After traveling with a soft golf club carry case for a year, and the bag showing its wear, I decided to get a hard case. It ended up being lighter and easier to handle as a bonus. On the first trip I made with it, I got to the hotel to discover that one of the wheels of the case was broken my driver head had been snapped off. This dispite pretty carefull packing in the case. A nicely worded email to their customer service and baggage desk earned a lovely reply of "To bad, you left the terminal with them".

To me, the cost is not the big issue, since I either check things I can afford to loose, or claim others through insurance. The issue to me is the disrespect that American, and many other lines, show their customers with rough baggage handling. It is fine to have a smiling picture of the CEO in the magazine, but if the guys on the ramp are throwing your things, it kind of kills the whole "friendly skies" thing.

Rothsix