You haven't seen how big iMacs are these days, have you?

I would say that putting anything of value in a checked bag, including a computer, is asking for trouble. Can you have it shipped ahead (which is what I often do.)

How come valuables in passenger luggage get stolen, while thefts from air cargo are relatively rare? The containers perhaps? Or the lack of recourse by the passengers.

What a strange comment. It is OUTSIDE the US where you are more likely to have the problem, particularly the third world. I suspect flights inside, for example, Switzerland or Scandanavia would be safest of all, but that is a pretty limited sample of countries.

I did this once with a Dell small-form-factor desktop on EWR-Bogota and it worked perfectly (except for the excess-weight charge ).

What a strange comment. Maybe the poster has not compared theft data recently comparing the major US airports with others in the world. With the exception of a handful of well-documented non-US trouble areas such as LHR it seems that most of the most serious baggage theft problems are in the US. I have not reviewed the data recently so I am not sure what the relative safety is these days.

Somebody reading these posts probably does have the data close at hand. It would be interesting to have facts and not just prejudice to inform us.

Murphy's Law. If something can go wrong, it will.

People check computers without mishap all the time. When you REALLY need the computer at the end of the trip for some REALLY important reason, that will be the one time in one hundred it goes missing.

I would no more put my computer in checked luggage then fly to the moon. If I was unwilling to carry it on, I'd send it by trackable air freight: FedEx, DHL or UPS.

If there's any important information on the machines, back it up before you send them! Hard drives are cheap.

+1000 don't do it.

iMacs are desktops, so that is not an option.

Now, back to OP's question: I have never checked a computer separately. However, once I packed a laptop in its own box and that box inside a bigger suitcase. It arrived safely. Again, two iMacs will be too big for anything like that.

It would probably be safe to check them packed as OP described, but I would purchase adequate insurance.

Why does that matter? If you want to transport a computer on a plane, carrying it on is the only safe option, desktop or not.

It is most assuredly not safe to check a computer or any item of personal or monetary value. But people do unsafe things every day.

Bringing a desktop on-board would be much harder than driving down to FedEx, insuring the package for $2500, and then shipping it. If you bring it on, you have to fight for overhead space, etc.. The box for the iMac would take up at least half of the overhead bin...

IIRC, computers/electronics are not among items that will be credited if your baggage goes missing. If you can afford it going missing or have insurance, than you can take a risk, but I am never confident that a five-finger discount will not take place, even with a TSA lock.

Personally, my computer would not leave my side, not even gate checking on RJs.

I am not sure which iMac size you have, but I would really recommend seeing if you can fit one into a carry-on size luggage, if so, bring it on board. i have seen people carry desktops and large monitors aboard.

I would be more confident that Fedex will get it to your destination.

I think the only situation where I would feel comfortable checking desktops would be if you can "saran wrap" the baggage and ensure it arrives like that. I have seen this at international airports, but I am not sure how TSA would deal with this.

...and OP has two iMacs to transport.

iMacs are too big to carry on. These are not laptops.

joe