How secure are your guns when you travel by air?

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typical10

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Just this past year I was headed on another Canadian adventure that I soon would not forget.
As it turned out six feet of snow had fallen and the outfitter should have canceled the hunt, instead I made my way to NW Canada on Northwest Airlines like I had on previous hunts.
The hunt was a bust and I was trying to rebook an earlier flight back to the states. After re-entering the US, I rechecked my Cabela?s bulletproof aluminum gun case withUS customs. This would be the last time I saw my equipment in one piece.
The flight was short back to Iowa. I was ready to put this week behind me, so I thought. As I approached the luggage pick up point I could see my case was not setting level, as I got closer I could see the clear imprint of a tire across the crushed case. My week now went from bad to a nightmare. I opened the case in front of two Northwest Airline officials and the damage was very apparent, however the two women at hand had no clue. A claim was filed with the airline and I was given a phone # to call after a gunsmith made a documented claim. The claim totaled $2205.00, including one bent rifle, two scopes, two sets of rings, and one Cabela?s aluminum gun case.
The local Northwest Airline Terminal in Des Moines couldn?t handle the claim, so I was directed to the Home office in Minneapolis for Northwest airlines.
It went like this, would you please fax us your documented claim and it will be processed. Great I thought, I received a call the next day informing me the check was in the mail, a few days the check did arrive along with a letter that said. Dear Mr. Haugland we appreciate your business as a Northwest Air customer, however due to your flight being an international flight our maximum payment cap is $1489.00. We suggest you take the rest of this claim and file it with your homeowners insurance company. Thank you for Allowing Northwest Airlines to serve you. I have attempted reaching Northwest Air by phone and certified letters to no avail. The next time you fly with you weapons you might want to research the airline. Northwest Airlines has lost any of my future business. :x

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b295/ ... 1171417246
1243case-med.jpg
 
Dang! That took some effort on Northwest's behalf to bend up a case like that! :shock: I wouldn't give up until I had the FULL amount for the damages in my hands, one way or the other!
 
Here's the sad thing Jeff. YOU shouldn't have had to find your stuff screwed up. If their heart were in the right place...they would have FOUND/PAGED you and TOLD you.."Mr. Haugland, we broke your stuff, let us write you a check for what it was worth!" THAT'S how you do business and THAT'S how you get return customers! Stuff like that makes one sick and their stomach and really makes you not ever want to go on another trip again. My last trip to Canada and thru Canadian customs was a freakin' JOKE!

Jeff...NEXT time go to TEXAS with us and you can drive yourself! :D
 
the airlines are a weird sort of business . . . northwest might be one of the worst. i flew northwest last year and on my return flight they kept us waiting for an hour past takeoff time while they inspected the plane. then they boarded everyone onto the plane. then they said that we had to unboard. so everybody got off . .. then they said sorry, flight's been cancelled. then they rebooked me on a different airline with an extra stop. when i finally made it home, they had lost my luggage. it showed up a few days later completely smashed. for my inconvenience i got a pittance of sky miles. last time i fly northwest.

but in YOUR case, i would contact an attorney to see about recouping the difference in the value of your goods and their supposed "cap" for damages on international flights.
 
A buddy of mine just got back from a Texas hog hunt. He also used Northwest Airlines. They completely destroyed his gun case,,,but his Model 70 High Grade luckily survived. He still hasn't received any satisfaction from the airline reps. He stated that the damage was clearly intentional,,it was so bad.
 
I do not know if this will be of any value to your situation, but you may wish to inform NW that you can visit dozens of websites like this one posting how badly you and your firearms were treated.

One other possable corse of action by yourself I have used or threatened to use with great effect that you may wish to see if it will work for you. Inform in writing to NW air lines that unless you receive satisfaction, you will obtain a permit to picket their area of the air port informing any potential NW air lines customers of just how poorly thay treated your valubles and how even worse thay treated you after the fact.

The compitition among air carriors is quite fearce and I immagine thay would not wish you to drive away any customers let alone as meny as picketing potentially could.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck with the airlines. What was the final outcome?

Back a few years ago I worked for the TSA doing baggage checks. It was not uncommon for some TSA employees to open up the a rifle case and play with the rifle before sending it to the airplane cargo hold. On one occasion I watched a supervisor mess with the adjustments on a scope!
I have yet to travel with one of my guns but I'm sure I will be very paranoid about how its being treated when I'm not around.
 
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