Travelling From the UK - UKPSF

[Hotpoint]

Hi All,

I'm putting together a list of Travel-Companies/Airlines etc. to contact on behalf of the United Kingdom Paintball Sports Federation in order to hopefully facilitate future travelling with your gear to overseas tournaments

If there are any companies you frequently use please let me know and I'll send them one of the introductory letters which will explain our sport and the equipment to them

Hopefully if they actually know what the hell they're talking about we'll have less trouble with them in future

Thanking you for your assistance

 

[A.B]

Top idea matey.

After the probs from the German event and the ryanair 'incident' this is top work.

A.B

 

[WKD]

OH GOD HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!!!

DONT DO IT!!!!!

Not being funny but after the Ryan Air incident and it basically stoppin anyone from using Ryan Air anymore wouldnt it be better just not to send anything to these airlines because this was how Ryan Air ended up taking the steps to stop markers being flown out all good intensions but IMHO it would be better letting sleeping dogs lie im sure Brit ballers would be well impressed if other airlines stopped paintball equipment being flown out with them it was bad enough with Ryan Air dont make it anymore difficult for us ballers to get abroad.
As for the Germany it was more the police and the airport security as apposed to the airline itself!!!

JUST DONT DO IT!!!!!

 

[Andy]

i disagree with you on that one wkd.. maybe if airlines/whatever else were better informed on what we are doing and on the sport itself.it could help so that we dont have someone every month posting about travelling abroad and what not.

just my 2pence

 

[WKD]

Ok but having been caught up in the middle of the Ryan Air farce and the extra messing about and cost to get the markers out there i just think that because in most cases there isnt a problem with airlines as it stands ie not telling them why go and stir up a potential hornets nest!!

Who's to say that once airlines are notified about what us ballers are taking onto the flights who's to say that there isnt another knee jerk reaction like what happened with Ryan Air and all markers are banned from being taken on flights would you like to be the person responsible (even tho the intensions are good and honorable) for screwing it up for ballers to fly too events!!

I know i wouldnt if it aint broke dont try and fix it

Too be honest ive flown quite a few time sand never had a problem never said anything and if anyone that neds the info really it is the airport secuity who x-ray the bags and not the airlines to be able to tell when a marker in a bag is a marker and not a actual gun

 

[Andy]

i would say alot of the security staff at the airports scanning the bags know what paintball markers are. (well the ones at stanstead do ) whenever we have flown we have always told the airline, once we arrived at the desk. they weigh are bags and what not, we then say we have sporting equpitment / paintball equiptment, and then tell them at we need to go and run them through the xray department and they are fine with it, never had anyproblems doing it that way. the xray staff ask to look , see bottles are empty and the what the marker looks like and thats it. simple eh?

i think what hotpoint is doing here is to try and inform airlines and what not things that may be carried in luggage etc, and aid them to distinguish the fact that its a marker and not a gun, and that it wont work with out any air in it.

and it got broke when it didnt need to be before!!! if people could of listen to advice that was given to them any times by people who had flown before, then we might not have lost using a airline which was cheap and flew to places we needed but is it a bad thing now to try and make ryan air learn about what we carry so that maybe they possible change there policy back?

and what cost all are markers came on the flight same as normal

 

[MrPink]

I'm with Andy on this one,

Having the UKPSF formally approach Airlines is far different than having a bunch of Random 'Ballers phoning them up asking weird questions and will hopefully lead to an official policy for travelling with our beloved Markers

 

[Buns of steel]

Travelling Abroad

I think the problem we have had this time is that a lot of us are using Eurostar to get to Disneyland and unlike the Airlines were the bags are in the hold, on the train you carry the gear with you and by having access to it it becomes a problem.

 

[ericostani]

good point

but surely the eurostar isnt so strict, as is far less likey you are going to be able to hijack a train and smash it into somewhere, and the dangers are far less on a train - it could stop, no pressure, blar blar......... ya know?

just a thought.

 

[QuackingPlums]

good point

Originally posted by ericostani
but surely the eurostar isnt so strict, as is far less likey you are going to be able to hijack a train and smash it into somewhere, and the dangers are far less on a train - it could stop, no pressure, blar blar......... ya know?

just a thought.

You'd think... but in a way, they're MORE strict.

Exactly for the reason already stated - it doesn't matter if YOU and the security know what paintball markers are... out of the other hundreds of punters on that train, at least one will think it's a real gun, and you only need one nutter to start a panic...