Help please! Anyone traveled with their tails before ?

[Mermaid Khalessi]

I've been searching online for the answer and I couldn't find one from the airport site so I would like to know if any of you mers traveled through an airport and how you transported your tail, I'm flying delta airlines to Hawaii next week and I'm thinking I can bring my tail as a "personal item" but I want to make sure I can because I will be heartbroken if I have to leave my tail behind at the airport because it doesn't fit size requirements. The tail is too big to fit in my carry on and it won't fit in my suitcase. The only option I have is to bring it as "personal item" but I'm not sure if they would let me. Any advice ? Thanks guys

[Kae]

any personal item must fit size requirements to fit in the overhead bins with the carry-ons, or be small enough to fit under the seat in front of you during take off and landing.

Maybe you could wrap and secure the tail, maybe even put it in a box, and have it as checked luggage?

[Anahita]

I would put the tail in a sturdy box with lots of padding and a secure it close, then check it in. Make sure you mark the box so you can tell it's yours. I think something like Christomer Starfish has to keep their tail. There's a thread on here that was talking about carrying/transporting tails that was just updated today. Just search "Carrying silicone tail". Most of the conversation is about bags, but there's a picture of the box I was talking about in the post. It should work for a check-in (which is what they'll make you do since your tail is too big to even fit in your suitcase).

[mermaidm]

I actually had to deal with this problem with my magictail. I wasn't sure what to do with it because it would not fit into my suitcase. I had to stuff it into a tote bag, the tips of the fluke were showing but it fit under the seat well enough so all was good.

[AniaR]

I always take mine in a large box with packing peanuts. Safest way and cheapest

[Finfolk Productions]

We just finished a big trip traveling with five full silicone tails to Hawaii and we flew Delta. We did all the hassle before hand of trying to figure out the best way to transport our tails. Here is what we learned and our best advice-

Delta has size restrictions. The dimensions of your luggage/box/package cannot exceed 63 inches in legnth, width and height. Luckily, our tails with competitor monofins were able to fit into thin, square cardboard boxes JUST within that size restriction.

Because space is such an important factor for them, you will get charged SUBSTANTIALLY more for an over sized item than you will for having an overweight item (weight limits are 50 pounds).

So, if you can fit your tail in to a thin cardboard box that is below the size restrictions you can check it as you would any other piece of luggage.

We taped the heck out of our boxes and by the end of the trip they were pretty beat up, but the tails remained perfectly safe during all of our travels, even with minimal padding in the boxes.

DON'T buy an extra seat for your tail, DON'T expect to be able to carry it on with you, DON'T exceed Delta's size restrictions unless you want to pay several hundred more dollars to transport your tail.

Fit it in a thin cardboard box (ours were 29"x29"x4"), write "Fragile" all over it with your name and contact info, tape the heck out of your box, and be prepared for it to be inspected at customs. (They opened and resealed our boxes both on the trip there and on our return trip home). Our tails were not damaged, we did not pay any extra fees, and it is, in our opinion, the best way to transport a tail that will not fit into any other luggage.

This will be even easier to do if your tail does not have a competitor monofin- those things are really so much bigger than you think they are, hahaha.

Lastly, we hope you have an AMAZING trip. We stayed on O'ahu and had the time of our lives! :D

[Blaze]

thank you SO MUCH for posting! I leave for Jamaica in 8 days and was sad I didn't think I could bring my tail!

[MermaidHyli]

I used a garment bag and carried it on with me when flying to Belize. We kept it in the stewardess closet.

[SeaNymph]

A magictail fits easily in a normal suitcase. I have done this a lot of times before. You can bend it a little, just secure it with clothes that there are no pointed things to damage it, but that´s no problem!

[Blaze]

Thankfully I tried to see if my tail would fit in my suitcase this morning & it did! The fin flops up a bit on one side but I will fill the suitcase full of soft stuff so hopefully it will be ok. :)