Traveling by airline

When you travel via the airlines, do you take your best set of clubs, or do you take your #2 set because of possible airline abuse or losing them? I have heard some horror stories about damaged clubs.

Most airlines will cover damage to clubs in a hard-sided case. However, many will make you sign a liability waiver if you have a soft-sided case. I flew with mine on Southwest and had to sign the waiver. But it was free!

You may wish to re-read the fine print, things have changed quite a bit. Btw, nothing is free anymore its rolled into the price of the ticket some how. A properly packed quality soft case is much better t travel with, most hard cases can not fit in a trunk, often it makes you rent a much larger car..... Costing more One other possibility is go to a golf store and buy or be given a box and ship your clubs directly to the hotel or the place you staying. We had ours shipped directly to the club days ahead of time using UPS. Try to use a corporate account if possible. Ups was cheap, it did not get lost, misdirected and handled properly and additional insurance can be purchased. Mine was covered up to 5000, although it was certainly less than that. Make sure you print of the return shipping label too. And then rent the smaller car and not have to lug travel bags and cases around an airport.

#2 set?  My clubs are my clubs.  If I'm not going to take the clubs that I play with every day, I'd just as soon rent clubs at my destination.

Knock on wood, but in 30+ years of flying with clubs, including a good amount of international travel, I've never had a club damaged.

FWIW, I'm a soft case guy.....Club Glove Burst Proof.

Just curious, what exactly has changed? Most airlines (at least the major ones) have an almost identical policy for checking golf bags. Must be in a hard-sided case, or you may have to sign a damage waiver if they aren't. That has been the case the last three times I've flown with my clubs.

This may be true, but if my ticket for Southwest is $300, and yours is $300 through American Airlines or Delta, you still have to pay the baggage fee or pay to ship them. The only way your statement matters is if the price of the ticket on SWA is greater than another airline by more than the baggage fees . But then that goes for any baggage, not just golf clubs.

No argument here. I use a soft case as well.

I've known several people that have done this. I'd be curious to see how much it actually costs. It certainly would be more convenient than hauling clubs around.

I know that there are services such as ShipSticks as well...

Towards the end of the year, I have purchased about $1200 worth of clubs new.  I haven't used them but only at the range and still can adapt to my old ones very easily, and play them quite well. The previous set is stiff steel, and the new ones are regular graphite. We have a 4some going to Orlando to golf in feb and think I will probably use the previous set so I don't fret over damage possibilities. Maybe i'm a little paranoid, but I think that's the way i'm leaning. Airlines are rough on luggage. I did go to Phoenix a few years back w/o any problems, though.