feels quite different from a morning at your local course. That is why plenty of golfers save a few days of leave each year for a trip there with friends, and in some years they head abroad.

Before trips like these, what worries many people is how to get the golf bag onto the plane: how to check it in, what the airline will charge and how to pack it so the driver arrives in one piece.

Can You Take Golf Clubs Into the Cabin?

You cannot take golf clubs into the cabin. Golf clubs are among the items banned from hand baggage, so your set has to travel as checked baggage, which means it is handed over at the check-in counter, carried in the hold and returned to you at the arrival airport.

Whether it is a cart bag or a stand bag, what you check in is treated by the airline as a golf set. Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways both define a golf set as clubs, balls, shoes and tees. Bamboo Airways also sets a maximum of 14 clubs, the same number the Rules of Golf allow.

The rules below are what we read on each airline's website in October 2026, and since baggage rules can change, do take another look at the airline's site before you fly.

How Does Vietnam Airlines Handle Golf Bags?

Vietnam Airlines lets you bring one golf set of up to 23 kg free of charge, with no size limit, on fully domestic flights in every booking class except A, P and G, and on flights between Vietnam and other countries in every booking class except G. Lotusmiles members with a Titanium card or higher get the same allowance. If you are not sure which booking class your ticket is in, whoever sold it to you can tell you.

If your ticket falls outside those cases, the golf set may be charged depending on its weight and size, so it is worth checking with whoever sold you the ticket or the call centre before you fly. Whatever your ticket, a golf set over 23 kg costs extra. The airline asks you to book the service through a branch office or its call centre at least 24 hours before departure and to give the dimensions of the bag.

How Does Vietjet Charge for a Golf Set?

On Vietjet, a golf set whose dimensions add up to no more than 203 cm counts as a standard piece of checked baggage, which may weigh up to 32 kg, so it comes out of the checked allowance on your ticket. On domestic flights and international routes under 7 hours, Eco fares include no checked baggage, so you will need to buy some, while Deluxe fares come with 20 kg. SkyBoss and Business fares come with checked baggage and one golf set on top.

If your bag, once inside its travel cover, adds up to more than 203 cm, ask the airline about its oversized baggage package, which covers pieces larger than standard baggage up to 200 × 119 × 81 cm. Whatever baggage you need, it is best bought in advance, because Vietjet's site notes that it costs more at the airport.

What About Bamboo Airways?

On Bamboo Airways domestic flights, Economy Flex fares and above include one standard golf set of 20 kg free of charge, while other Economy fares pay for the golf set. A golf set over 32 kg, or one whose dimensions add up to more than 203 cm, is not accepted. The airline asks you to book the service at one of its ticket offices at least 3 hours before departure.

How Should You Pack a Golf Bag for a Flight?

Vietjet and Bamboo Airways both state that they are not responsible for ordinary wear and tear in transit, such as small scratches or dents, so it pays to pack carefully at home.

The safest approach is to put the whole golf bag inside a padded travel cover, a thick case made specifically for checking clubs. Inside, fit headcovers on the driver, woods and putter, then wrap a towel around the heads of the woods, as we suggested in our piece on caring for your golf clubs. If your driver has an adjustable hosel, take the head off and pack it separately, because the driver head sits highest in the bag and is the most likely to take a knock. If your travel cover comes with a support rod, stand it inside the golf bag and extend it a little above your longest club, so it takes the weight instead of the clubheads if anything presses down on the bag.

A few towels or shirts tucked into the gaps will stop the clubs shifting about, but a golf set only means clubs, balls, shoes and tees, so try not to turn your golf bag into a second suitcase. Shoes, balls and tees can go in the bag's pockets. If your golf bag has a rain hood, like the one that comes with our cart bag, The Spaceship, put it on before the bag goes into the travel cover so the clubheads have one more layer over them.

Before you zip up the travel cover, take any power banks or spare lithium batteries out of the pockets, because these may only travel in hand baggage.

What Should You Check When You Collect Your Bag?

At the arrival airport, suitcases usually come out on the baggage carousel, the moving belt that brings bags round to where passengers wait. If your golf bag has not appeared on the carousel after a while, ask the staff in the baggage hall before you start to worry.

Once you have the bag, open the travel cover there and then, look over the heads and shafts and count your clubs before you leave. Bamboo Airways states that if you collect your baggage without making a complaint, that is initial evidence the baggage was returned in good condition.

If the bag or any club is damaged, go straight to the lost and found baggage counter at the arrival airport so the staff can complete a Property Irregularity Report, usually called a PIR. For Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways, this report is one of the grounds on which complaints and compensation are considered, and you have 7 days from receiving your baggage to add further details or submit a claim for damage. Keep your boarding pass and baggage tag, and take photos of the damage.

What Else Should You Do Before Heading to the Airport?

Attach a name tag with your phone number to both the golf bag and the travel cover, and take a few photos of the bag and your clubs before you check them in, in case you ever need to make a claim. Weighing and measuring the bag at home once it is in the travel cover also tells you in advance whether it is within your airline's limits.

Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways both recommend arriving at the airport at least 2 hours before departure, and with a golf bag to check in, getting there a little earlier makes for a calmer start.

We hope your flights go smoothly and your rounds on new courses are a real pleasure. If you are still unsure how to pack your bag, send us a message and we will be glad to help you get ready.