Travelling with clubs overseas amidst airport chaos

[cjblake09]

3 hours ago, ousuxndallas said:

Headed to Scotland from DFW in 3 weeks.  I'm going to go ahead and use Shipsticks.  Don't want to risk it, as I'm transferring in LHR.  American Airlines cancelled/re-routed all of their Scotland routes through LHR a few months ago.  Prior to that, you could transfer in PHL and fly straight into EDI.

Good luck and report back as my trip is just behind yours from the same airports.

[OhioLUFC]

Anyone had any issues flying through Manchester and their clubs disappearing? I'm heading over in a few weeks and both flying in and out of Manchester from JFK. 

[ND2005]

4 hours ago, OhioLUFC said:

Anyone had any issues flying through Manchester and their clubs disappearing? I'm heading over in a few weeks and both flying in and out of Manchester from JFK. 

 

The major issues are with connections. I would avoid any flights that connect in the UK.

[hammergolf]

6 hours ago, ND2005 said:

 

The major issues are with connections. I would avoid any flights that connect in the UK.

What he said…

[fundustrial]

I have a trip in August that is not a golf trip but sneaking in 2 rounds (Old Course & North Berwick). 
 

flying into London from NYC for a few days then taking train up to Edinburgh. 
 

Given I have a few days in London, would it be okay to check clubs in on the flight (since I have a 2-3 day stint in London as a buffer)? Or just bite the bullet and Shipsticks the clubs to Edinburgh?

[hammergolf]

11 hours ago, fundustrial said:

I have a trip in August that is not a golf trip but sneaking in 2 rounds (Old Course & North Berwick). 
 

flying into London from NYC for a few days then taking train up to Edinburgh. 
 

Given I have a few days in London, would it be okay to check clubs in on the flight (since I have a 2-3 day stint in London as a buffer)? Or just bite the bullet and Shipsticks the clubs to Edinburgh?

I would just go the Shipsticks route and send them to Edinburgh. 1 You will gave them for your rounds of golf. 2 You won’t have to lug them on the train.

[puttnforthe8]

On 7/5/2022 at 9:59 AM, ousuxndallas said:

Headed to Scotland from DFW in 3 weeks.  I'm going to go ahead and use Shipsticks.  Don't want to risk it, as I'm transferring in LHR.  American Airlines cancelled/re-routed all of their Scotland routes through LHR a few months ago.  Prior to that, you could transfer in PHL and fly straight into EDI.

 

SS should be putting a 20% discount for the Open Championship...so sign up to their mails and keep apprised to help save some $

[ND2005]

19 hours ago, fundustrial said:

I have a trip in August that is not a golf trip but sneaking in 2 rounds (Old Course & North Berwick). 
 

flying into London from NYC for a few days then taking train up to Edinburgh. 
 

Given I have a few days in London, would it be okay to check clubs in on the flight (since I have a 2-3 day stint in London as a buffer)? Or just bite the bullet and Shipsticks the clubs to Edinburgh?

I vote Shipsticks.

 

If you want to up the ante golf wise you can easily add another round in East Lothian since the days are so long. Gullane has online booking and had twilight rounds available on short notice on all 3 courses.
 

Can also send polite emails to Renaissance and Muirfield about getting added on as a single - wouldn’t expect a miracle but nothing wrong with asking. 

[spud3]

Good info here; thanks, everyone.

 

I'm leaving on July 30, flying Alaska to Seattle, then Aer Lingus direct from Seattle to Dublin.  ShipSticks-ing the clubs on the way there (delivered to my Air BnB in St Andrews), then bringing them back with me for the return trip.  That's BA from EDI to LHR, then BA direct from LHR to SFO, then Alaska from SFO to PDX. 

 

Reading all this, I'm getting nervous about my clubs making it through LHR.  I'm putting an AirTag in the bag so I can know where they are.

 

Still, trip of a lifetime.  Me and Mrs Spud are going to spend a couple weeks traipsing through Dublin and North Wales, eventually spending a few days in Edinburgh.  Then she's flying home and I get to stay and play golf in Fife and East Lothian.  Basic itinerary:

 

3 days in St Andrews, playing everything I can, BallotBuddy for TOC daily and a 3 day pass for the rest of the time

One day at Crail playing both courses

Carnoustie on the way to East Lothian

Gullane

North Berwick

 

To say I'm excited is something of an understatement.

