TUI & Lightsabers - my experience

[garryboy11]

Hey just back and thought I’d share experience of getting two savis hand built light sabers home via TUI.

First off, TUI now make it clear in their pre-departure (to Florida) email that no light sabers (of any kind) are allowed as hand luggage and therefore need to be checked in.

Knowing this and seeing other posts confirming their firm stance, we decided to get a couple of shipping tubes to transport the light saber blades as checked in luggage - and we would take the hilts (which btw are really heavy!) in our hand luggage.

We initially looked in Walmart for the required sized shipping tubes (2” x 32”), but no joy.
Ended up picking them up in Office Depot (near John Young Parkway) $16 for two.

You can pick them up at Melbourne airport, but they were $17 for one.

To pack the blade we took the padding/foam out of the supplied carrying case (it’s like pipe insulation) and used that plus some bubble wrap inside the shipping tubes.

At check in - TUI were being very strict on the no sabers as hand luggage rule - not even allowing small retractable ones other people had.

However - they did not weigh them or count the weight towards your allowance and they told us they walk them out to the aircraft (rather than throwing them in with the cases).

Incidentally - as others have mentioned - they didn’t even look at our hand luggage either how many items or weight (which was good as we were def over the allowed 10kgs on list of ours!)

Sabers arrived in tact in Glasgow (although after all the cases had come off which kinda negates advantage of getting off flight quick in Premium!)

[Saratoska]

Thought the check in agents at Melbourne were so friendly, They asked our grandchildren if they had any lightsabers and when they said no, they said that’s rubbish but I bet you have lucky charms

Our check in guy promptly said least it’s not Pepto-Bismol as apparently someone prior had so many bottles they were well over their allowance , 2 agents were so nice , makes such a difference

And like you they never weighed or even looked at our hand luggage

[garryboy11]

Originally Posted by Saratoska

Thought the check in agents at Melbourne were so friendly, They asked our grandchildren if they had any lightsabers and when they said no, they said that’s rubbish but I bet you have lucky charms

Our check in guy promptly said least it’s not Pepto-Bismol as apparently someone prior had so many bottles they were well over their allowance , 2 agents were so nice , makes such a difference

And like you they never weighed or even looked at our hand luggage

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Have to say, all the staff we encountered at Melbourne were fantastic - friendly and eager to help - such a change from the grumpy faces and attitudes at Glasgow 😂

[Nickynoonoo]

We are flying United, I hadn’t even thought Of this being an issue!

Does anyone know how long the blade is? If we bubble wrapped it would it fit in a large case?

[garryboy11]

Originally Posted by Nickynoonoo

We are flying United, I hadn’t even thought Of this being an issue!

Does anyone know how long the blade is? If we bubble wrapped it would it fit in a large case?

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The blade part is 32” long. It would have fitted in one of our (larger) cases but tbh I was worried it would get bashed as it was tight fit corner to corner (and they look fairly fragile).

I would check with United as some airlines (e.g Virgin) seem to be ok with you taking them in as hand luggage. It’s just TUI are strictly no.

[Gngr29]

Originally Posted by Nickynoonoo

We are flying United, I hadn’t even thought Of this being an issue!

Does anyone know how long the blade is? If we bubble wrapped it would it fit in a large case?

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According to my son, it depends what blade you get…..if they fit in a large case or not.!

A hand built one from SAVI’s the blade are 34inches long when removed from hilt, this measurement includes the black tip.

If you buy a legacy one at Doc Ondar’s the blades are bought separately and they are are either 29 1/4 inches or 39 1/4 inches including the black tip.

We flew Virgin and had no issues with bringing one back and put one of the blades in large sports bag (would not fit into a large Tripp case) and packed it tightly with lots of clothes.

[Wismgari]

At check in at Melbourne the first question they asked me was whether we had any light sabers... I answered, no but I have a magic wand and the lady just stared at me 😂

[Disneydad001]

so the blade is 32" long, how wide ( think ) is it ? ? ?

thinking if I need to pack them in a case, then a bit of downpipe / waste pipe might work in the suitcase

[garryboy11]

Originally Posted by Disneydad001

so the blade is 32" long, how wide ( think ) is it ? ? ?

thinking if I need to pack them in a case, then a bit of downpipe / waste pipe might work in the suitcase

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Around 2”wide at the widest part (which is the bit that inserts into the hilt)

[Gryff]

When DH built his it came back in his hard case golf bag carrier with a 7ft pink Christmas tree that was in sections and the putter that’s had almost as many trips to Florida as he has
We’d 2 huge dinosaurs from Target this trip back with BA
The check in staff were amazing with the kids giving them labels for them as were security when they went through the X-ray machine
At MCO