Traveling with racquets (Airplane) w/Thermal Bag

[esrb]

I travel from/to the States and several places in South America and Perú, so, having friends wherever i go, i take a racket and a set of clothing for a casual match (if i have available time).
I rather like to take my thermal bag with ALL my stuff, such grips, socks, creams, sport sunglases, spare sticks and so.
The problem is that airliners are a pain in the a*s when you check in with a 12 rackets TBag filled with all your "goodies".
Any tip?? Any experience about it? How do pros deal with this? (don´t consider top players, they have speacial spare room).

[FedererUberAlles]

Pros have private jets.

[esrb]

Pros have private jets.


They don´t. I saw Alex Corretja in Rome, unloading a Van and two guys taking two thermal Bags (his)....he was taking an Iberia flight back to Spain... :confused:

[Mahboob Khan]

I keep my shoulder bag (thermal) in the upper compartment of the plane (a bag which fits in the compartment that is). In this bag I keep my rackets. Other stuff is put in a travelling bag or in a suitcase and that is put in the cargo hold! I tell the staff to put "fragile" tag on this bag and I make sure that it is loaded on the plane (does not fall off the conveyer belt).

If your shoulder bag is too large they will not allow it to take it in with you!

[supersmash]

and by chance some hooded people want to terrorize you, you show them a piece of Ncoded technology! don't worry, it's made of kevlar...and other..stuff.

[VAmazona]

When I was about to bring a guitar on a trip, i was told to loosen the strings, as they can tense up in the air (pressurized cabin perhaps?) and cause the neck to bow. Would this apply to racquets? I would assume pros don't travel with strung racquets.

[goober]

12 racquet bag is pretty big and probably won't fit onto an overhead compartment. When I travel I take a 3 racquet bag that will fit into the overhead compartment because the racquets are the most important part of what you are carrying. If you are only going to play a casual match all you really need is 2 racquets with you at most. All the other stuff I pack into my suitcase. If you put your racquets into the cargo area for luggage, it is an uncontrolled enviroment and it could ruin your strings or the baggage handlers could accidently drop a 50 lb piece of luggage on it.

[devilish_duke]

So the concensus is that airlines allow 3 racquet bags? What about 6 racquet bags? I've seen a couple but i'd on flights but i'd like more opinions. Thanks.

[North]

I carry a 3 racquet bag on the plane with usual carry-on stuff and everything I need to play, including clothes, for a day or two. Everything else goes into the checked baggage. One thing I tried on a trip once was shipping all the rest of my baggage Fed-Ex. It was not that expensive and made travel much more relaxed. I got to where I was staying and had my baggage waiting for me there. Got on and off the plane was a breeze with just my carry-on bag.

[x Southpaw x]

My tennis bag is small enough to fit nicely in the overhead compartments with room to spare. And yeah, like North, everything else is in a checked baggage.

[steve d]

devilish duke,

I have been using a Dunlop 6 racket bag on flights for the last few years. Not once has anyone from the airlines questioned me about it. It does look a little large when its all filled up but it still fits in the overhead compartment.
I usually have 2 or 3 rackets in one side and my video camera, binoculars or other breakable items in the other side. I expected to be hassled about the bag on international flights to London and Australia but it wasn't an issue. So far all I have received is a few odd looks from other passengers. I think that only a small minority even know that the bag is designed for tennis rackets.
I can't promise that you will have the same luck, but I have uneventfully boarded 20 or 30 airplanes with my bag.

[cak]

Recently, (June 30th) on an Air Canada flight from SFO to Montreal I noticed a sign saying there were new security requirements, and it had a list of things no longer allowed as a carryon luggage. Tennis raquets were explicitly listed as not allowed. I've carried my raquets on as recently as last Feb. on ATA and SouthWest, so I don't know if this is a Air Canada only thing or a new rule.

[FedererUberAlles]

Guys, most of you probably haven't had problems becuase you live in the US. Our airport security blows.

[MLoutch]

I fly 8+ times per month and never had problems with rackets - I use a 6 pak and 12 pak babolat bag and they both fit fine in the overheads.

If you go to the TSA web site www.tsa.gov they list all of the things not allowed - i just flew last week with my sticks and no problems in Houston, Philly nor Hartford.

leaving for SFO this Saturday lets see what happens.

