International Travel with gear?

[galvar2439 0]

Well FINALLY, the condo i purchased in Cape Town, South Africa is done!. I will be going there hopefully very soon. I would like to take my gear there. Can Those of you who have taken your gear on international flights offer some advice.

So i just broke up with this woman who wasn't even my girlfriend!

Hellfish #782, POPS #10664

[Squeak 17]

Quote

Well FINALLY, the condo i purchased in Cape Town, South Africa is done!. I will be going there hopefully very soon. I would like to take my gear there. Can Those of you who have taken your gear on international flights offer some advice.

i do it all the time, as both cabin luggage and cargo

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[bigway 4]

It is the same as taking anything as else international.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[mik 2]

Quote

It is the same as taking anything as else international.

Not entirely true for all locations ...

Someone I know was recently not allowed to take his rig on as hand luggage (flight from the UK to Spain) as 'the lines could be used to tie someone up' (or words to that effect. Whereas others going through the same airport had no issues (so it will depend to some extent on airport security).

From my experience (of maybe 20-30 international flights with my rig in the last year or so, and a whole load more over the last few years)

- check with the airline to see limits on cabin baggage (weight) and dimensions to see whether it is possible to take your rig as carry on (hand) luggage
- if you do want to take the rig as hand luggage, remember to remove hook knife (if you have one - I have lost a couple by forgetting), take cypress instruction card etc
- it is worth checking with the airline to see whether they have any provision for sporting equipment. For example, British Airways allow you to check in a separate bag of sporting goods (something like 35kg without pre-booking) free of charge. Other airlines will allow you to take another bag of sports equipment for a charge
- remember to turn of the aad - I understand that some have fired in the aircraft hold
- remember that hold luggage does get delayed go missing - I know someone whose rig went missing for a few days - really annoying if on a tight timetable skydiving trip (worth checking your insurance cover for your rig if it does get permanently lost from the hold)

***********************************************
I'm NOT totally useless... I can be used as a bad example

[bigway 4]

As i said... it is exactly the same as taking anything else on board.

I am sure some people will be allowed to take a roll of rope on in their carry on luggage and some will be stopped and given the reason of not being allowed cause they could tie someone up.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[shropshire 0]

>

Woodpecker and I had the exact same problem - F*ck Stansted


>

They'll be making us Check our shoe laces and neck ties next - F*ckwits.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Eagle7 0]

I flew to Spain in November on British Airways from Heathrow Terminal 1. Airport security would not let me take my rig to the departure lounge. They said it had to be checked into the hold.

When I flew out of Heathrow Terminal 4 from London to the States airport security alerted British Airways that I had a rig. British Airways security stated I was not allowed to take my rig onboard the aircraft because the ropes could be used to strangle someone.

When I arrived in the States I worked with USPA and BPA on this matter. BPA sent a query to British Airways and I did as well. I have flown British Airways for 20 years and have been in their frequent flyer program for 13 years.

CEO Willie Walsh got involved and after transatlantic telephone calls and emails I received an apology, I was given frequent flyer miles and I have in writing from BA that I am allowed to take my rig aboard any BA aircraft as carry-on luggage as long as it fits within the carry-on luggage dimensions. They stated that at this time they could not put on their website or state as BA policy that all skydivers can carry rigs aboard their aircraft.

Thanks

[shropshire 0]

WOuld you be prepared to publish the letter, so that we could use it to ask Ryanair to write their own version?

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[wildchild 0]

Advice? Make sure you go and jump with the awesome people down in Cape Town - they rock

____________________________
"If there is doubt, there is no doubt." - Tonto

[Eagle7 0]

The letter was written specifically for me. BA is not ready to state publicly all skydivers can carry their rigs on board and they stated this. However, I am sure they will allow it. The CEO of the company is aware of the BPA and the USPA and that its members travel on BA.

I think BA did a good job of correcting this situation. There was no set policy and they made a limited one for me. As time progresses they may make it for all of us. This does not mean you can not take your rig on BA. It just means they are not going to publicly state you can at this time

[kansasskydiver 0]

lol from my experience, when traveling and they ask you if you ahve any battery operated devices, don't mention your cypres like someone traveling with me did once haha. That was an INTERESTING check in process.

<--- See look, pink dolphins DO exist!

