Traveling

[PrismFlopper]

Traveling for the first time with my clubs and have heard horror stories of airlines. So im looking for advice or recommendations on: travel bags, how to protect clubs, avoid lost bags, anything.

[Golf2Much]

Hopefully I can help a little.  I've traveled all over the world with my clubs.  Luckily (knock on wood), I haven't had any clubs broken or damaged.  Here's a couple of things you might want to consider:

• Get a good travel bag.   I've had a Club Glove travel bag for over 25 years and it's still's working.  I had to replace the roller blade wheels once and it looks "well travelled" but it still does the job.  You want to make sure your travel bag has wheels to make it easier to navigate around the airport (which is often the toughest part of the travel experience).  Some people (and airlines) like the hard case travel bags.  I've had no issues with the Club Glove.  I think MGS just did a travel bag review not so long ago.  You might want to check that out for travel suggestions and recommendations.
• Use a "stiff arm" golf club protector.  Before these were a thing, I cut a broomstick to just longer than my driver length to if the travel bag took a hit on the top, it would take the brunt of the impact.  Now they have collapsible aluminum stiff arms (about $30 on Amazon) that provide better protection.
• Remove the head of your driver.  If you have an adjustable driver, you may want to take a picture of the settings, remove the head and pack the head inside your head cover.   Just put the shaft in the bag like any other club.  It's cuts down the chance that a direct hit damage your precious driver.  It's probably not a bad idea to do it with your other woods too.
• Go with a smaller golf bag if you have one.  I have a small Jones bag I've had for about 25 years that I use just for traveling.  It's smaller size makes it easier to get into and out of the travel bag and keeps the overall weight down.  You don't want to get close to the maximum weight that your specific airline allows without a surcharge.  By being smaller and lighter, it give me the chance to pack my shoes and anything else that might not fit in my luggage.
• Wrap your golf towels around the club heads.   I do this to protect the club faces and prevent rattling during transport.
• It's highly likely your bag will get inspected by TSA so don't make the job too difficult for them to open the travel bag up and see what's inside.
• When you arrive at the airport, look around baggage claim to see if they have a special area for oversized baggage.  I just traveled to Boston's Logan Airport and they had an oversized baggage area where my clubs exited.  
• Some people use Apple Airtags to track their bags through the airport.  Many airlines today have bag tracking in their app so you can make sure it gets on the plane.  Side story:  I was traveling with my clubs once and had a window seat.  The crew was going through their takeoff routine and I noticed my golf bag was still on the tarmac.  I called over the flight attendant and told her my bag was not on the plane.  She said "if that's not your bag, the pilot will kill me for delaying our departure."  My response was "if it is my bag, I'll kill you for leaving it behind!"  It was my bag and once in the air, the flight attendant offered my  a free adult beverage.

I hope this helps.

[GolfSpy_APH]

On 8/28/2023 at 2:54 PM, Golf2Much said:

Hopefully I can help a little.  I've traveled all over the world with my clubs.  Luckily (knock on wood), I haven't had any clubs broken or damaged.  Here's a couple of things you might want to consider:

