billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Call the airline direct and ask. yes, it is that easy.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

I fly out of Williamsport and check at gate because of restrictions
So far in 12 years no problems with loss or damage upon arrival at Philly.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Manbags.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That's lousy! I would bring a compact camera with a decent zoom.

I once flew in a small plane from Boston to NH. When I checked in, they weighed me to decide where I would sit. Their telephone was the pay phone on the wall. In one conversation, they asked the pilot when he thought he would get there. I had no luggage, but some people had to leave their luggage for the next flight because the plane's "trunk" filled quickly. The pilots looked like they were in high school. Interesting situation.

trackmag

Driving from SF is your best option. Lots of good things to shoot along the way.

ggenova64

Good Morning
Can you carry the bag as a Carry On?

spraguead Loc: Boston, MA

United's lowest fares are limited to "no carry on". Usually you can pay a fee to add the carry on, or you can pay a fee for luggage (having equipment in a larger case).

Call them and inquire.

alandg46 Loc: Boerne, Texas

Several years ago we were returning home via a commuter plane from Albany, NY connecting to a flight at Newark. I keep my camera gear in a backpack stuffed inside a roll-on sized for carry-on. I was told that it would have to be checked. I voiced my concern to a flight attendant. He understood and took my carry-on and personally loaded it in the luggage compartment. Then when we landed he hurried down and got my carry-on off first and delivered it to me. I was impressed and very grateful. The carry-on had my Nikon D800E and D500 along with 24-120 F4, 200-500, 16-35mm, and 70-200mm.

billt1970 Loc: Gambrills, Maryland

I had a very similar problem yesterday when flying from Chicago to Little Rock, AK on a smaller plane after getting to Chicago from Baltimore on a 737.

I have a Think Tank airport bag that handles all my gear plus a laptop. As I was getting ready to board I noticed the gate agent tagging passenger’s larger carry-on bag. My problem with that was two fold: First the security of my gear; and second the significant risk of danger from all of the LiOn batteries that may NOT be placed in aircraft holds for fear of them starting a fire. Curiosly the gate attendant hadn’t even thought of that problem! So, since it was physically impossible to carry the bag onboard, I set about collecting and removing the LiOn batteries.

The three batteries for my DSLR were obvious, as was the laptop battery (I took the whole laptop with me). Then, the more I thought about it, there were others to be dealt with. I ended up removing three small specialty cameras (with built-in batteries) plus three batteries used for charging my electronic suite. In all it was about a dozen battery devices. Better safe than sorry that I might have left something behind that could have caught fire and caused my plane to crash!

I will be planning ahead for my return trip, where the outgoing flight will have similar carry-on restrictions. This is what btbg noted in his/her post. The suggestion is that we bring our bags to the gate, but be prepared to remove all potentially dangerous batteries and carry them on the aircraft. I believe that the theft risk in this scenario is minimal.

My real concern is the apparent lack of awareness of the potential problem by the gate attendant. I will be writing to United to have them be more careful in the future raking into consideration the issue of LiOn batteries when gate checking passenger bags.

Best Regards,

Bill Taylor
Gambrills, MD

Bazbo Loc: Lisboa, Portugal

Either ship the gear or buy insurance.

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

Did you buy a cheap ticket that does not allow carry on? Ive traveled a lot and never saw that. But then again, i think you said it was United. You may call the airlines fir clarification.

Even on commuter planes they will take the bag at the gste and put it in the belly of the plane, aside from checked bags.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

I’ve done a trip such as yours with all my gear and I’ll tell you it became a PITA very quickly. Think long and hard about all the stuff you’re taking. On our 6 week trip out west, I found that my 16-85 lens was on the camera 95% of the time. The other 5% was a 10-20. If you expect wildlife then add whichever light weight zoom lens. After that trip, I switched to micro 4/3s and never looked back.

Kobuk Loc: Roseville, CA

This is correct it does not have anything to do with smaller plane United Sucks! you have to pay more to take a carry on

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

Call the airline. They may allow a personal item.

Strange

Number One - I don't fly United. Poor experiences in the past with that carrier.
Number Two - Watch a couple of light hearted YouTube videos about the experiences of a Canadian Band that flew United Airlines. Google: united breaks guitars