[devilish_duke]

So how'd it go MLoutch? I just got back from a trip to Minnesota. On the way there I saw a guy get on with a 9-pack so my fear of having my gear confiscated is a bit reduced. Airline was Northwest btw.

[Mahboob Khan]

Once I was travelling with our national junior team to participate in an international tournament. At Dhaka airport we were about to board the plane. At the last security screening machine, the guy stopped me. First he objected to my rackets which I was carrying with me (he said, it is possible to kill a person with the racket and/or to hijack the plane). Then he objected to tennis balls which I was carrying in that shoulder bag. He said, I might throw these balls at other passengers or at the pilot! I introduced myself like this, "Look, my name is Mahboob Khan. I am international tennis coach, and am travelling with the Pakistani team to participate in an international event in Yangon, Myanmar. I have to keep this bag with me in the cabin". Finally, I saw his supervisor and he allowed us in. Surprisingly, he did not object to my students' much larger shoulder bags!

I like Wilson's shoulder bags, and travelling bags. They are made for players who often travel by air.

[papa]

Boy, I haven't encounted any problems bringing racquets and bag on board. My bag, which is the large Prince, fits nicely into the overhead compartment. The only thing you have to make sure of is to remove any metal like fingernail/toenail clippers which I have to cut my strings after I break one. Another thing you might want to eliminate is loose change because it can, like any metal object (even new balls) set off the metal detector.

[fatboy102188]

i just went to vietnam with a 10 racket bag. the liquidmetal radical series. no problems whatsoever. i had 3 rackets a pair of shoes and all the other goodies, grip, lead tape, and stuff. you should have no problem

[arky-tennis]

I check my racquets... Only what I do is declare my bag and its contents to have a value of over $500 [what if there is a lost bag, this is usually the max they will pay you] and I have my bag insured for the value of the racquets.

[esrb]

What if you "cheat" the airliner, checking broken sticks??
Can you ask for the insurance?? (of course is just a posibility, not to be intented)...

[scotus]

VAmazona,

Racquets and guitars are completely different.

Guitars have very distinct front and back sides, and guitar strings bend the neck of the guitar toward the face, or the front side, of the guitar, which is why you want to have your strings loosened when you're not playing for a while, and periodically you need to adjust the metal beam that runs inside the neck with an allen wrench to straighten it out a bit.

Racquets, however, are different: there is no front and back, just two identical faces. Strings are placed right in the middle of the beam, so that the strings won't bend the beam one way or the other. (Of course, extreme tensions applied to the string may distort the frame, but there we are talking about forces applied from a different dimension).

Furthermore, you simply cannot loosen and tighten the string in the racquets as you could with guitar strings (although if someone invents racquet strings whose tension can be adjusted after the string job, I would be the first to give it a try).

So don't worry about what the pressure onboard the plane might do to your racquet. Nothing has happened to my racquets so far, and unless you've got a ton of money, I don't think you would want to cut out all the strings each time you fly.

[GOOOOOGA]

mahboob khan, do you think there would be any effects on the racquet if i flew from DC to Pakistan? im going to islamabad in 2 weeks and want to be sure that the racquets wouldn't be hurt by 16 hours in an airplane cabin.

[Mahboob Khan]

Mr. Goooooooooooga (sorry, I lost track on how many "os" are there in your name. Are you from Pakistan? What's your name? You can call me on my mobile once you reach here. My number is: 0300 8568403, my residence number is: 051 5957718.

If your rackets are properly placed in a bag and the bag is in a cabin nothing will happen to the rackets. For some reason I feel that the rackets' strings tension is affected and that's all.

[DoubleHanded&LovinIt]

Mahboob Khan,
I will be coming to Pakistan this winter, in December. I stay with my family in Karachi but would love to hit with you. Also, I've never been to Islamabad. What a disgraceful Pakistani I am!

[GOOOOOGA]

Mr. Goooooooooooga (sorry, I lost track on how many "os" are there in your name. Are you from Pakistan? What's your name? You can call me on my mobile once you reach here. My number is: 0300 8568403, my residence number is: 051 5957718.

If your rackets are properly placed in a bag and the bag is in a cabin nothing will happen to the rackets. For some reason I feel that the rackets' strings tension is affected and that's all.

haha, sorry about the 'o's, when i was making up my name, i didn't realize i held down the 'o' key that long.

im ammar, im 15, my parents are from pakistan, i was born in the USA, my urdu used to be pretty good, now its kinda rusty. i'm only going to be there for a week (dunno why), spending 3 days in bahawalpur and the rest in pindi. do you have an email address? im interested in knowing where there are good tennis courts where i can easily find someone to hit with. thanks.

