Flying with your cue

I need some advice I have never flown with my cue. I’m traveling from Pennsylvania to St.Louis with American Airlines. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
When I travel with a cue. I use a baseball/softball equipment roller bag as my luggage. It has a hard bottom that protects the cue and compartment that is intended for bats to fit in which is just the right size for a hard case to fit in. The top section has enough room for several days worth of clothes. You can pick them up at any decent sporting goods store. Mine is similar to this. Amazon.com: Athletico Rolling Baseball Bag - Wheeled Baseball Bat Bag for Baseball, TBall, & Softball Equipment for Youth, Kids, and Adults (Black): Sports & Outdoors
 
When I travel with a cue. I use a baseball/softball equipment roller bag as my luggage. It has a hard bottom that protects the cue and compartment that is intended for bats to fit in which is just the right size for a hard case to fit in. The top section has enough room for several days worth of clothes. You can pick them up at any decent sporting goods store. Mine is similar to this. Amazon.com: Athletico Rolling Baseball Bag - Wheeled Baseball Bat Bag for Baseball, TBall, & Softball Equipment for Youth, Kids, and Adults (Black): Sports & Outdoors
Get the idea and makes some sense but you trust the quality and sturdiness of a $35.00 bag? That sounds like a disaster to me.
 
i like to play with an LD shaft .
the few times i traveled with a cue
i have a plain jane cue from a good cuemaker that i pack with my LD shaft and a jump break in a JB rugged 2x4.
i put TSA locks on the case and pack it in a duffel bag along with my clothes and toiletries.
i lock the duffel bag with TSA locks also.
and check the duffel in
i never had a problem although once there was a sticker that said the cue case was checked
 
Several people shone have given very good advice. My advice would be, invest in a nice hard sided suitcase, these are very popular around the world. Much more durable than a soft suitcase. Wrap your cues within bubble wrap for extra protection it you want. However a nice hard suitcase will accommodate a cue and a case in addition to your clothes.
 
Wrap cues in bubble wrap; place in PVC pipe (capped on both ends, one with glue the other with duct tape); have it inspected and tagged by security before checking it (so they won't need to open it later).

Always worked for me.

pj
chgo
 
Ever thought of taking the train? Pennsylvania to St. Lou wouldn't take that long. Or maybe drive? Way back before 9-11 security measures were imposed, Brock Yates, writing in Car & Driver magazine, made a case that it was as fast to drive for trips of 500 miles or so.
 
I have a big duffel bag and I have a ratty hard case. I just pack it in with my clothes. A good cheap cue is recommended. I traveled with an Adam butt with an OB shaft. My main player is a Schon butt with an OB so it’s comparable to play with.
 
Get the idea and makes some sense but you trust the quality and sturdiness of a $35.00 bag? That sounds like a disaster to me.
That was one of my concerns with that particular bag as well. It has a 4.5-star rating on Amazon, but that means little. I like to read the 1-star comments to see possible problems. According to one of those, it comes rolled up into the size of a shoe box. I suppose that would be good for storage, but it makes me think it gets most of its rigidity from the baseball bats you're carrying.

I got a roller duffel by Eagle Creek. It was about $200 but the prices are higher now. It comes with a no questions asked warranty which I used once when the baggage handlers managed to break the spine. The spine means you can stand it on end. The roller part means you can move it easily.

One problem with luggage that can hold a cue case is that it might be oversized, which is Length+Width+Height greater than 62 inches. Some airlines are picky about that. My roller duffel is right at the limit (37+16+11) but it's never been a problem. Oversize fees can be high.
 
We should lobby our Senators and Representatives, and even our Executive to have the FAA, TSA (or whatever regulatory agency) to change this policy. People routinely carry canes onto airplanes, and I carried a full-length umbrella home from Japan - no problem! Tennis racquets are allowed, with 29" being the longest racquet allowed in competitive tennis. If the idea is that one can issue a beating with a pool cue, us it as a weapon, why isn't that same logic applied to umbrellas, canes, and tennis racquets? It's an unfair and useless regulation to exclude pool cues form carry on items.

Aren't there billiards associations, etc.? Isn't there a thing like the NRA for pool?
 
Check with airline to determine current regulations and get them in writing on airline letterhead.

1. If possible/convenient ship beforehand care of friend, hotel, or business.

2. Get a suitcase big enough to hold your cue and case (or hold just your cue and carry a soft, fold-up case in carry-on) which you check .

3. Use clothes to protect cue in suitcase.
I agree with most of what you said, but #1 has produced lots of lost cues and misplaced cues in the hotels (especially in Vegas.)
Can only add lock your suitcase and take pictures ahead of time before locking and then locking. Video is actually better.
 
I've always made arrangements with a particular person at a hotel or business to expect and receive my cue when shipping. Never had an issue, and of course, always had insurance on items shipped.
 
