I flew to Denver with my tent on the anniversary of 9/11 on 9/11/2003. I made sure to fly with an American airline because their baggage allowances are over double what the non-US (BA included) airlines allow.
Between two of us we could take two 50lb hand luggage bags and 4 approx 70lb bags in the hold. In face we didn't need anywhere like that much. We flew with Continental and I would wholeheartendly reccommend them. They were far more courteous than BA crew and the whole trip was a pleasure. We took my Moss Little Dipper tent (from whence it came as I had previously imported it) to the Rocky Mountains National Park. See photo in gallery. We made sure to hire a large car with a traditional trunk so as to hide everything when moving about beacuse it turns out that if you hire an SUV (which we wanted) the luggage privacy screens are most often missing and unavailable which would have been a security nightmare.
Continental gave us exit row seats on way out, pre-booked them for the connecting flight then when I phones to re-confirm the flights home discovered the check-in lady at Gatwick had pre-booked exit seats all the way home. I was amazed.
The only limitation on us was for cookers/stoves but we'd decided to eat out anyway so that wasn't an issue.
The only mystery to the holiday was just how the little furry things always got into our car trunk to eat our chocolate bars!
Dominic
Flew to Canada in 2001 with a backpacking tent at the height of the F&M crisis, they made us walk through a disinfectant puddle, but didn't check the tent.
Not sure what its like in the US, but in Australia and New Zealand they will inspect your camping gear/walking boots and make sure they are clean. They were also checking the footwear of people who live on farms. Its not as bad as it sounds, but they do x-ray your pack in NZ to see if there are any unwanted items (particularly food) as they want to protect their farming industry.
I think you're also not supposed to take fuel for burners on flights, we have a trangia and you can get methyl hydrate in the US/Canada.
Things are a bit different now....new weight restrictions being the top change. Used to be on almost all flights that you could check a piece of luggage weighing up to 70 pounds, that has now been reduced to 50 and that is with almost all the airlines. We brought our tent over from America with us and we fit it in one of those xxl vac bags, pretty much sucked it down flat but we didn't fit much more in due to the weight.
The exchange rate is great at the moment, but the selection of tents in America is nothing compared to what we have here unless you get a 3 or 4 season tent. REI is a good place to look at.
Also, as stated above you can't take any fuel and you may not even be able to take anything that had fuel in it like you cooker or lantern. They will highly inspect it so check with the airline.
Also, keep in mind the restrictions on weight, if your tent takes up most of your space, won't be able to bring back all your American bargains.
That's one of the main things I miss about the states, all the top bargains you can get, makes me homesick.
One more thing, you can pay extra to bring something overweight or an extra piece of luggage. When we moved here we paid for an extra piece and 2 overweights at 80 USD each, not cheap but cheaper than shipping.
What part of America are you planning on visiting?
Cant say about the USA but I had my tent opened up in front of everyone in Australia & New Zealand customs. The tent had to be spotless and pegs washed, same as all country's now I guess.
Only country I've never had it checked is the uk where I walked straight through without being challenged.
Could explain why this country is such a mess with foot & mouth etc
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: taking your tent on flight to USA
