Photographer Loses $20K in Gear Via American Airlines

[Biro]

I hate it when this happens...

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[Luke]

I wouldn't check a bag with $ 20K in photo gear unless it had straps around it. Yes, it's a hassle for this guy. But accidents happen. I'm sure American will cut him a check for "replacement value".

 

[Ray Sachs]

Man, that sucks - sounds like he didn't want to check it but the airline said he couldn't carry it on? When I went to Italy about three years ago, I carried a bit of gear but checked most of it in my one checked bag. The bag didn't make it home with me and I was really nervous about it until it showed up the next day. It wasn't $20,000 worth of gear by a long shot, but I'd have been really upset to lose it. Also had my laptop with all of my photos in it, with the only backup being the relatively few shots I'd put on Flickr (in low res due to limited bandwidth in Italy). So it would have sucked...

-Ray

 

[Luke]

I always assume that when I check a bag that I will never see it again. Prepare for the worst.

 

[Lightmancer]

This is well known in the circles I inhabit...

United Breaks Guitars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Public Relations Disaster – How saving $1,200 cost United Airlines 10,772,839 negative views on YouTube | Sentium

 

[Tom Wilby]

Might be wise to ship ahead via FedEx or UPS.

 

[Lawrence A.]

If an airline asked me to checked $20,000 worth of gear, I think I'd skip the flight and book another airline I knew could handle the article in carry-on. Yikes!