Air travel with firearems

[Yves Halliburton]

Last January an engraver asked me how much is cost me to bring all the guns I had to the FEGA show. 2 Rifles, 6 Pistols, and other firearms stuff. My answer was $0.00 dollars. As you can wonder he was in disbelief. I re-affirmed no, it is true. To a certain degree he was correct it did not cost me $0.00, but in essence YES! So here is how I work the system do my cost free or low cost shipping. Now, I fly Delta due to my hub is Atlanta going out of Savanna and going anywhere from east to west Delta has the most flights available for my travels and all go through Atlanta. First, the case. You will need the Pelican 1700 or V700 case. These two cases meet the airline requirement of just under 62" max total girth. Most airlines have the same size restrictions. The max weight is 50 lbs. for coach and 75 lbs. for 1st class. I pack all my guns in the padded sleeves and stuff soft lightweight material to fill the voids. I will pack it all the way to 50 lbs. Use an airline hanging scale to check your weight. Over 50 lbs. and it's and additional $100.00. Here is the Kicker. I use my American Express Gold Delta Skymiles card for the ticket purchase. This gives me the first CHECKED bag free and I pack my personal belongings in the carry on bag. Easy Peasy. If you fly first class with the AMEX you get the first two bags free. Just for you well off engravers. Now as for firearms through check-in. If you have not done this before the only catch is both the airline and TSA (most attendants) do not know the rules. Once the firearms are inspected (just looked at and asked if unloaded, etc., stuff) the case is closed with a red tag inside the case and you close it up and lock it. DO NOT USE TSA LOCKS. Use combination locks all set to the same code (all 4 holes need to be filled. 4 locks). If TSA wants to get inside to inspect, IT IS REQUIRED BY LAW THAT YOU BE PRESENT. They will ask for the keys or combination, but do not open the case without being present. If they insist see the super. Be firm on this. They will either bring the case to you or you will be brought down to them. Be early for any issues like this as you usually have to wait about 15 min for them to run the bag through the scanner and then the airline ticket agent will give you the OK to go to the gate. At your destination you will receive your case at the airline lost luggage area. It must be checked in with your bag tickets, so do not loose them. Good Travels.

Also, my flights to Vegas are usually full, so they ask for free check in of the carry on luggage. Works great.