Our Guide To Packing Your Golf Travel Bag When Flying

If you are flying with your favourite golf clubs for a golf trip abroad, you might be wondering what the best way is to pack your bag for easy travel.

To pack a golf travel bag you need to make sure you have a good golf bag on hand which is the right size, remove the club heads and consider using a stiff arm to make travel safer.

We’ve put together a short informational guide below which will discuss if you can take golf clubs on a plane, which bag you should use for travelling as well as some important tips for packing your golf bag properly.

Can I Bring Golf Clubs On A Plane?

Before we get into how to pack golf clubs on a plane, we first need to understand if you can bring them on the plane according to your airline.

Most airlines allow you to bring a golf travel bag with golf clubs as a standard luggage piece without you having to pay for excess baggage.

However, you’re not allowed to bring them as your carry-on since a golf club could be used as a potential weapon.

What Bag Should I Use For My Golf Clubs? 

Golf clubs and accessories are expensive items and care should be taken when packing them for air travel to avoid them from breaking or snapping.

When choosing a golf travel bag you will be faced between a choice of soft-sided cases and hard-sided golf travel bags. 

Hard-sided golf travel bags are a more durable option than soft-sided bags and will help keep the contents of your travel bag safer, however, in soft-cover golf travel cases you get more flexibility and room, they are also lighter and easy to carry.

It is worth noting that airlines will only offer you insurance on your contents if you are using a hard-side gold travel bag.

Tips For Packing A Golf Travel Bag 

In order to travel with your golf bag safely, you want to make sure you’ve packed it properly to stop your precious clubs from breaking. 

We’ve listed some tips for packing your golf travel bag below.

• Put the clubs upside down – We suggest turning your golf clubs upside down in addition to removing their heads to help protect them since it protects the lower end of the shaft.
• Use a stiff arm – Using a stiff arm can give you peace of mind when flying, it’s essentially like a telescopic pole which stretches out your soft-sided golf travel bag for extra space and to ensure the bag doesn’t get hit when moving to the side or fold over as the baggage service team put it on the carousel.
• Take off the club heads – Take a picture of your golf clubs to remember the settings then take off the club heads, especially on the fairway woods and driver, this offers extra protection in case your piece of luggage gets knocked about. 
• Leave some at home – Avoid overstuffing your high-quality golf travel bag, try to pack light to avoid an airline baggage fee and leave anything which is not essential at home.
• Use clothes – To pad out your massive golf travel bag space, use some clothes to help cushion the bag, you can even put socks over the clubs to help protect them from scratches and wrap the shafts together.
• Put golf balls in another bag – We suggest packing your golf balls in your regular luggage if you have space, this frees up room in your travel bag and stops them knocking around with your clubs during the flight.

Essential Tips For Flying With Golfing Gear

Even if you’ve got your golfing gear packed well, you should still be considering other factors when flying with your clubs such as your baggage allowance and flight connections. 

We’ve listed some tips and essentials to consider before flying below.

• Try for a direct flight – Connecting flights offer more chances for your luggage to go missing or get damaged, direct flights reduce this chance so try to pick them up when possible.
• Check what your airline covers – Some airlines will cover damaged contents while others will not, some might also require your travel bag to be a certain size, check the fine print beforehand to avoid surprises at the airport.
• Consider shipping them – Shipping your golfing gear can be a lot less hassle than flying with it and allows you to avoid carrying the heavy gear around, you are also more flexible with the weight this way.
• Add another tag – Luggage does get lost, and the last thing you want is for your expensive golf clubs to go missing, add a tag with all your details to be on the safe side.
• Think of your devices – Any golfing devices with a lithium battery in need to be packed into your carry-on luggage, avoid packing them in your travel bag or checked luggage since they could explode.

Last Words

Overall, when packing your golf travel bag, we suggest picking a hard golf travel bag when possible if the contents are fragile, although soft-sided options do have more room, and you can always make them safer with a stiff arm. 

We recommend insuring your baggage in case of any damage with the airline during transit and letting the airline know when checking in that it’s a golf travel bag so that they can mark it as fragile.