[imkirby34]

30 minutes ago, spud3 said:

Good info here; thanks, everyone.

 

I'm leaving on July 30, flying Alaska to Seattle, then Aer Lingus direct from Seattle to Dublin.  ShipSticks-ing the clubs on the way there (delivered to my Air BnB in St Andrews), then bringing them back with me for the return trip.  That's BA from EDI to LHR, then BA direct from LHR to SFO, then Alaska from SFO to PDX. 

 

Reading all this, I'm getting nervous about my clubs making it through LHR.  I'm putting an AirTag in the bag so I can know where they are.

 

I did BA EDI->LHR->SFO last month and neither my clubs nor my suitcase arrived at SFO with me.  There were 6 or 7 other people from the larger group that were on the same 2 flights as me and from what I saw in the group chat, I think all of them had at least their clubs not make it.  As this was our final destination, it wasn't such a big deal and everything was delivered the next day.  Since you have another flight to PDX and with another airline, it may get more complicated (?) if your clubs don't make your LHR->SFO flight.

 

I will say, however, that we had less than an hour between flights at LHR.  Thankfully, we didn't have to go through security again.  As it was, they were almost done boarding by the time we made it to the gate for the SFO flight, though we still ended up sitting on the plane at the gate for a ~25 minute delay.

[ND2005]

My clubs finally made it back to me - 9 days after we arrived. 

 

BA was completely uninformative and unhelpful throughout. Their website doesn't update, still says today they are "locating" my bag. When you call, expect 45+ minutes on hold and even then the person I talked to never knew what was going on. One told us the clubs were here already, another told us they were still in london. 

 

Thankfully they showed up intact, bag smelled a bit like a high school locker room after my shoes were trapped in there for a week. But I canceled 3 rounds of golf over 7/4 weekend because I didn't feel like playing with a cobbled together set of old clubs. 

[cjblake09]

11 hours ago, spud3 said:

Good info here; thanks, everyone.

 

I'm leaving on July 30, flying Alaska to Seattle, then Aer Lingus direct from Seattle to Dublin.  ShipSticks-ing the clubs on the way there (delivered to my Air BnB in St Andrews), then bringing them back with me for the return trip.  That's BA from EDI to LHR, then BA direct from LHR to SFO, then Alaska from SFO to PDX. 

 

Reading all this, I'm getting nervous about my clubs making it through LHR.  I'm putting an AirTag in the bag so I can know where they are.

 

Still, trip of a lifetime.  Me and Mrs Spud are going to spend a couple weeks traipsing through Dublin and North Wales, eventually spending a few days in Edinburgh.  Then she's flying home and I get to stay and play golf in Fife and East Lothian.  Basic itinerary:

 

3 days in St Andrews, playing everything I can, BallotBuddy for TOC daily and a 3 day pass for the rest of the time

One day at Crail playing both courses

Carnoustie on the way to East Lothian

Gullane

North Berwick

 

To say I'm excited is something of an understatement.

 

3 hours ago, ND2005 said:

My clubs finally made it back to me - 9 days after we arrived. 

 

BA was completely uninformative and unhelpful throughout. Their website doesn't update, still says today they are "locating" my bag. When you call, expect 45+ minutes on hold and even then the person I talked to never knew what was going on. One told us the clubs were here already, another told us they were still in london. 

 

Thankfully they showed up intact, bag smelled a bit like a high school locker room after my shoes were trapped in there for a week. But I canceled 3 rounds of golf over 7/4 weekend because I didn't feel like playing with a cobbled together set of old clubs. 

I am going to get an air tag for sure for both my clubs and suitcase.  

 

Sucks you had to cancel golf with no sticks.  I am actively looking for a backup set now so i have something to play with before i leave and when i get home if they dont make it. 

[hammergolf]

12 hours ago, spud3 said:

Good info here; thanks, everyone.

 

I'm leaving on July 30, flying Alaska to Seattle, then Aer Lingus direct from Seattle to Dublin.  ShipSticks-ing the clubs on the way there (delivered to my Air BnB in St Andrews), then bringing them back with me for the return trip.  That's BA from EDI to LHR, then BA direct from LHR to SFO, then Alaska from SFO to PDX. 

