Airport baggage

[PSk]

Tom,

I used to work for a company that made airport baggage conveyors and I just want to ensure everybody does NOT put important old car parts in a bag and expect them to arrive safe and sound at the other end of their flight, let alone have the worry about their bags being lost on top of that.

There is absolutely NO way I would ever have put that toolbox in a bag and checked it in. Thus conveyors go up and down and around corners and there are drops involved and even steep declines (and I've seen bags with wheels get up to huge speeds going down these and I've heard the crash and sound of broken glass when it finally had to stop). Also like everything these conveyors require maintenance and get old and sharp corners develop over time.

On top of that when the handlers get bags off the conveyors and put them on the little trolleys it is all about speed, not care.

Yes I have transported a dashboard which involved a flight but I put a couple of hundred instructions about NOT to put on the conveyor system all over it and it was carried out manually and survived.

So taking your parts on the plane with you is the only way to go ... otherwise pack it with 10 inches of padding around the item.
Pete

[kare]

Long time ago I got an advise I still like: pack your stuff so that you can slam your bag from above your head into a concrete floor as hard as you can. If even a slightest thought of care goes through your mind, pack it again. If the conveyor does not go up to the plane, they'll throw everything on tarmac. Pyjamas can take that.

Taking parts to cabin is almost impossible these days - at least in Europe. There is always a sharp corner or a then the pieces are thought to be potential murder weapons because of their weight. "What is this?" is equivalent of "It could be very very dangerous!", and the easy way out is to agree throwing them into the nearby trash can. Getting them into your luggage is about impossible as it isn't there anymore... and packing them properly at this point is also quite a challenge.

Best wishes, Kare

[tyang]

We completely knew the risks! Luckily we won on this one.

I've been sent to inspect a car where I've had to carry on a set of tools in carry on. The looks I get from a ratchet, and compression gauge is bad enough from the TSA agent, I can imagine what they would do with a full Ferrari tool kit!

I'm just glad I got it all back.

Tom

[sam231]

If you are spending time, a week or more, in any place, ship your bags. Postal Service, Fed Ex, whatever. Works like a charm. Send stuff 4-5 days before your departure and get on the plane without luggage. It might cost a bit more, but for us it has arrived always on time. Alert the hotel/inn they will be receiving a delivery and hold for your arrival. I've shipped huge boxes of clothes, christmas ornaments, gifts, etc. on chritmas trips with no problem.

Just a thought.

Cheers,

Sam

[B24Spider]

I've had all kinds of fun stuff with me, from coils of 24k gold wire (deadly, no?), tabla drums packed along with tach and speedo cables, to an 9" long articulated silver fish. In Grand Rapids, Mich., of all places, they were worried about the frozen cherries we had with us. A bombe' perhaps?

The most fun I've had with post 9/11 baggage inspection, though, was a greasy Lancia clutch ass'y I hand carried from Newark to SFO. I new they'd question it, and packed it to be re-sealable. What I hadn't expected was the look of utter disgust the young inner-city kid had on his face as he had to pick it up and look it over. Worth every ache of carrying it.
-Steve

[sam231]

Didn't want his rubber gloves dirty - obviously not a vintage car nut.

[B24Spider]

On a less amusing note, after spending much time locating (in Holland), and paying (a considerable sum) for a piece of curved tempered glass for an Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato, and being patient about shipping, it finally arrived yesterday.

It had been wrapped in a t-shirt, one layer of (small) bubble wrap, and a single layer of single-sided flexible corrugated cardboard. Not even a box of any kind.

If you haven't yet guessed it's condition on arrival, it was just a bag of glass shards. Not even insured. I have yet to get a response. So thoughtless that some think it was intentional. We are now worried about the aluminum hood that is supposedly following.
-Steve

[kare]

The most thrilling one I had was when a friend of mine could not resist to buy a slightly used exhaust pipe for his Lancia for a a tenner. Walking into the airport terminal with a used exhaust pipe on one's shoulder was one thing. What followed was anothed. Girl at the luggage desk weighted the pipe and put a sticker on it. She made it look like flying with a used exhaust pipe as a part of your luggage was pretty normal in Italy. 13 seconds later the guys inside came RUNNING for us and made very clear that it wasn't. They took us with them and first asked us what it was we had brought in. Then they brought in an explosives detector and as soon as the guy carrying it got into the room, it started to beep. The closer he came, the more it beeped. The guy stuck the sensor part inside the pipe and it *BE-BE-BE-BEEPED* like hell for a while, then went silent. Service light went on. The foreman with the blue cap took us out of the security room and into the corridor. He ordered us to stand still with our backs against the wall and then he went back in, closed the door and folded the blinds. 5 minutes later he took a peak through the blinds and came out and said that we were supposed to stand still where he had told us already. He then added that maybe we don't realize how serious this is. We took his word that it was very very very very serious.

5 minutes later he took another peak through the blinds. Yet another 5 minutes - and another peak, but now it was guy with a huge green cap. 10 minutes later yet another peek - and yet another color; a much older guy with a burgundy cap with golden decoration on it. I guess the chief had come down to see what the hell was going on in his airport. 15 minutes to departure and nothing happened... 12 minutes... a peak throught the blinds... 9 minutes... Friend asked me if we should go and knock on the door and I said that they surely know what flight we are aiming to be on. 7 minutes - and last calls for our flight were being announced (***) and finally the clerk came out of the room.

He told us that he has some good news and bad news for us. Bad news was that our luggage would not fly. The good news was that he would let us go - and that we should really run if we wished to catch out flight... and thank Santa Maria in our evening prayer to have avoided to spend the night in the slammer!

Best wishes, Kare

***As they did not mention our names, I was now 100% sure that we would not have to worry about catching the flight.