I am considering going to Hong Kong next year on vacation and also planning to buy several high end racquets and was wondering what is the best way to pack them in my luggage to decrease chances of them breaking inside my luggage? They're too long for hand carry, so I guess the best way is through my luggage, but I'm hesitant to buy so many if it means spending a lot of money and taking a risk of them snapping during the trip. I went earlier this summer and bought a MP-100. I stuffed the case with socks and cotton T-shirts and placed the racquet in the middle of one of my pieces of luggage, covered by other clothes. But since I may be purchasing several, I want to know the best way to pack them. (I'll be using 1-2 pieces of luggage most likely).
Eh? Does that really work? I thought about it before, but have seen many piecies of luggage/boxes get dumped and thrown as regular pieces all the time, the loaders are really lazy and just toss em on the plane or toss them out of the plane and onto the luggage collection belts. Even luggage labelled fragile are treated the same way, or at least from what I've seen. Also I'm not sure how luggage is secured in a plane (Boeing 747 and small passenger jets), are pieces stacked on top, just randomly chucked in the cargo bay and moves around during the flight, or individually secured?
pack it in a really wierd shaped box and put it in oversized. I personally have use a double or triple thick corrugated box with foam inside i made myself. labeled fragile of course. hell, you can cover the whole box with fragile sitckers or requets that you personally get a hostess to bring it to luggage for you, once it's checked that it's safe of course...
Just thought of another question. Any way to look less suspicious carrying many racquets through customs without getting checked and maybe get taxed? I hear the Canadian limit is 750 CAN dollars nowadays, and I don't intend on spending all 750 on racquets.
Packing of rackets Hi guys, No matter how well u pack yr rackets, the most important thing is still the ways those porters n cargo handlers methods of handling will affect yr products. I remembered the last time, when I shipped a ceramic item back from China back to Singapore, the item came back in pieces despites my protective packaging labelled with fragile stickers all over. Well, thank u for the disintegration of my product:crying: It was considered "SOLD":crying: Carry them with u will be safest mode.Of course not too many pieces. Lee
well... i think vancouver is your bigger concern. they're a huge hub. Calgary, not so much, and HK int'l is more concerned than germs from what I experienced...
NEVER PUT IT IN THE CARGO!!! LOL~ Safest way is to carry it up the plane as hand lagguage... i have done that a few times and they alllow it....... I carry total of 3 rackets with me.. 2 shoes... few rolls of towel grip, everything inside my badminton bag... and no problem at all!
What i meant was that if it's REALLY oversized, then you jsut request to get the hostess to put it on the plane as you hand it to her at the gate, not at security.
pre-911 i was able to get away with carrying a full sized racquet bag. post-911 I haven't tried bringing my racquet bag because i didn't want to bother dealing with security or going back to check in my baggage after being told it's oversized. I've been able to carry my racquets as carry on w/o any problems. I think it's the safest way. I've sent my computer as "fragile" luggage on a plane when i went to university out of province.. My computer didn't survive.....fortunately it was insured... but stilll...i wouldn't trust sending it through luggage unless it's packed very securely with plenty of foam.
HAHAHA... I have spoken to a few courier drivers (a little different from baggage handlers but I presume just the same) and they tell me they handle such labelled packages with "extra attention", they make sure the package gets ... ...bumped around a few more times ...dropped to see how high it bounces ...placed precariously on the top of other boxes so that it falls on the next speed bump You can ship a 10,000 year old Ming vase with all the "fragile" stickers you want and it will arrive as 10,000 piece 3D jig-saw puzzle! (get out your crazy glue :crying: ) It is the shipper's responsibility to package it properly and that's why there's insurance! Cheers!
Ur way is a good way to protect rackets. Try to spread out the rackets (never pile them up against each other), and put as many clothes in btw as possible. So, it's like making a sandwich, consider all the rackets are the veggie/meat, and stuffed in btw layers of bread (clothes).
Well I thought about it, but with so many things to bring home, there was hardly enough room for my MP-100, so putting several racquets into one piece of baggage seems a lil' risky, I'd have to put in a LOT of clothes. I also plan to buy a few other things, mostly a few plastic models (I'm also a huge fan of them). Also my largest piece of luggage is just big enough to have an extra inch or two to stick in the racquet in, my other pieces are a little small and the racquet needs to be stuffed in diagonally, with a little of either the handle or frame end brushing up against the corner. Any answers to my earlier post, how they arrange baggage in the airplane's cargo bay? (see post #3). I think they just put them randomly all over the bay and the luggage moves and slides down the bay during flights, but others say different, IE. Some say they stack baggae on top of each other. If this is true, and just so happens my piece is near bottom, the weight of the other baggage could possibly crush the contents inside .
Most airlines would let you carry it onboard as hand luggage. But if they dont pls be prepared to label it as Fragile and put it in a nicely padded racket bag. As to customs, Carry old grips with you and use them on your new rackets. You can say that you went to play a tournament and you are a part professional player. Btw, i hope you look fit... Last time i travelled between cities in Australia they did not let me take my racket bag on board saying that it was too dangerous and i could possibly use them as weapons. I am not sure if that rule applies to everybody or because i from the subcontinent...
Well I don't use racquet bags much, since when I go to play badminton I usually just pick one of my racquets to take, and I just take the racquet in its case with me. So I most likely won't be taking or buying a racquet bag with me. Maybe I'll just stuff them on my hand carry with the handles sticking out, I saw someone stuff three tennis racquets, but he didn't put the cases over his tennis racquets so it seemed minor and not much of a size increase. The problem is if I send in my main luggage and then proceed to security inspection and such , when they tell me I can't have the racquets on board. Then I'd be in a tight situation, with my luggage most likely already on the plane, where would I put the racquets? And as for not allowing racquets on board since they might be "weapons"... I think the racquet would snap before you would feel a hit . Maybe steel racquets would hurt a little, but most racquets would snap in half with 1-2 good hits.
i beleive theres overhead compartments on the plane which are those little compartments where you can put your racquets in =), just make sure there isnt any other luggage in the compartment that might crush your racquets during take-off. they might move around a lil bit during take off and landing so i suggest you hold onto them until the plane is stabalized in the air, and also remember to grab them back out before landing.
That is my biggest concern. Either they will hold me up because they think they are weapons, or simply too big. It could happen, I saw someone put all their bags and such on the converyer belt, already shipped off to the plane's cargo, and carrying a small hand-carry bag, with something small sticking out by 3 inches, maybe a tennis racquet or whatever, and security didn't let him pass.
well when i went to NEW YORK CITY they let alot of people on that were carrying racquets, they just inspect it, if its alright then they let you on. keep in mind this is new york city lol
All Australian airlines list their luggage regulations on their websites, and that is what they indeed make these decisions on. They disallow all sporting goods that can be wielded as range extenders like racquets as weapons, and they are oversized for carry on, so I would not be allowed to take any on. The NT rep side wasn't allowed to take theirs on. You could have chosen to educate yourself about the matter before making suggestions like that and you should have done so before you flew. Little hint, www.qantas.com.au, it is all there. You were lucky they didn't confiscate them, as it is clearly stated at QANTAS's website that if you attempt to board the plane with these items, they will be confiscated and you cannot make any claims for their return. That goes for everyone as it is a federal regulation for domestic carriage. Admittedly the Virgin Blue website is less clear, but I hope you understand now that they are simply following the law of Australia. It might be different in your country, but law is law.
