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I do both methods Large stuff I ship and smaller I travel as carry on. That is what I am doing to chicago this year from Europe. I am using battle foam because the smallest case I can throw on the plane overhead with no problem.

I agree that sabol cases as a whole fit better on a plane overhead. For 9 months I traveled between Nashville and San Francisco carrying my army in the overhead of SouthWest Airlines. As long as you have an A ticket you are golden anything after B20 and you are screwed.

I actually mailed my army to a friend US mail once. The army was lost for 3 months in the mail. In order to put my claim in I had to show proof of what the army was worth. Luckily I had bought most of it from the same game store and they were able to provide me with copies of receipts of purchase. Just as I got all the information together the US Post found my army. So happy ending I guess.

Now when I ship it is always UPS or FedEX

Also, if you do ship something fragile, do NOT NOT NOT mark the package as "Fragile"; that makes it a target.

Pack it really well, insure it, and make it look like you're shipping a box of clothing.

A prior poster made a comment about carrying on your mini's and living without clothes for the weekend. I 100% agree with that mentality. Its a really easy justification.

Clothes for the week are less expensive then replacing my army, and less agrevated then rebuying or repainting my army.

My initial plan for going to Adepticon was to fly, life circumstances intervened and I cannot go. My plan was to pack my warmachine models in the Army transport platoon, I can fit my 50 pt list. Then put the books on the bottom, and dice would just be put into the bottom as well with template / tapemeasure, no dice try etc, and just bring a dice back. Then carry it on.

My total clothes for the weekend: 1 pair jeans, undergarmets, 1 hoody, 3 t-shirts, shower stuff in a book bag. That's it. Forget about shaving for the weekend, bring the basics buy whatever else you need because it will be cheaper then replacing your Battlefoam and your army.

Games will understand. Plus have the time, you'll probably still have better hygiene then 75% of the guys there as long as you showered, brushed your teeth, and managed to now spill a brew on your hoody during that late night outing the night before

Best bet for Americans flying with minis:

Pack your minis in a locked case with a firearm. Seriously. You're required to declare that you have it, obviously, so follow all the rules. You show TSA officials that your firearm is unloaded, etc., at which point it is LOCKED and TSA is not allowed to open your package. This is the best way I've found to get TSA idiots to leave their grubby little nubs off of my stuff.

Well, that's one way to do it

All this time, people have been mistaking mini-transport cases for gun cases. Little did they know, some people use them for Both

NuggzTheNinja wrote:Best bet for Americans flying with minis:

Pack your minis in a locked case with a firearm. Seriously. You're required to declare that you have it, obviously, so follow all the rules. You show TSA officials that your firearm is unloaded, etc., at which point it is LOCKED and TSA is not allowed to open your package. This is the best way I've found to get TSA idiots to leave their grubby little nubs off of my stuff.

Now I just need to use battlefoams tray creator to design a custom cut-out for a hand gun.

Protection for me AND my models.

"This is my Army! This is my Gun! One is for Fighting, One is for Fun!

And we're probably freaking out the Brits on here with all this talk of personal firearms.

Lol all this stuff does happen, I was about to board a South West Airline flight to Mesa, AZ. This bag being carry on I was asked what was in it I said "Lead figurines and gaming books" and the people tore open my huge sports bag that held 4 cases of figures, many gaming books, dice and all I needed for a tourney event. Lets just say that I have broken figures, bent and torn books, dice everywere and I was mad as hell. That was carry on, they even opened and rifled threw the same bag on the way back. Best way to make sure your figs don't get touched is take your full cases and nail it all closed in a wooden box marked "FRAGILE". Never again will I let others rifle threw my figs, yup old wooden box trick has yet to fail me, I just got a 1930's Travel Trunk with a lock that fits all my fig cases and its metal and all I did was add a few coast wheels and I am happy.

last year when traveling to adepticon the guy running the x-ray machine asked me what army was in my box and if i was going to adepticon.
I will post some pics of how my guys are getting boxed up for their ride in the belly of an plane.

I have carried mine on in the past, and will likely continue to do so.

Prior to owning an Sabol Case and now a Battle Foam bag I ALWAYS shipped. But after I ran into not having the army show up until half way through the first day of a tournament I invested in a Sabol carry on size case.

Nicorex wrote:"This is my Army! This is my Gun! One is for Fighting, One is for Fun!

