Bringing back a telescope (n8i) on an ariliner?

Has anyone ever carried a scope back from the US on an airliner. im not so much bothered re duty and vat. (ill take my chances over that). More worried about potential for damage in transit and warranty issues. Is it possible to arrange insurance when you are over there. How much would one expect to pay. Or is it just to risky to bother.

Dave - if you're not bothered about paying Duty/VAT, get it shipped by UPS or Fedex - they will sort out the insurance.

If you want to avoid duty/VAT have a word with your home insurer - personal belongings may be covered in transit. If its an expensive scope, just make sure they will cover it (sometimes there's a value limit), If not, they may cover it for a small additional charge.

If you find it impossible to get insurance, get a good purpose made transport case (eg ScopeGuard) and after putting fragile astickers all over it, tell the airline check in staff that its fragile and needs to be handled carefully. Then hope to God the baggage handlers heed the stickers.

BTW - what scope is it?

Cheers

Dave

Well Im seriously thinkin of getting an nexstar 8i SE. At €1399 exchange rates are such that even with the vat/duty its cheaper then over here. im going on hols on thursday week to the us so I could pick one up while im there. But UPS/Fed ex will most likely charge me €500 to ship it which would make the whole venture marginal and if it gets damaged then no warranty so an expensive paper weight.

Given i have to change in ny that means two check ins so twice the worry

Hi,
One of the lads down here carried back a LX90 as hand luggage back in 2000.
He basically got rid of the box, broke down the tripod and carried it all on board! in a big carry bag:shock:
I'd imagine now adays with 9/11 it might be harder to get onto a plane with such equipment.

Think about it DB if the airline refuse to let you take it as cabin baggage (and they may well do) your left with risking your nice new scope to the ground crew. If you've ever sat on an airplane waiting for pushback and watched the ground crew chucking bags and baggage into the hold of an airplane, you'd think twich about it. Unless you were brave enough to dissassemble the tube assembly, pack the optics safely as cabin baggage and checked the rest of the scope into the hold? Just an idea. I know your warranty would be out the window but lets face it if something was wrong with it your pretty screwed anyway. I know you can unscrew the entire backassembly off celestron scts the front end can be taken off too.

Personally I wouldnt risk it. SOurce the best european price you can at least you have some peace of mind if something goes wrong.

Dave - I'd be surprised if UPS charged more than a couple of hundred. I got a AP1200 mount shipped over in seven large, heavy boxes (over 100Kg) and shipping, including insurance, was less than 600 euro. Ask them for a quote - you might be pleasantly surprised. You can also calculate the final cost by adding 4.3% duty onto the value of the goods. You then add up the value of the goods, the duty, shipping and insurance plus a customs clearance charge (my guess would be 20 or 30 quid) then whack on 21% VAT.

When it comes to an insured package, warranty won't come into it. If it gets damaged, the insurance is obliged to repair/replace it. Even if you ship it intact from the US, chances are you might lose your warranty anyway - but that only comes into play if you buy a lemon.

The other alternative is to check the house insurance - tell 'em you're taking your scope abroad to a star party then bringing it back ad ask them if its covered. If not, ask them if they can insure it. If that works, again, warranty won't come into it - if its damaged, they're obliged to repair/replace it.

Finally, if all that fails, try the well padded shipping box route. Extra cost but you'll get piece of mind.

I carried over an ETX70 as hand luggage and once I'd satisfied security that it was a scope, it was no problem, But I dunno if the 8i would fit the dimensions of carry-on luggage... Like Dave L says, if its small enough, ditch the packing, by a well padded small rucksack and squeeze the scope in. But you'll need to be certain it'll go through the hand baggage specification tests...

Hope it works out for you.

Cheers

Dave