• Get a good travel bag.   I've had a Club Glove travel bag for over 25 years and it's still's working.  I had to replace the roller blade wheels once and it looks "well travelled" but it still does the job.  You want to make sure your travel bag has wheels to make it easier to navigate around the airport (which is often the toughest part of the travel experience).  Some people (and airlines) like the hard case travel bags.  I've had no issues with the Club Glove.  I think MGS just did a travel bag review not so long ago.  You might want to check that out for travel suggestions and recommendations.
• Use a "stiff arm" golf club protector.  Before these were a thing, I cut a broomstick to just longer than my driver length to if the travel bag took a hit on the top, it would take the brunt of the impact.  Now they have collapsible aluminum stiff arms (about $30 on Amazon) that provide better protection.
• Remove the head of your driver.  If you have an adjustable driver, you may want to take a picture of the settings, remove the head and pack the head inside your head cover.   Just put the shaft in the bag like any other club.  It's cuts down the chance that a direct hit damage your precious driver.  It's probably not a bad idea to do it with your other woods too.
• Go with a smaller golf bag if you have one.  I have a small Jones bag I've had for about 25 years that I use just for traveling.  It's smaller size makes it easier to get into and out of the travel bag and keeps the overall weight down.  You don't want to get close to the maximum weight that your specific airline allows without a surcharge.  By being smaller and lighter, it give me the chance to pack my shoes and anything else that might not fit in my luggage.
• Wrap your golf towels around the club heads.   I do this to protect the club faces and prevent rattling during transport.
• It's highly likely your bag will get inspected by TSA so don't make the job too difficult for them to open the travel bag up and see what's inside.
• When you arrive at the airport, look around baggage claim to see if they have a special area for oversized baggage.  I just traveled to Boston's Logan Airport and they had an oversized baggage area where my clubs exited.  
• Some people use Apple Airtags to track their bags through the airport.  Many airlines today have bag tracking in their app so you can make sure it gets on the plane.  Side story:  I was traveling with my clubs once and had a window seat.  The crew was going through their takeoff routine and I noticed my golf bag was still on the tarmac.  I called over the flight attendant and told her my bag was not on the plane.  She said "if that's not your bag, the pilot will kill me for delaying our departure."  My response was "if it is my bag, I'll kill you for leaving it behind!"  It was my bag and once in the air, the flight attendant offered my  a free adult beverage.

I hope this helps.

Everything that was said here. 

Take the heads off any longer Clubs you can and I also tossed in some extra clothing to wrap around the clubs. Could also put socks over top of irons. 

[No3PuttLaLa]

Agree with everything that’s been said. I definitely remove any heads that you can on the king sticks. I wrap them in head overs and some golf clothes and put in pockets of golf bag.

These are the bag protectors I got and they work great. There are now cheaper versions on Amazon too.

I would also recommend a TSA lock for your zippers. And ALWAYS check your bag before leaving the airport once you arrive. If there is damage, you need to advise airline prior to leaving airport for a much easier claim. 

[EMacK1961]

Packing your clubs like they are fragile instruments is the best way to go. The tips that have been mentioned are great. Unfortunately, you can't help human error from the airlines. Workers not getting your bag on the correct plane is a problem. The best you can do is get a tracker and put it in the bag. It won't get it on the correct plane, but at least you'll know where they are.

[Dead Solid Bogey]

Not wanting to hijack the thread but… What are everyone’s thoughts on shipping clubs instead of taking them with you on flights? For those that shipped their clouds; did you find the cost worth the protection and so-called convenience? TIA  

[GolfSpy_APH]

I like taking mine with me. However I haven't come across any issues and managed to take clubs from eastern Canada to New Zealand, Australia, Western Canada, Europe, Scotland and more. I usually have my golf bag double as my clothing bag to an extent as well which offers more protection for the clubs. Weight can be the tricky part however I have heard horror stories on traveling with clubs and them being lost, broken and more. Companies like ShipSticks I have heard work really well, the price is also there to match though. 

[funkyjudge]

16 hours ago, Dead Solid Bogey said:

Not wanting to hijack the thread but… What are everyone’s thoughts on shipping clubs instead of taking them with you on flights? For those that shipped their clouds; did you find the cost worth the protection and so-called convenience? TIA  

If you have the option to do so, I say ship them to and from your destination.  I travel with Perry Golf (best golf tour organizer in the business, bar none!) and they have an affiliated company that picks up your clubs, ships them to the first stop on your trip, and picks them up at your final stop and ships them back home.  You can ask them for a specific date to deliver the clubs to your home if you will make some stops along the way (my wife and I generally take an extra 5 to 7 days to visit London after playing golf in England, Scotland and Ireland, and I don't want my clubs to be delivered back home while we are still in the UK).