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Air Travel with Skates??
Traditionally, skaters usually
transport their skates as carry-on items when traveling by
air. The additional security restrictions imposed
after the 9/11 tragedy have made this ability uncertain for
most skaters. Apparently the sharp blades are
considered too "knife-like" by most carriers and
they are telling their passengers that they may not be
carried on.
If you are planning to travel with
your skates, you should check in advance with your carrier
to see what they say, but I think that even if I was told it
was ok, I'd still half-expect someone at the gate to tell me
otherwise.
The reason most skaters carry on their
skates is because they are concerned that they might become
lost or delayed if they are checked. A 24-hour delay
in getting your luggage might not be real serious if you're
just visiting Aunt Matilda, but it would be a real problem
if you arrive 20 hours before you're supposed to skate at
Regionals... So what can you do to minimize the
possibility of errors if you DO check your skates?
If anybody has any good suggestions, email them to me and I'll post
them here. For starters though, this is what I would
do.
- I would wrap them well to protect
them against bumps and bangs during handling. I
might even put them in hard guards instead of soakers
for the duration of the flight (after making SURE they
were real dry first...).
- I'd put them in a suitcase that is
unique and very identifiable. I'd mark it loudly
with my name and some obvious & unique markings to
minimize the possibility that anyone would mistakenly
grab it off the conveyor because it looked like theirs
(I'd use colored tape to make a pattern of stripes or a
big X on the sides).
- I'd make sure to put a tag
on the bag that has a phone number that could reach me
AT MY DESTINATION (a cellphone or a hotel number).
And I'd note on the tag that the number was good for the
dates I'd be there (i.e. "Oct 1-Oct 6 2001 I may be
reached at 810-555-1212").
- When checking the bag,
stay until you see the check-in person put the
destination tag on the bag, and make sure it says the
right destination (thanks, Gretchen Bosselman)
- And finally, I'd make real
sure to keep the little numbered check tags to help
track it if it does get misplaced.
Any other good ideas???
I've had several suggestions from
people (thank you everyone!!!)
- See if the airlines will allow you
to "gate" check the bag containing your
skates, that way they remain in your possession until
you board the plane and you may be able to collect them
upon arrival at the gate. (i.e. baby strollers). (Jim
Achtenberg notes that a potential difficulty associated
with this idea is that you still have to get them past
the concourse x-ray inspectors)
- A LOT of people say that they're
finding someone from their club who is driving instead
of flying, and giving their skates to them for the trip.
(A good idea, but I think I'd be more comfortable
checking them - the whole reason for not wanting to
check them is that I wouldn't want them "out of my
control" for the duration of the flight. Is
it better to put them into a car, even with a good
friend, for many hours on a freeway? Its a lot of
responsibility to place on that driver too. I'd
hate to be them and end up with car trouble about
halfway and not be able to continue...)
- Several have suggested Fed-Ex or
equivalent shippers. Be careful about sending
these to your hotel; though - especially if they might
get there before you do. Lisa Hannukainen suggests
that you could probably have FedEx or UPS hold them at
their receiving center for pickup - be sure to find out
where the center is though... (she also says that
UPS Overnight is cheaper than FedEx)
- My personal favorite, Kathy R
suggested maybe you could WEAR them onto the
plane... :-)
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