EDIT: sorry, another question: do you know if PIA lets people bring racquets as carry-ons?

[Mahboob Khan]

DoubleHandedandLovinIt and Goooooga: You are welcome to call me once you are in Pakistan. My email is: makhan67@hotmail.com. I have also listed my phone numbers.

Talk to PIA about this. I am sure they will let your shoulder tennis bag with rackets in (as long as it is within cabin's space limits). You ought to tell them that you do not want to put the rackets in the cargo hold lest they be broken. Tell them these are tennis rackets and you would like to keep them with you inside the cabin!

Cheers!

Mahboob Khan

[esrb]

It´s awesome that people from the whole world is gathered here and talk about this wonderful (and pissin off) sport....
Regards from Peru !

[Juggernaut]

I just had a trip to Spain from DC that resulted in a lost luggage tennis bag for about 2 weeks. It all started because the carry-on (a Lotto ATP bag that fits 6 racquets) was deemed as too big for the overhead compartment of the plane. So they took the bag with the rest of the airplane luggage. When I arrived in France (had to take a connecting flight from France to Spain), they told me it would arrived at my final destination at Spain. Well guess what? It didn't. I waited one week before they found it, and another week to ship it. Everything was in the bag though, despite that I didn't have any locks in it. In retrospect, I would do what these guys are saying. I would buy a 3 racquet bag (wilson thermogaurd comes to mind), and pack the rest in the regular seperate luggage. That way, you'll always have your racquets with you in the overhead compartment without the hassle.

[VolleyandServer]

I flew to Guadalajara, Mexico two weeks ago aboard American Airlines. I personally called American Airlines and they told me that tennis rackets are allowed as carry on and that I should not have any problems taking them aboard. Not too sure about other airlines though. The TSA staff at Fresno Yosemite Internation and LAX did not even question me about my rackets at screening. I travelled with my 6 rackets using the Adidas 6 pack bag and it fit perfectly in the overhead compartments. Just be sure you get to the front of the boarding line when your flight boards so you can get to your seat first and get first dibs on the overhead compartments. I know this was cruel, but my bag took up all of the compartment space and the people sitting next to me had to store their carry on baggage about four seats down the aisle. They usually call for first class and business class to board first, but if you are flying economy, when you hear the call for first class boarding, just hang around next to the boarding gate so you can be the first on when they call for the economy/regular class passengers to board. If the airlines object to you carrying on your rackets, try to insist that your rackets be carried on since they are fragile. It is no new story that the baggage handlers are notorious for throwing and being rough with baggage:(. The last thing you want is claiming your racket(s) in pieces at baggage claim.

[Mahboob Khan]

VolleyandServer: Good advice!

And if you put your suitcase in the cargo hold, make sure it is loaded. Some time because the handlers fail to properly place the suitcase on the conveyer belt, the luggage fall off the belt. When I put something in the cargo hold, I walk with the conveyer to assure my luggage does not fall off the belt!

[vascoboy]

contacted TSA...in the past they did not allow tennis raquetes, however, recently they have liberalised their restriction and allowed them...remember, TSA only overseas domestic flights so if you fly international you need to check with the airlines...i checked with my airline and i consistently get different responses depending on who i talk to...no one seems to know for sure....quite fustrating! airline companies are not very good about customer service...getting a hold of the right folks is nearlyh impossible

[vascoboy]

contacted TSA...in the past they did not allow tennis raquetes, however, recently they have liberalised their restriction and allowed them...remember, TSA only overseas domestic flights so if you fly international you need to check with the airlines...i checked with my airline and i consistently get different responses depending on who i talk to...no one seems to know for sure....quite fustrating! airline companies are not very good about customer service...getting a hold of the right folks is nearlyh impossible

[loveall]

Our personal experiences with Airlines and TSA can be different at different times, so I searched the TSA site for their guidelines. To make sure our racquets reach the destination with us as carry on luggage. I was happy to know that Tennis was spared and we can take racquets with us.

So next time you are travelling put this printout with your tennis racket bag to let the TSA people know. Things can change too, so make sure you check the rules @ TSA website before taking a flight...

"Knowledge is Power" - Hope this helps ...

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1038.shtm