Fiend at Court Unplugged
When I originally conceived of the topic of how to best take commercial flights with tennis racquets, I was thinking that it would be a quick “one and done” easy writing session. I even spent some time thinking about what two additional topics for rounding out the rest of the weekend should be. Flying with tennis racquets turned out to be a three part series. This final installment focuses on how to best handle racquets as a carry on item.
TSA regulations allow each person to carry two items onto a plane. The general idea is that one of those items is a suitcase and the other is a “personal item” that can fit within the under-seat storage area. Occasionally in the course of my business travel, I will seen a person entering a flight with two roller board suitcases. I have yet to see any of those people be challenged over the fact that a second roller board cannot be stowed beneath an airline seat. On the other hand, I regularly have to stuff my tiny purse into one of my other carry on bags even when all three will clearly fit under a seat. The lack of common sense chaps me.
As I wrote about in Part 1 of this series on Friday, the individual airline policies for what counts as a “bag” is a little murky. For example, during business travel time crunches I regularly carry bags of take-out food onto the plane. I have only had one gate attendant insist on including food in the total bag count. In fact, I have found that any shopping bag that looks like it came from a vendor in the gate area usually receives a free pass.
The number of bags are counted only when passing the gate agent. Racquet handles will protrude from any legal size carry-on bag. The maximum allowable length for a carry-on suitcase is 22 inches. Most adult size tennis racquets are in the 27 inch range. So while clearly the racquets will have to be removed before being stored on a plane, they don’t count as a separate item. I have carried a stack of lashed racquets on as a carry-on item separately, but generally I have found it to be best to place them in some sort of bag.
When carrying a tennis racquet for business travel, I have found it to be convenient to simply slide it into the outer pocket of my standard roller board suitcase. When I stow that bag in the overhead luggage compartment, I simply remove the racquet and lay it over the top of the bag. I have never had any issue or challenge traveling with a single racquet in this way. However, for at least for my particular bag, one racquet is pretty much the limit of being carried that way. It is great for business travel and not so good for a tournament.
For travel to competitive tennis events, a bag that is specifically made for tennis is probably the best way to transport racquets. The Fiend at Court Spousal Unit carries a backpack that he received as a USTA League captain’s gift. Wilson makes a beautiful black on black racquet backpack that I think would be really good for that purpose. Additionally it is nice and roomy enough that I would be willing to use it as a tournament bag.
I have a open top sporting goods bag that I have found to be convenient for airline travel. The advantage of that form factor is that if challenged over a tiny purse or a bag of snacks, it is really easy to slide those into the top of the bag for gate agent compliance.
To reiterate a point made yesterday, it is a really good idea to travel with every thing needed to play at least one round at a tournament. As a short checklist you probably want at least one racquet, a change of weather appropriate clothes, and tennis shoes somewhere in your carry-on luggage. A first round match at nationals should not be played in someone else’s shoes and with a borrowed racquet.
So there you have it. My collected thoughts and ideas on how to best travel with tennis racquets. Good luck and have fun out there.
 | Wilson RF DNA Tennis Backpack – Black |
 | Champion unisex adult Signal Gym Tote Bags, Grey/Black, One Size US |
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