Now which one is which


As for traveling with your models, I know that Southwest Airlines allows cheap checked bags, and they allow one carry-on AND one "laptop bag/case" I think you if you could fit your army into the smallest KR Multicase you could count it was the laptop bag. I've lucked out that I can get to most of my gaming by car, but unlucky in the fact that I can't get to Adepticon

I always fly Southwest because I always have to check my luggage and carry on my minis. Other airlines charge $$$ for checked bags so that is a big savings. Also if the price goes down you can change your fare without a charge.

As stated above, they also let you carry on a bag and also a personal item like a backpack, so if you can get your army into both you are fine.

I plan on picking up the 432 from Battlefoam for when I fly out to Vegas this summer. I plan on bringing it on as a carry on.

Shipping my display board to the hotel on the other hand

I've tried flying my models, but I have determined that Storm Ravens have the glide path or a brick, and Land Raiders can only be thrown so far before they break into little pieces on the ground.

targetawg wrote:

NuggzTheNinja wrote:Best bet for Americans flying with minis:

Pack your minis in a locked case with a firearm. Seriously. You're required to declare that you have it, obviously, so follow all the rules. You show TSA officials that your firearm is unloaded, etc., at which point it is LOCKED and TSA is not allowed to open your package. This is the best way I've found to get TSA idiots to leave their grubby little nubs off of my stuff.

Now I just need to use battlefoams tray creator to design a custom cut-out for a hand gun.

Protection for me AND my models.

As I unpack my models I place my handgun to the side and start talking to my opponent about terrain features.

ANYTHING YOU WANT! SURE THAT CAN BE 2+ COVER WITH REROLLS!

Dashofpepper wrote:

targetawg wrote:

NuggzTheNinja wrote:Best bet for Americans flying with minis:

Pack your minis in a locked case with a firearm. Seriously. You're required to declare that you have it, obviously, so follow all the rules. You show TSA officials that your firearm is unloaded, etc., at which point it is LOCKED and TSA is not allowed to open your package. This is the best way I've found to get TSA idiots to leave their grubby little nubs off of my stuff.

Now I just need to use battlefoams tray creator to design a custom cut-out for a hand gun.

Protection for me AND my models.

As I unpack my models I place my handgun to the side and start talking to my opponent about terrain features.

ANYTHING YOU WANT! SURE THAT CAN BE 2+ COVER WITH REROLLS!

Combine that with your penchant for the magical elixir that is the Cap'n...and I can see why you've done so well all these years!

On topic...does the hotel charge a fee for receiving the models you shipped?

I've never heard of a hotel charging a fee to receive a package for a guest.

Southwest allows two checked bags for FREE.

Most carriers allow one carry-on bag and one "personal item", which is often a laptop bag, though I've taken a GW case as a personal item, while my Sabol Army Transport was my carry-on.

I have had multiple TSA people comment on my figures, a couple of them recognizing them. Especially when you're flying in for a big event, they've often seen multiple people with armies. But I've run into a couple who played themselves.

I've also had my carry-on bag opened, but they always ask permission/politely tell me they need to do it, and I've found it easy to let them know that the figures are fragile, and they've let me stand there and help advise/guide them on how to open it without breaking anything.

Mannahnin wrote:I've never heard of a hotel charging a fee to receive a package for a guest.

Southwest allows two checked bags for FREE.

Most carriers allow one carry-on bag and one "personal item", which is often a laptop bag, though I've taken a GW case as a personal item, while my Sabol Army Transport was my carry-on.

I have had multiple TSA people comment on my figures, a couple of them recognizing them. Especially when you're flying in for a big event, they've often seen multiple people with armies. But I've run into a couple who played themselves.

I've also had my carry-on bag opened, but they always ask permission/politely tell me they need to do it, and I've found it easy to let them know that the figures are fragile, and they've let me stand there and help advise/guide them on how to open it without breaking anything.

This has also what I have seen on Soutwest. In addition it is the Sabol Army Trnasport that was my carry on that fit great. But It is worth getting a A ticket to ensure you are not sweating getting an overhead.

I've never had a issue with US Airways. I've mentioned "they are model minatures, i'm happy to open this, and pull everything out for you." Never had a problem. Just the typical stares as the trays come up. As a above post mentioned.
A lot of people have seen the game or some kind of model minature game. I had one attend reach to snag and pull a model out I mentioned "aren't you guys responsible for breakage of items?" I offered to pull out every model for them. They just re-scanned it and away I went.