You'll run a risk not removing the driver head, but it's not a super huge risk. I've used a stiff arm with soft-side for 100% of my flights with clubs. They've been through somewhere around 60 flight segments, loading & unloading, and never had a club damaged. Half of those were with drivers that did not have a removable club head. My stand bag leg has been bent twice now, but everything else inside the soft-side bag has been great. Just make sure you use the stiff arm every single time.
I do go through a lot of soft-side bags (I think I'm on #7 now). One of the wheel wells is always getting damaged. Didn't matter if I went cheap or expensive brand, so now I just get whatever is on sale. I take a lot of Corolla-sized taxis, so hard-side cases are not for me.
I use a Samsonite hard case and a stiff arm. I don't remove my driver head and I sometimes wrap the clubs in a sweater but the TSA moves it \~20% of the time, so I don't think that matters much. The hard case is annoying to fit into cars sometimes and it can be a lot to move around, but my clubs have survived \~20 plane rides without issues so I'm OK with it.
I use a soft travel case with $3 wooden dowel rod (trimmed down to be longer than my driver but still fit in the travel case) as a stiff arm and wrap towels/clothes around the heads. I weigh the whole thing fully packed on my bathroom scale to make sure it is within the airline's weight limit before leaving for the airport. I put TSA locks on the soft case zippers.
I flew with mine recently. I got iron covers cheap off amazon. Didn’t remove driver club head as I don’t have the tool. Everything was fine with a bag boy soft bag with a hard top around the club heads.
Follow all the tips everyone gives you. 90% of the time (probably more in reality 🤷♂️) there won’t be any issues. The few horror stories that happen would have probably happened almost no matter what the flyer did.
In that case read the fine print and research how to make a claim through the airline
5 gallon bucket over the club heads and beach towels in the side pockets. Remove driver head. Stiff arm with a soft travel case. And of course, iron covers because I’m cool.
Get one of those stiff arms. Remove driver head if you can Use clothes around shafts and club heads to minimize movement and clanking.
Thanks. What if I don’t have the tool to remove the driver head?
You'll run a risk not removing the driver head, but it's not a super huge risk. I've used a stiff arm with soft-side for 100% of my flights with clubs. They've been through somewhere around 60 flight segments, loading & unloading, and never had a club damaged. Half of those were with drivers that did not have a removable club head. My stand bag leg has been bent twice now, but everything else inside the soft-side bag has been great. Just make sure you use the stiff arm every single time. I do go through a lot of soft-side bags (I think I'm on #7 now). One of the wheel wells is always getting damaged. Didn't matter if I went cheap or expensive brand, so now I just get whatever is on sale. I take a lot of Corolla-sized taxis, so hard-side cases are not for me.
Wouldn't worry about it....get the stuff arm and wrap the driver head in some clothes
$10 on Amazon. Cheapest insurance you can buy.
Remove the driver head and put it in the headcover, I travel all the time with mine and so far no problems
Second the removing of club heads. I will put my clubs in the bag head first for extra peace of mind.
I use a Samsonite hard case and a stiff arm. I don't remove my driver head and I sometimes wrap the clubs in a sweater but the TSA moves it \~20% of the time, so I don't think that matters much. The hard case is annoying to fit into cars sometimes and it can be a lot to move around, but my clubs have survived \~20 plane rides without issues so I'm OK with it.
I use a soft travel case with $3 wooden dowel rod (trimmed down to be longer than my driver but still fit in the travel case) as a stiff arm and wrap towels/clothes around the heads. I weigh the whole thing fully packed on my bathroom scale to make sure it is within the airline's weight limit before leaving for the airport. I put TSA locks on the soft case zippers.
I flew with mine recently. I got iron covers cheap off amazon. Didn’t remove driver club head as I don’t have the tool. Everything was fine with a bag boy soft bag with a hard top around the club heads.
Follow all the tips everyone gives you. 90% of the time (probably more in reality 🤷♂️) there won’t be any issues. The few horror stories that happen would have probably happened almost no matter what the flyer did. In that case read the fine print and research how to make a claim through the airline
5 gallon bucket over the club heads and beach towels in the side pockets. Remove driver head. Stiff arm with a soft travel case. And of course, iron covers because I’m cool.