What to expect when traveling out of state to play?

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Jan 17, 2013
414
18
Texas
Daughter has been asked to join a team that has a lot of out of state tournaments this year. By out of state I mean getting on a plane to get there, not driving one state over. What are things you guys have learned about traveling by plane to games and what things do I need to know? How do you transport bats? I would assume they are not accepted as a carry on item.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
Bring uniform, glove and shoes as carry on. Bat ship or check in.

My philosophy for traveling in general is under pack, I have a credit card if I need to get something. It is not like you are going to the wastelands, you can go get something if you need it. Add to carry on so you do not need to buy again.
 
Oct 19, 2009
1,277
38
beyond the fences
Good points by Quincy^^^^^ also- we find that traveling and checking in to hotel the day before
tournament helps a great deal, especially for those who are not used to travel by plane.
We check bats, balls, catcher gear and buckets carry on uniforms cleats, glove
 
Jan 17, 2013
414
18
Texas
How do you travel with your bats? Are you using a big suit case and are able to go corner to corner or are you buying a hard case that a couple of bats?
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
It seemed there was often someone driving to take bats and coolers. If not shipping tubes work well. We couldn’t afford airline tickets for the entire family every weekend so either just one parent would go or we’d send her long with another family to share expenses. It’s hard not being there, but it helps them get used to college.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
DD uses an old catchers bag and packs her non-essential softball stuff in it, including bats and checks it. I have know people who use a hard sided gun case to check bats. Never pack essential items (glove, uniform) in a checked bag - carry on those items - if your luggage is lost you can buy or borrow cleats, batting helmet, and bat.

Air travel significantly increase the cost of playing TB. Not only are you buying plane tickets, you also have to rent a car. The other downside is if your team gets eliminated early it is difficult to change your flight.
 
Oct 5, 2015
91
18
if you have a rolling bat bag, really not an issue but I would suggest wrapping bat in the bat in the duck liner shelf paper (walmart or elsewhere) for extra protection. If you have a back pack type, you may want to see if anyone has travel golf bag and shove several in there as well as folding chairs or stadium seats (or buy a cheap chair at walmart when at location)

More importantly, when the glove and cleats go out of the bat bag to carry on, the collapsable cooler goes in as well as sunscreen.

if you fly Southwest frequently, book multiple departures if it is double elimination tourney and then cancel the one you don't need and apply the credit to the next trip. Nothing worse that being knocked out and stuck in a town if you don't need or want to be there. Better to buy two $59 tickets for Sat nite and Sunday nite, than to move the flight the the day before the departure and pay $200+ extra per person to get out of Dodge. Showcases are different as if you are flying in, you will usually have morning games on Sunday (local teams typically get Sun afternoon) so can safely book mid afternoon departure.
 
Mar 20, 2014
918
28
Northwest
DD is a catcher-we have a NoE2 catchers bag that we use for airline travel. We wrap her Xeno in bubble wrap and then wrap a towel around it. Carry on her cleats, uniform and catchers mitt.
 
Jul 1, 2010
171
16
This is what we use. Also, recommend caution with carrying cleats on board. A few years back we were told that metal cleats could be a "weapon"?, so DD carried glove and uniform items in backpack as carry on.
 

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