 

Reading all this, I'm getting nervous about my clubs making it through LHR.  I'm putting an AirTag in the bag so I can know where they are.

 

Still, trip of a lifetime.  Me and Mrs Spud are going to spend a couple weeks traipsing through Dublin and North Wales, eventually spending a few days in Edinburgh.  Then she's flying home and I get to stay and play golf in Fife and East Lothian.  Basic itinerary:

 

3 days in St Andrews, playing everything I can, BallotBuddy for TOC daily and a 3 day pass for the rest of the time

One day at Crail playing both courses

Carnoustie on the way to East Lothian

Gullane

North Berwick

 

To say I'm excited is something of an understatement.

Great trip! Enjoy

[imkirby34]

Even though it didn't have to do with golf travel through Heathrow, when I saw the news article about Delta Airlines basically chartering one of their own planes to fly 1000 pieces of delayed luggage and NO passengers from Heathrow to Detroit, I couldn't help but think of this thread.  Heh.

[Quebec Club Ho]

Thanks for the replies everyone...just a side bar:

 

Has anyone who has used ship sticks had any issues?

 

Not to sound like a worry-wart but if even ship sticks is having issues - I may delay my trip to next summer instead of this September???

[ND2005]

7 hours ago, Quebec Club Ho said:

Thanks for the replies everyone...just a side bar:

 

Has anyone who has used ship sticks had any issues?

 

Not to sound like a worry-wart but if even ship sticks is having issues - I may delay my trip to next summer instead of this September???

I mean nothing in life is perfect, but I wouldn’t even consider canceling a big trip…

 

 

[njlam]

delaying a trip is hard to do as many courses may already be booked for the summer of 2023...

 

I am a week away from finally going on a trip that was originally planned for early 2021.

The only thing that can go wrong now is flight cancellation....keeping my fingers crossed.

[spud3]

3 hours ago, njlam said:

delaying a trip is hard to do as many courses may already be booked for the summer of 2023...

 

I am a week away from finally going on a trip that was originally planned for early 2021.

The only thing that can go wrong now is flight cancellation....keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm in the same boat

[ousuxndallas]

So, I shipped my clubs via Shipsticks this week. Dropped off in DFW on Monday, they arrived at our hotel in Gullane on Thursday. A week before we arrive. Couldn't be happier they are there waiting for me. $220 one way is worth it for piece of mind.

[Green Man]

I wouldn’t want to be travelling through Edinburgh at the moment.

 

Edinburgh Airport suspends helpline over baggage backlog abuse https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-62190489

 

[cardia10]

   And my trip fears were 100% confirmed. Our clubs arrived in Edinburgh the day before departure…rental clubs the entire trip. Flew Knoxville to Chicago to Toronto to Edinburgh. Problem was Toronto then Edinburgh. Re checked them going home 100% sure they wouldn’t make it and again, 100% correct. Clothing went to a totally different airport and clubs a sat on tarmac for 2 days at totally different airport. Everything is air tagged so I know where they are but most airlines have just turned their numbers off and said use online forms. Bags sat in rain 2 days in Toronto going over. Shoes and towels ruined and bag covered in mold. Going to try to claim everything if they even make it back to me.

 

As sad and expensive as it is, pay the extra $500 round trip for ship sticks. Also, avoid Air Canada at any and all costs. Between delayed, changed and cancelled flights, we ended up home a day later after sleeping in an airport. I’m sure it is all airlines at the moment, but air Canada was a special kind of terrible. I will say if you fly into Edinburgh and your clubs aren’t there, fill out missing form at Swiss Air counter. Give it 2 days and go straight to the Swiss air warehouse. The counter will give you address and it is basically at the airport. They are great and will even slide you in the back door at the airport if needed. Use air tags!

[njlam]

Air Tags...great idea. I just order them.

[ND2005]

2 hours ago, cardia10 said:

   And my trip fears were 100% confirmed. Our clubs arrived in Edinburgh the day before departure…rental clubs the entire trip. Flew Knoxville to Chicago to Toronto to Edinburgh. Problem was Toronto then Edinburgh. Re checked them going home 100% sure they wouldn’t make it and again, 100% correct. Clothing went to a totally different airport and clubs a sat on tarmac for 2 days at totally different airport. Everything is air tagged so I know where they are but most airlines have just turned their numbers off and said use online forms. Bags sat in rain 2 days in Toronto going over. Shoes and towels ruined and bag covered in mold. Going to try to claim everything if they even make it back to me.

