• Thank you all very much for sharing your time with us in 2025. We hope you all have a safe and happy 2026!

Airline trash clubs

No. 12/16 of us have been going to Spain, Portugal or Turkey in March for the last 7 years - never had a problem. Flew with BMIbaby, Thomson, Thomas Cook etc.. but not Ryanair.
Anyway it's the airport that handles the baggage, not the airline.
 
that's bad,good thing for the pro's is the tour van will be there so they'd get another one no worries at all.

not the same for us mere mortals though,more money top spend that we don't have.
 
It really helps if you pack your clubs well. The number of carry bags I see on the carousel beggars belief.

Baggage handlers don't give a stuff. They have mangled my mountain bikes before now, but so far my clubs have escaped.
 
Golf insurance is your friend !!!

Although a mate of mine just got back from Portugal and used that club hire service at the airport. I cant remember the name of the company but Paul McGinley is involved. He said it was fantastic and not too expensive. Maybe around £50 for 4 days. Had a good selection too !!
 
Not clubs, but had the neck of a guitar snaped in half. It was in a bullit proof case as well. It was a limited edition and could not be replaced. I was not amused, had to borrow one for the jig.
 
We have a group of 20 members that go to Spain, Portugal or Turkey every year and none of them ever have an issue. Whether that has been luck, well packed bags or what I don't kow but even with insureance I can think of nothing worse than sheling out to play some decent courses and having to do so with a hired set of clubs because yours are smashed to bits
 
Not clubs, but I recall at Jersey airport seeing a case coming along the carousel wide open with the cloths strewn all over the place and thinking, glad that’s not mine. Then the horror of realising it was mine.

There was no damage to the case, just unzipped and the padlock was missing

Also at Liverpool, returning from same Jersey airport I saw a young woman take her expensive baby buggy off the carousel completely destroyed. She was alone with bags, baby and broken buggy. She may have been insured for the buggy, but not for the difficult situation she was in at that moment
 
It has nothing to do with the airlines as the baggage is handled by a private company at each airport. Ryanair do not take the bags out it is normally a company called Servisair in the UK that handle the the baggage.
 
Ouch!!!!!

I really shouldn't have looked at this before I fly to Australia in just over a week. I'll be packing my towel and waterproofs around the heads of my clubs as usual. I've also got an extendable pole made by Clubglove that you put in the bag like a club and extend so it's just longer than you're longest club, so that takes any impact rather than you're driver.
 
I was at the carousel in Gatwick after a bloody long business trip, tired and wanting to get home. Along came my case, picked it off and went into the side compartment for the shoulder strap...gone! Cue me muttering and moaning in a very British way, couldn't be bothered to complain to the handling company so got on my way. Sharing the taxi with a work colleague I grumbled and, dare I say it, swore a few times berating the little oiks that had nicked it 'for a laugh'.

Get home and start unpacking...it was then that I realised there were two outer pockets on my case...found it!
Told my work colleague what had happened the next day at work and he was very understanding, right up to the point when everyone in the office produced a **** load of bloody shoulder strap and dumped them on my desk!

If you do have damage to a case/clubs/shoulder strap(!?) then go to the handling agent's desk immediately to report it. These are not employees of the airline but the company contracted to carry out the ground handling of the aircraft, they usually look after a number of airlines. As for Ryanair, O'Leary has been squeezing this sector of the aviation industry so much that the guys that are 'chucking your bags' are usually on minimum wage and work loads of hours.

Bit of a waffle but made me smile :)

CK
 
CallawayKid said:
As for Ryanair, O'Leary has been squeezing this sector of the aviation industry so much that the guys that are 'chucking your bags' are usually on minimum wage and work loads of hours.CK
Click to expand...

On the Issue of Ryanair; I read a good piece in a Sunday newspaper the other weekend.

It read something like this;

"Michael O'Leary went up to the bar in Dublin Hotel and asked the barman for a pint of Guinness, Yes said the barman that will be one euro. Thats very cheap said O'Leary. Yes said the barman its the cheapest in Dublin; 0h! said the barman, and would you be wanting a glass with your guinness Mr O'Leary" :D
 
Dear god look at the state of that wedge.... It must have been dragged a couple of miles with weight on top of it for it to wear that badly.
I have seen my own gear labelled fragile (IT stuff) being thrown onto the hold before in Brum airport, couldnt believe just how far the guy threw it.
 
Used to work on the ramp at Heathrow for American, you wouldnt like to know what goes on with peoples bags airside.

A couple of guys on my shift used to play a game everyday, how many suitcases they could bust open. Their favourite bags were the hard samonite type, because they used to explode open when dropped from about 5 feet. Or one big yank on the handle of a soft suitcase and the handle would generally come of in your hand.

I always tape a bit of 2x2 to my Driver thats an inch or so longer, just incase my bag is dropped from a great height. Even this didnt help when Virgin lost my clubs a few years ago on the way back from Vegas, GITS
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top