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We should lobby our Senators and Representatives, and even our Executive to have the FAA, TSA (or whatever regulatory agency) to change this policy. ...
The last time a change was tried and about to go through, the flight attendants blocked it. They didn't want any of the banned items in the cabin.

As for pool cues receiving their very own special exemption and addition to the allowed items ....

Bob <-- proud donor of a very fine pocket knife and a laptop to the TSA.
 
The last time a change was tried and about to go through, the flight attendants blocked it. They didn't want any of the banned items in the cabin.

As for pool cues receiving their very own special exemption and addition to the allowed items ....

Bob <-- proud donor of a very fine pocket knife and a laptop to the TSA.
Oh, wow, why did they get your laptop?
 
The last time a change was tried and about to go through, the flight attendants blocked it. They didn't want any of the banned items in the cabin.
Things started going dramatically downhill the first time someone allowed a stewardess to believe that she was there for our ”safety”...
 
As Bob Jewett said, an easy option is just a rolling duffle bag, and obviously measure your cue case and make sure you get a duffle bag that is long enough for your case. Probably want to even get a duffle bag that is a couple of inches or more longer than your case in case the manufacturer's measurements or manufacturing tolerances aren't precise, and/or so the bag doesn't end up compressing too hard on the ends of your case after you pack it full of clothes and whatever. If your cues are in a hard sided cue case, or one with pvc tubes for the cues, it may not matter as much whether the duffle has a frame structure to it, but I would personally highly prefer it have some kind of a stiff frame structure to it on the bottom (and Bob's warranty suggestion would always be good in case the frame ever breaks). The link below is what they sort of look like (no idea if this one has a frame, is decent quality, or anything else, just linked to it for the picture).

As t.wallace said, some regular suitcases will fit the case diagonally which is also what I use to travel with my. As Bob already noted, most airlines have a limit of 62" for size of your suitcase when the length, width, and height are added together. But the suitcase models out there, even the ones that all add up to 62", vary in their exact dimensions. One might be 28x20x14 (adds up to 62), and another might be 32x20x10 (also 62). You want to look for the longest ones, because the longer it is, the more room there will end up being for your case to fit in there diagonally.

Also, once you find one that looks like it might work, do the math to calculate what the diagonal measurement would be preferably by using the internal measurements instead of external when you have them (this will do the math for you if needed https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/geometry-plane/rectangle.php) to verify that your cue case will indeed fit, and allow for needing at least an additional inch or two on the needed diagonal measurement if possible in case your cue case can't get all the way into the very tip corners of the suitcase due to the width of your cue case (especially with hard sided suitcases). Getting a couple of extra inches of diagonal room on top of that it is even better (to avoid possible compression on the ends of your cue case) but depending on the size of your cue case that might not happen in this style from my experience of looking around at their dimensions in the past (there aren't a ton of them out there that are going to fit your cue case diagonally at all, and fewer yet that would give you very much extra diagonal room).

Also, if you stay with the soft sided suitcase style rather than hard sided (but a good frame on the bottom is still desired) your cue case will likely fit even if the diagonal measurement is exactly the same as your cue case (or perhaps even a touch shorter than your case length but you are starting to really gamble) because your cue case will just push those corners out enough to still be able to get it jammed in there but this certainly wouldn't be preferred if you can just find one big enough without having to do that (and this may not even be a worthy last resort option depending on what kind of cue case you have and how much you care about the longevity of your suitcase or cue case). Below is a link to the soft sided style I am referring to, but again this is for picture reference only and I don't know that this particular one would fit your case.
 
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We should lobby our Senators and Representatives, and even our Executive to have the FAA, TSA (or whatever regulatory agency) to change this policy. People routinely carry canes onto airplanes, and I carried a full-length umbrella home from Japan - no problem! Tennis racquets are allowed, with 29" being the longest racquet allowed in competitive tennis. If the idea is that one can issue a beating with a pool cue, us it as a weapon, why isn't that same logic applied to umbrellas, canes, and tennis racquets? It's an unfair and useless regulation to exclude pool cues form carry on items.

Aren't there billiards associations, etc.? Isn't there a thing like the NRA for pool?
The times this has been brought up before there were only a handful of people who participated. Yes, letters and more importantly PHONE CALLS to senators offices can help change this, we just don't have the participation.
 
We should lobby our Senators and Representatives, and even our Executive to have the FAA, TSA (or whatever regulatory agency) to change this policy. People routinely carry canes onto airplanes, and I carried a full-length umbrella home from Japan - no problem! Tennis racquets are allowed, with 29" being the longest racquet allowed in competitive tennis. If the idea is that one can issue a beating with a pool cue, us it as a weapon, why isn't that same logic applied to umbrellas, canes, and tennis racquets? It's an unfair and useless regulation to exclude pool cues form carry on items.

Aren't there billiards associations, etc.? Isn't there a thing like the NRA for pool?
Right there's your problem...expecting government to be logical about anything.
 
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