Equipment on an international flight

T

taras4444

Well-known member
Hi guys first of all sorry for posting here but wasnt sure where to go with this, and didnt want to litter the af100 forum like i always end up doing!

Basically I just wanted to see peoples experience when flying with all their gear. I'm flying from the UK to Canada with air transat this October, planning on having my camera gear etc in my hand luggage back pack, then taking a big case with my tripod, steadicam, genlec speakers etc and another case with clothes and a few other bits and bobs (i'm going over to live for a year and work) and wanted to ask for any advice or tips on getting through. I emailed Air Transat but they werent very helpful, and just wanted to ask what airport security normally says about camera batterys etc, should I put these in my checked luggage? Any other potential hazards I should watch out for?

First time im flying with my babies so I'm a bit worried, read up on all the flight information and international laws etc but sometimes experience is best. All advice appreciated,

Taras
 
The Cafe might be a good place for this kind of question, but....

Lots of pro gear? Carnet might not be a bad idea. Maybe overkill, but I suggest you at least look into it. They're valid for up to 1 year.

Batteries? A couple of links:
http://www.catsa.gc.ca/Page.aspx?ID...ForBatteries_ConseilsRelatifsAuxPiles&lang=en
http://safetravel.dot.gov/index_batteries.html (US flight rules, but still probably useful)

Practical experience? If I need a lot of batteries, I'll rent them locally. But since you're going for a year, might be worth just buying some once you land. Probably can get some decent pricing vs. in the UK. Of course, then you'll need to transport them back!
 
I fly with gear all the time. There's no need to be worried, though Canadian customs and immigration can be arseholes.

Have you got a work visa? If not say you are a producer, if you are asked.

Are you flying club or economy? Excess baggage is very expensive these days. You don't get much allocation in economy, plus on cheap flights it's often only one bag. Check with your airline.

What type of batteries do you have? If they are under 100 watt hours, you're fine.
 
If it's heavy, carry it on. -Overweight bag fees are expensive.
If it's fragile, carry it on. -Know what they call baggage handlers in the biz? Throwers.
If it's expensive, carry it on. -Airline damage policy: If it's valuable, it's not covered. If it's worthless, it's covered for it's value (nothing).

hmmm, sounds like you're going to be carrying on a really heavy backpack. Start training!

Once upon a time I used to fly with gear nearly every week. I didn't have too many problems, and even the ones I did have were fairly easy to work out with a little talking.
Another tip for travelers...consider getting a credit card with your preferred airline. United gives me a free checked bag when I buy my ticket with a United credit card along with enough other perks that it covers the annual fee many times over.
 
Consider anything checked gone or damaged. Carry as much as you can on the plane. Even if they tell you you've got too many bags when you're lining up to board, what they don't let you take with you will get stowed with the wheelchairs and strollers and it should be with them when you land. The old jacket-over-the-arm trick can conceal an extra bag. Fishing vests and fanny packs (as long as you're not single and looking) can carry a lot of little crap that, if you store extra bags, can be re-packed once you're on the plane.
 
And, oh heck, I'll even give away one of my best tricks: Use padded lunch boxes for cameras and lenses. Some of them have convenient separators. It's a great way to minimize attention to your stuff by thieves as well as overly-enthusiastic airline employees.

You'll have to listen to others regarding customs. I've never had a problem. There is an amount of luck involved but you should always be prepared. I've flown with 25 lbs of white powder (protein isolate) in my check-in with no problem but got a mild rebuke for entering the U.S. with a foreign apple.
 
I didn't have a work visa going into Peru, and they asked me if I was a journalist ( I said no because I didn't have work visa ). It's mostly the tripod that got their attention ( a Miller DS10 ) and they made me pay import duties on it ( $200 ) because it looked new.
One other thing: the Pelican 1510 case is supposed to be the officially approved maximum accepted size for a carry on, and yet some airlines refused to accept it ( too big ). So add some extra padding to your valuables just in case!
 
EDV said:
One other thing: the Pelican 1510 case is supposed to be the officially approved maximum accepted size for a carry on, and yet some airlines refused to accept it ( too big ). So add some extra padding to your valuables just in case!
Click to expand...

Yep others have complained about the weight, the empty 1510 makes it, but loaded it doesn't. Check your local carrier first.

Cheers.
 
hey guys thanks for all the advice. Transat state you can only purchase extra bags at the airport, $100 CAD per bag up to 32kgs, so planning on getting a flight case to house the tripod, speakers etc, was even thinking of bringing my cheapish FORZA monitor which is pretty sweet, though dont know if it will work in Canada due to UK power differences.

In my main bag for the carry on im only an inch over the appropriate "diameters" but will have to risk it (dont have another £200 spare and it fits the camera etc perfectly). I guess it does take a bit of luck too, but good to hear I dont need naything special for camera equipment. May even bring my receipts etc with me for back up though i dont want them getting ideas of taxing me more so may give that a miss actually. And yep have a holiday working visa so hopefully will help...
Fingers crossed anyway! As for the batteries I'll have a read into that now. Thanks again :)
 
I second the Carnet suggestion. I almost learned the hard way coming back to the US from Ecuador, but customs could tell my gear was so beat up that I hadn't purchased it there. They could have charged me import taxes upon return because I was ignorant and didn't have a Carnet or any proof of purchase, but they were nice and let me go.

http://www.atacarnet.com/

If you're staying for a year+ you'll have to look into a replacement/extension.
 
Allan Black said:
Yep others have complained about the weight, the empty 1510 makes it, but loaded it doesn't. Check your local carrier first.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
Actually, before I boarded the plane they told me that it wouldn't be allowed just from looking at it. It was never weighted.
 
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