yea he's practically family.. thankfully the shop had the same exact boot and size in stock my foot is relatively easy to fit ive been told I only need a tiny punch or grind on the the left foot big toe they had it done in 20 mins .. there was an silver lining as I had brought with me a new pair of Patriot footbeds as a backup so I ended up using them and fell in love with them better than my customs after 2 days of skiing on them I highly recommend them the owner is a great guy and will make sure you get the right size etc even if it takes a few trial and errorsWow! Kudos to your friend for stepping up!
That's Pnecof the reasons I don't fly unless absolutely necessary! My feet are so wide there's no way I can rent boots so I think I'd put them on before handing them over...