I used to travel with a Pelican case full of tools. It weighed 75-80 pounds. It became a hassle in airports, not to mention the additional fees.

I ended up shipping it via Fedex. Ground freight was usually around $1 per pound, depending on how soon I needed it at the destination. Additionally, the insurance coverage options were much more robust than any airline could offer.

OP again. A bit more detail on my specific situation which may lead to more precise recommendations.

For a variety of reasons, I need to use these laptops in different locations (renting devices locally won't work). For example, I might be in Atlanta on Tuesday, ending my day at 8pm, need to tear them down, put them and power cords in a case, and then use them again in Chicago the following day starting at 5pm.

My first thought, as expressed in the original post, was that I could pay the overage fee and just have them travel with me and my team as checked luggage - take early flight from ATL to ORD, and presto, I'm done. Sorting out whether that is possible. And if not, can airline cargo meet my needs.

Thanks again to all that have responded

If this involves any significant number of back-to-back days as you just described, perhaps 60 laptops and Fedex or UPS shipping? Ship 30 laptops to A, 30 to B, when done at A, ship those 30 to C, when does at D,ship those 30 to D, etc.

Sounds expensive, but could well amortize over time fairly quickly.

OP I understand.
I had similiar situation as I needed 12 computers setup with specific programs and configurations as a private wireless network for training. BUT we didn't have battery shipping issues back then.
The whole setup were custom built Anvil cases with padded slots for all fragile stuff and others like wires and powerbricks tossed into one compartment.
We did weight and balance to get this setup into two 70lbs packages.

Just a thought: Since you are bringing powerbricks, could you save weight and circumvent the battery issue by leaving the battery and running all units off the AC adapter?

You mention power cords. Do you actually need the batteries? If not, and if they are removable, that would solve the lithium ion battery restriction problem as well as reduce the shipping weight quite a bit. Just make sure the notebooks will power on without the batteries and they they are stable on the desk without that additional weight.

I don’t think it will work
 

I do not think what you are trying to do will work. You will have too many large oversized, overweight containers. The hassle, expense, and possible delays with your heavy luggage not making a flight or being considered oversized and brought out last in baggage claim is going to take its toll.

Have you considered using a surface, or tablet computer to reduce size and weight? I think it would help you meet your goal.


Patrixk

Agree, it wold be so much easier to use iPads or some other tablet. You can do everything on those that you can with a laptop. I guess you don't need to runa DVD or something in them, so why not upgrade to Tablets? Plus the charging cable is much less bulky than those for laptops.

Team members? That makes it easier. How many team members, and what type of laptops, ie. how much do they actually weigh?

I'm going against the grain here perhaps, but a modern laptop can be had slightly over 2 lbs and under 3/4" thickness, so 30 laptops is about 75 lbs and not that much volume. I'd be inclined to check carry on weight restrictions (if any) on your airline, perhaps let that influence your airline preference, and just distribute them across two or three carry on trolleys / team members. With the case and some padded sleeves that would come out to about 35 lbs each for three, or about 45 for two.

No risk of theft / data loss (if that;'s an issue for you) / delays and much less need to over-pack them to allow for rough handling. Stick the adapters and other bits in checked if needed, that's easy enough to replace from any local electronics retailer if they get lost or delayed and require no setup. If your laptops are much heavier it might be worthwhile considering lightweight laptops for this project.

I'm a professional photographer and travel with lots of equipment. I usually have my crew carry on laptops and hard drives. But if you need to check your laptops, look into Tenba Air Cases. These are rigid padded cases used for transporting lighting, computers, monitors, etc. Much lighter than Pelican cases. Lightware also makes some decent cases. Perhaps you pack the laptops but carry on the batteries?

Also do some research into baggage fees, as some airlines increase the cost per bag the more bags you check. If you have multiple travel partners, distribute the bags so that each person is checking one, which will help keep baggage costs lower. Overweight and oversize can really add up, so I try and stick to standard sizes and weights when possible.

Your biggest issue is going to be batteries

You will not be allowed to put 30 LIon batteries in the hold due to fire issues

So are you going to have 30 batteries waiting for you at each location?

Bring a gallon of gasoline instead. Lighter, cheaper and probably safer.

https://consumerist.com/2017/06/09/a...nes-this-year/

That was my thought as well.

Boeing warns airlines against flying lithium-ion battery shipments Daily Mail Online with apologies for the use of the Daily Mail.

They may consider 30 batteries as a bulk shipment although they would be connected to the equipment I guess which might help. Then there's the number of cells in each battery to consider and their state of charge. See this PDF from DHL for more info. I know of people who have had a shipment turned back at the airport because of the presence of too many Li-on batteries. The only issue was that the package was marked for ground shipment only and should never have seen an airport.:eek:

I used to travel internationally regularly with 25+ laptops as a government contractor. I usually took between 3-4 Pelican cases and was able to keep the cases under the 70 lb. limit for domestic airlines most of the time. If you have more than 2 cases you will need assistance moving them throughout the airport.

Also note that, airlines have their own differing policies on lithium batteries, how many you can have, the wattage allowed, etc. One time I was banned from checking the laptops onto an American flight and had to have myself and a coworker pack them in our large carry-ons and remove the batteries. They demanded I do this even though U.S. DOT and IATA rules did not require it, since our lithium laptop batteries were under the watt-hours required for hazardous labeling. Airlines can have their own rules.

Traveling through Asia is also a major pain. In Japan we were stopped by American Airlines head of security and only were allowed to proceed after a stern talking to and showing of government IDs. In Vietnam, my co-worker was detained for an hour and only allowed to proceed after someone from our host's staff intervened. In Maldives, we almost had to pay exorbitant amount of import tax until we were also assisted by our host's staff.

Rule of thumb... ship if you can it saves so much headache. If not, just be prepared for the extra hassle or possibly having to ship them after the cases are denied loading.

OP again. Deep thanks to all. I hadn't thought about removing the batteries. That feels like a great idea as well as going for a more streamlined device (thinking 2in1s since we need there to be physical keyboards). I started looking at cargo options with the airlines. That might work but the exact policy on batteries is confounding. I get that Li batteries are trouble, but not sure if batteries in laptops are treated similarly. Worst comes to worst, I'm driving overnight. :(

'Spare' v's 'Installed' batteries are treated differently. In your case, them being installed in the laptop reduces the risk/trouble, but with the quantities you're talking, it's still likely to be an issue.

If you had 30 laptop batteries that were not installed in a computer, they would NOT be allowed in the hold.