 

As sad and expensive as it is, pay the extra $500 round trip for ship sticks. Also, avoid Air Canada at any and all costs. Between delayed, changed and cancelled flights, we ended up home a day later after sleeping in an airport. I’m sure it is all airlines at the moment, but air Canada was a special kind of terrible. I will say if you fly into Edinburgh and your clubs aren’t there, fill out missing form at Swiss Air counter. Give it 2 days and go straight to the Swiss air warehouse. The counter will give you address and it is basically at the airport. They are great and will even slide you in the back door at the airport if needed. Use air tags!

 

That's just awful, really sorry to hear that. Hope you were still able to enjoy the trip. 

 

At this point I'd probably use ship sticks for clubs AND checked baggage. Just bring a carry on for the flights. 

 

It really does seem to be a UK-specific travel issue, not any one airline or airport. 

 

The fact that they've just turned off their phone lines is so unacceptable. 

 

[hammergolf]

On 7/16/2022 at 3:35 PM, ousuxndallas said:

So, I shipped my clubs via Shipsticks this week. Dropped off in DFW on Monday, they arrived at our hotel in Gullane on Thursday. A week before we arrive. Couldn't be happier they are there waiting for me. $220 one way is worth it for piece of mind.

No doubt, would have cost you $75 to check them on the plane, so $150 more to make sure they get there is worth every penny.

[ND2005]

10 hours ago, njlam said:

Air Tags...great idea. I just order them.

might give you some peace of mind knowing where they are, but won’t get them back to you any sooner…

[njlam]

35 minutes ago, ND2005 said:

might give you some peace of mind knowing where they are, but won’t get them back to you any sooner…

From what I am hearing, having this info may be helpful to the airline attendants...they may have worse access to info.

[cardia10]

12 hours ago, ND2005 said:

 

That's just awful, really sorry to hear that. Hope you were still able to enjoy the trip. 

 

At this point I'd probably use ship sticks for clubs AND checked baggage. Just bring a carry on for the flights. 

 

It really does seem to be a UK-specific travel issue, not any one airline or airport. 

 

The fact that they've just turned off their phone lines is so unacceptable. 

 

Most courses had good rental sets of Sim Max irons. Carnoustie only had the Sim Max 54 degree wedge so that was rough from bunkers. After that round, we hit a second hand shop in St Andrews and all bought high lofted wedges for the rest of the trip to be safe. 

[cardia10]

9 hours ago, njlam said:

From what I am hearing, having this info may be helpful to the airline attendants...they may have worse access to info.

That is correct. When we could pinpoint them not only an airport but a specific gate, they could add that in their reports and things seemed to move. Sadly, ours being left in Toronto just never got us started. 2 guys clubs made it to Edinburgh but then were promptly shipped back to Boston for some reason. Hovland was in the airport looking for his when we were there. The Scottish Open people were also very helpful and sympathetic but we didn’t have access to the Ping van for an extra set like Hovland got for the Scottish. Air tags at least give you somewhere to start and allowed us to secure rentals much quicker as we knew ours had no chance. Book them fast as courses were running out of rentals fast based on the luggage issues. 

Edited July 18, 2022 by cardia10

[tad950]

From Golf Digest. A recent picture at Edinburgh airport. Apparently passengers are “irate” 😧

[Quebec Club Ho]

On 7/15/2022 at 7:26 PM, njlam said:

delaying a trip is hard to do as many courses may already be booked for the summer of 2023...

 

I am a week away from finally going on a trip that was originally planned for early 2021.

The only thing that can go wrong now is flight cancellation....keeping my fingers crossed.

 

1 hour ago, tad950 said:

From Golf Digest. A recent picture at Edinburgh airport. Apparently passengers are “irate” 😧

What I find super scary and shocking is that anyone can pick up any of these bags. Shane Bacon, put it on Twitter that his bag was lost, and it was found in one of these piles, and a random stranger (very nice of that young lady) went to get it. Same with Leona McGuire this week. What is stopping anyone from going in there and taking any bag. Apparently, you don't need to check or prove it's your with the two previous examples. 

Not trying to crap on any airport or airlines people -  just stating a fact.