I have a buddy who is a professional TV photographer. When he flys he brings 20 cases with him (Excess baggage doesn't bother him-he gets the "media" rate and can charge it to the client anyway.) Only his camera gets its own seat.(Mr. Ikegami has a FF card)

One of his cases has a light kit in it with extra bulbs. He keeps his spare bulbs in the original packing so each bulb is in a special plastic baggie, then wrapped in foam and finally in a clearly labeled box. The boxes fit in a preformed section of the case.

There has more then one time that he arrives at his job with the TSA love note in his light kit. They pull all the bulbs out, put their fingers on them (they are halogen and that messes them up) and repack them so poorly that they break.

He tells me that these bulbs are $50+ each and not the type of thing you can get at the hardware store. It ends up being a last minute scramble to find a theater supply store or FedEx from his supplier

With this and all the new restrictions it is cheaper for him to drive if he can make it within 15 hours. Plus he arrives at the job with his own vehicle (it is amazing how he fits so much stuff in a surburban) with security cages in it.