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question about international equipment travel


Alan A

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Hey guys, soon I'm going to be traveling to europe with my sound equipment, its one case, pelican 1620 case and the weight is within regulations, also with tsa approved locks.

My question is would it be fine to check it in with all my other luggage? Or is there any other recomendations, its a private travel, not on a company budget. I just want it to be safe, or if there is anything special I have to do to make sure its fine.

I know already about the batteries, to take the out.

Thanks guys.

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You should call your Customs Department and check the requirements...it could be difficult getting it back into the US on your return.....a Carnet is expensive,perhaps letting Customs know you are going privately might help...but sometimes they don't differentiate. I have done a list that gets stamped by our Customs...but there's no guarantee it will be accepted in Europe.....We nearly had our camera confiscated because the true market value wasn't displayed on our Carnet,we had put down the rental cost as the value....a close call and some fast talking needed....The French can be very difficult with gear if you get the wrong person...but then again you might get lucky...

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keep in mind that you will deal with all the requirements for importing your equipment into every country (including your return to the USA), as well as exporting it when you leave each country (again, including the USA)

so you have all the getting it ins, along with all the getting it outs...

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If the items travel with you as carry on; U.S Customs calls this "hand carry", you can fill out an on line U.S. Customs Form 4455 "Certificate of Registration". (link here: http://forms.cbp.gov/pdf/CBP_Form_4455.pdf)

You will list the items, the serial numbers, country of manufacture and value.

Also indicate which airline you are traveling on including the flight number.

You could either register this form in advance of travel with U.S. Customs - bring the items you will be "hand carrying". They will stamp the form and sign it. You can also do this the day of travel at any international terminal at the U.S. Customs office. Make photocopies of this stamped form.

Once the form is stamped, you can safely take these items out of the U.S. and when you return show the same form (or a copy) on your return to the U.S. Customs officer. He might reinspect the items, but he will then stamp the form and keep a copy. That's it no problems.

I've travelled with lots of items this way hundreds of times out of and back in to the U.S. with no problems.

RL

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Do not check your case full of sound gear!  A Pelican case says one thing to a dishonest person "something really expensive inside".  If you must travel with your Cantar, and it is for personal reasons and not business (tough to explain to customs), then put it in a smaller Pelican case that is within the airline specs for carry-on.

All the other advice here is also dead on.  Heed it all.

Robert

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A Pelican case says one thing to a dishonest person "something really expensive inside". 

I got a GREAT deal a few years ago on 6 government surplus Anvil/Calzone cases...$80 for all of them, in fairly good condition. The problem was they contained 300 pounds of old telemetry equipment that nobody, from NASA to various Area-51 nuts to electronics scrappers, wanted the stuff. I had to toss it. But anyway, the point:

All 6 cases have 'DELICATE INSTRUMENTS' stenciled on the side. When I travel with them, I'm always a little nervous. Some people look curiously, but I've been cased a couple times as well. They stand out a lot...But they are usually heavy enough (bleh, $$$ to check), that literally running off with them is not possible.

The only thing I would add is insurance...But that has been addressed in other threads extensively.

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I am going to be taking some gear with me on a flght via London to South Africa.

I usually try to take as much as possible with me in my carry on, but some items willneed to be checked.

Does anyone know what kind of travel insurance covers professional equipment up to say $1000 per item? Seems like all standard policies are useless for insuring expensive pro gear.

Thanks

Jon Chiles

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Does anyone know what kind of travel insurance covers professional equipment up to say $1000 per item? Seems like all standard policies are useless for insuring expensive pro gear

I recently travelled from Australia to Ukraine with my SD 702 and Scheops M/S rig. I ended up getting 'Musicians Travel Insurance' from a company here called Marshes. They do a lot of unusual insurance such as Marriage Celebrants and Personal Trainers. They cover my specified gear 24/7 anywhere in the world for a quoted value for anything from damage to theft from an unlocked venue.  Although I've never tested the policy, I'm happy to have it.

Try finding something that musicians in your country use for their gear.

John

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www.insuremyequipment.com 

This is a great policy specializing in  our business.  Affordable rate, great customer service, rental add ons, and it covers just about everything.

Call:

Kat Wong

Internet Business Division

Heffernan Insurance Brokers

InternetBusinessDivision@heffINS.com

Phone: 213-785-6912

Mobile: 626-379-6280

Main: 213-236-0511

License #0564249

There are several member here that carry their insurance.  They are good people!

-Rob

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By the way:

Who tries and gets away with overweight carry on bags??

I am flying Virgin and their limit is 13lbs for economy class, my bag weighs 7lbs on its own, so once I put a 788, mixer, a few mics and some wireless in there I'm at about 25lbs easy.

I have gotten away with this before but obviously it depends on the airline, how full the flight is and who checks your bags...

Jon Chiles

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I FEDEX all my gear now. I get production to either provide with with fedex slips or account number. I usually ship it standard overnight or two day if time permits and insure it each case for my insurance deductible just in case there is an issue with the company and its insurance. For most of my reality shows I ship three cases and a pvc pipe with boompoles in it. If your going to fly with the gear zip tie cases you check shut and tape extras to outside of case. I always use bright colored ties so i can see instantly if it has been searched. But the FEDEX method is much easier i just call hotel ahead of time to tell them it is coming and make sure it is the hotel we are actually staying at as more than  once production gave me wrong address for hotel. When i arrive it is there and waiting for me. When we wrap I just call for a pick up and leave cases at hotel or since fedex is near airport just drop it off before flight. No stress no lugging cases around.

I also use Kat Wong to insure my gear very affordable

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Like Whitney, I too have been shipping a lot of gear via FEDEX for some of my regular clients, it can work out to be cheaper in the long run depending on which airline you happen to be on.

To the original posters question, FEDEX in other parts of the world is not like it is here in the US.  I had an issue this past year in France where we were working in a smaller town 2 hours away from Paris and I needed to return a package to Gotham. Easy, right? I called Fedex and left it at our hotel for pick up.  Well, they had no local Fedex office and ended up hiring a courier service to come from Paris to pick it up in LeMan. Well two days later, still no pick up. Turns out the courier heard about a rolling protest of Ambulance drivers in the next town over and turned around. A week later the package was still in Paris with claims that some paperwork was not in order, it was.  It did end up getting back to NYC, 9 days late.

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It's not just overseas.  FedEx lost a large Pelican case of mine which was scheduled from Memphis to Indianapolis.  They mis-sent it, then lost it and finally it was no longer showing up in their system.  It actually had gone back to the Hyatt Place they had picked it up from in Memphis but FedEx had no clue that after a long journey to the far Southern states, they had sent it back to the hotel where they picked it up.

Thanks to a conscientious hotel staff, I finally got it back.  Along with totally losing track of the case, FedEx had managed to damage it in ways that most people couldn't, even if they tried.

John

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Thanks for the Fedex stories! Thats not an option for me this time.

And yes Senator I guess I did kinda answer my own question in my post:)

Just interested to see what others experiences have been.

I have decided to finally get some real insurance on my gear with Heffernan and will check some items while carrying on the expensive and fragile bits..

Jonathan 

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http://www.packair.com/filmproductions_map.html

These guys will handle logistics for shipping anywhere in the world, although they obviously need to pass the transportation and foreign customs responsibility to a third party at the other end.  Typically they are hired by production, so I am not sure how expensive this is.

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