Flying from Zurich to London with skis etc.

I usually fly EasyJet, who require extra payment for skis, but include boots in that extra price, even if they are in a separate boot bag. (I wear my helmet through check-in) 

BA FROM Heath Row  ( I don't know about TO HR) give you a checked bag, but ski equipmet requires an extra payment, which also includes boots and helmet.

I am flying SwissAir from B'ham to Zurich, where it is more cost effective (£10 extra) to fly business because you get 2 free carry-on bags and 2 free checked bags, one of which can be skiis, plus all the business  class extra goodies. Check out SwissAir more carefully, as they used to accept skis as their free checked bag, but that seems to have stopped.

If you have a big wheelie ski bag that takes boots and all your other stuff, and you don't check in another bag, BA will accept that as an ordinary bag at no cost (at least they have done - need to delve into the website baggage rules in case they've changed recently). But beware exceeding the weight limit for that big bag. You can stuff quite a lot into your day sack as cabin baggage.

If you take that same big bag on easyJet as sports equipment, you don't need to take a normal bag so only pay for the ski bag. But once you've booked a bag on easyJet you can't cancel it!

Norwegian (should you ever use them) are more sticky, and insist that you don't stuff your ski bag. You have to pay for an ordinary bag too.

You can quickly recoup the cost of a wheelie ski bag. The only downside I can see is the weight and cumbersome size of the thing, if you need to get it in a car or a train for instance.

Might be worth considering the train (via Paris) which avoids baggage charges and a lot of airport hassle, and gives you a smug feeling about doing your bit to save the planet. Tickets are normally on sale 2 months in advance, but looking at January just now (via loco2.com) you can leave Zurich at 0920, arrive St Pancras 1739, or Zurich 1100, St Pancras 1939 (also change Basel). Prices around £100 one way.

I usually find BA and Swiss to be the most ski friendly. As Andrew Kydd above said BA will take a large ski bag as your only item of checked-in luggage as long as the weight is below 23 Kg - so if you can fit everything in to that and your carry on luggage (which with BA can be up to another 46 Kg in a laptop bag and suitably sized samsonite - might be large enough to take your boots as well) then no problem. Swiss are a bit more vague at the moment but still seem to suggest that you can transport skis, poles, boots (even in a separate bag) and helmet for free on top of your checked luggage limit of 23 Kg. I've done this a few times (i.e. two separate bags in the hold for ski equipment and other luggage) with no problem but I've always tried to keep the combined weight to a reasonable value. I would call to be sure.

We've regularly used Swiss for the last few years. They don't charge for ski bag or boot bag. Their online info isn't totally explicit but we phoned and checked a while back. We're not aware of any change for 2018-19. SCGB members can also get a discount with Swiss!