Next month I'm planning to move internationally (DEN-FRA), and one of my problem child luggage items is a desktop computer, a 24" iMac.

I have pretty much exhausted all options that I could come up with on how to move it with me (shipping too expensive, exceeding dimensions or cannot be insured high enough), so maybe one of you has a good advice on how to fly with one of these.

I am hesitant on actually checking it as luggage, as United says they are not liable for valuable items, especially when placed in a box (original manufacturer's shipping box). If I check it unwrapped, I believe that it might not come through (as my two bottles of booze that disappeared last week ). If I place it in a suitcase, it might get too rough care and eventually break. So, I thought the best way might be to actually carry-on somehow.

I spoke with TSA and they said they would "manually check" the item if it is too large to fit through the x-rays, and size would not be an issue. The question is where could I put it afterwards?

I have thought of maybe gate checking it or booking the seats in the row before bulkhead in either C or Y, so that I can place it behind my seat and not bother anyone except me. Does anyone have experience with flying with such items? Are there other ideas how to get it through?

Thank you in advance for your ideas ^

This may be cost prohibitive, but its in the same ballpark as buying a seat for your iMac.

Apple iMac 24" Carrying Case

I would have ZERO qualms about checking it in one of these badboys. There's always a risk of something happening, but IMO far less likely then what could happen in transit carrying it as hand luggage.

How much is too much to ship it? I send HUGE expensive things to FRA all the time via FedEx!!

Around $420

Thats what I was thinking, especially when the case the other poster recommended was a $575 purchase. Look at DHL too or maybe even a smaller scale freight business.

DHL is $460, UPS is $430, and FedEx $420 the cheapest. The tickets I'm currently looking at are $475. Any recommendations for other, per-item freight companies?

Could you sell the computer and buy a new one when you get to your destination?

If data on your hard drive is important, could you remove it and replace it with a blank hard drive before selling the computer, then copy the data to a new computer that you buy at your destination?

Similar to the Pelican case is a Zero-haliburton case. I have one that I used for my Mac SE/32 (back in the day!). It has the foam cut-outs for the various parts. I checked that computer many times, and never had any issues with it.

The computer is long gone, but I still have the case!

FRA=Germany. You don't want a german keyboard...

I shipped the following as checked luggage in their original shipping cartons: PowerMac G5 tower, 20" Cinema Display and 17" Studio Display. All arrived without incident via SFO/DFW/LGW/VLC back in 2005. My friend worked at Apple and guaranteed that the original shipping box/packaging was the best option. It is tested for air handling, drop tested, etc.

One trick that may have helped was that I wrapped the boxes in shelf paper, you can find some that is plain light brown like cardboard, so that at least from a distance, they weren't obviously computers/displays. Maybe this helps a little on the theft angle. You can write "FRAGILE" all over the outside just to alert the handlers in case that helps too. Lucky for you the Apple packaging is a lot more compact these days - my boxes were huge!

The crazy thing was that due to weather, we were stuck in DFW for 24 hours so those items were sitting around in some baggage area under the AA terminals all that time but still made it no problem. It was hard to sleep that night thinking about it!

I had checked around for additional insurance, etc., but nothing existed. However, I found out later that my homeowner's insurance might have covered theft or damage. Since I was renting out my home, I still had that coverage for 30 days after moving out. Make sure you back everything up and password-protect your system just in case. Good luck!

Dude. Pelican/Anvil/custom IATA cases are cool and all, and they totally make sense for repeated journeys. But they're kind of overkill for a single trip.

(I have custom cases made for my equipment in Indiana; they even match our company color on the outside.)

OP, just pack your computer in its original container, then double-box that in a plain cardboard carton with another two inches of packing material all around. Which material you need to use -- peanuts, sealed air, foam-in-place -- depends on the weight, and I typically leave that to a shipping pro. All your handlers will see is a big heavy cardboard box. They'll grunt, swear and beat it up, but they won't steal it outright. The most this ought to attract is an oversize/overweight fee.

Have you considered selling it on ebay and buying a new one when you get to FRA? Then all you have to take with you is a portable hard drive with yoru backed-up data on it.

Please don't think of carrying this on an airplane. Depending on the aircraft it might not even be legal, and depending on the airline, not allowed. It might come under the heading like cellos do. In which case, will have to buy it a seat. That seat must be next to a window, not in an exit, nor forward nor aft of an exit. Not in a bulkhead seat. You must sit in the seat next to it. There must be some way to attach a seat belt to it...a case with a sturdy-enough strap on it, for example. Do you know what a hazard this would be in an evacuation? And that is the standard that is or should be used.

I am pretty adamant that you should never check as luggage anything that you really care about, and I don't think this is any exception.

So ask yourself: How would you feel if you arrived in FRA to find that your iMac was missing or broken? If your answer is, "No problem, I'll just buy a new one," then it's okay to check it. If your answer is, "I would be distraught and upset and couldn't afford to replace it," then don't consider checking it at all, because the possibility of that outcome is certainly non-zero.

If I were you, I'd either pay for least expensive insured shipping or I would find a way to carry it on.

If you kept the original packaging, just repack it and send it as regular checked baggage. The original packaging has so much foam padding that it's perfect for such shipment. However, I do agree that if you are at all worried that it may "get lost," you should ship it using DHL or some other global carrier rather than sending it as baggage. (FWIW, my parents have taken printers a checked baggage without problems, but those aren't as enticing or as fragile as computers.)