[theparson 0]

This past week my wife and I traveled from Portland PDX, Oregon to Paris CDG, France en route to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. I decided to travel with my rig as I had done on previous trips, taking it along as a carry-on. Through PDX, aside from an extra scan, there was no problem. After a 7 hour layover in Atlanta, Georgia, we left for France on a Delta flight. Six hours later we arrived in Paris, CDG. When transferring from one international flight to another in Paris, particularly when headed to Africa, there is normally another security check one must pass. Due to construction perhaps or due to the way the French organize themselves, the security checks are usually very congested and the agents hardly have time for the unusual. Such was not our luck this time however. We arrived at a security check where there was no queue and we had all the time in the world. As it turned out it was a good thing.
In Paris if your luggage calls for increased scrutiny it blocks the entire process. My rig sat in the scanner for about 45 minutes while the different security agents discussed whether or not the rig could continue on board. The problem was not the rig but the Vigil AAD which had all of the signs of a "bomb" (they used the word) and until they had a higher authority check it out it was not going to move. While all of this was going on we had a pleasant conversation about skydiving, who had tried it, who had not, and why everyone else thought it was crazy to even try, during which time the line grew longer and longer. Finally the proper authority (in this case a gendarme) arrived and after examination of the scan, he explained to me that they would not allow such a device in the cabin with me because it contained an explosive. Somehow the words, "Guillotine Pyrotechique" sound so much more ominous than “Cutter Unit” as Vigil so aptly puts it in the French language. Even though I had been through the TSA in the US and had all of the documentation I could see that this was going nowhere. I was in one of those situations where showing anything that the TSA, USPA or the FAA had concocted would have served only to seal my fate. After all this was “La France” and not the United States!
The Vigil documentation in French was helpful but it all came down to the fact that the laws of France are not the same as elsewhere in the world and, “here we take security seriously!” Even the copy of the “Certificat de Classement” which Vigil includes on its x-ray card seemed to work against us, it being written by “une autorité compétente” in Belgium. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in France would understand why I did not insist that they re-read that certificate. All said, the gendarme was practically apologetic as he guided me through the labyrinth of CDG Airport to the Air France desk where we asked if we could check the rig and make our flight. The fact that I had to pay €150 for an extra bag was a bit sour but in the end it all came through just fine. I think that since we were transferring from a Delta flight where the service was terrible and the food was no better to an Air France flight where they make sure you eat better than any other airline in the sky and they actually use coffee to make coffee took away the sting of having to pay for an extra bag. Not everything about France is necessarily negative.
When I think back over the whole scenario, I don’t think that there is much that I could have done differently aside from check the bag in Portland or not take my rig at all. The latter was out of the question and in Portland it just didn’t seem right to check it. Côte d'Ivoire may seem like a strange place to be with a rig right now but I figure if we are going to start re-building this country after that past 7 years of civil unrest, skydiving ought to be part of the formula. So if anyone else is thinking of traveling to Côte d'Ivoire to skydive, a word to the wise, when coming through France, be ready to see security issues through other eyes and forget about quoting the FAA or the TSA, they are meaningless to your average security official in France.

[Nataly 38]

I've travelled loads with my rig and the biggest problems I had were all in the States!! The thing is that a lot of it depends on the person (or people) you happen to be dealing with on the day, and not so much the nationality in question..

I travelled shortly after all the liquid bomb scares from Heathrow in London.. The security guy looked at my rig and asked me one question: do you have an explosive charge in there? I showed him my AAD documentation which explains how the device works and what it should look like on the scan and he wasn't interested.. As far as he was concerned, I brought the card with me so he had no reason to trust what it said. He called his boss, who had experience of dealing with rigs. The guy said it was fine and off I went.

As for problems in the States, I've been delayed almost every time I've travelled to the US (or indeed within the US) when carrying my rig. The most common thing people seem to be worried about is "why would you have a parachute in the first place?" Like I'd somehow do something dodgy and try to escape the plane!! Sounds ridiculous to you and me, but to Joe Smith who's getting $5 per hour and just doing his job, it's a serious concern..

Best advice I can give: before I travel I always print off whatever policy the airline has on personal parachutes.. They usually don't dispute their own documentation/policies. And whatever you do, be polite, co-operative and calm. Be prepared to check it in at the end of the day.. You're travelling on *their* plane - they make the rules.

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

[HighJB 0]

Quote

When I think back over the whole scenario, I don’t think that there is much that I could have done differently aside from check the bag in Portland or not take my rig at all.

Air France authorize rigs as carry on but you need to ask them for agreement before. With their OK , the security checks works better.

ça passe ou ça frotte