Travelling with Sewing Machine

[Ahamblin]

This may be a silly question but if you fly to a retreat, vacation, etc. and you want to take your sewing machine how do you handle that? Do you check it as luggage? I don't think you could take it on the plane as a carry on. I am just really curious as I would like to consider a couple of the retreats but it would require flying and I'm not sure about my sewing machine.

Thanks.

[Jean Sewing Machine]

Do you have a smaller travel machine? I packed my travel machine ( 11 pounds) in my checked baggage and it traveled fine. Big heavy machines? I don't know how these can travel by air.

[New York Sue]

I would carry-on, if possible.
Have you seen baggage handlers load and unload?
YIKES.

[Lilly]

I'm still looking for a travel machine. Which one do you have, Jean? I would love an 11 pound machine.

[MarianneK]

I would carry it on. I have a small 12 pound Janome that I would take were it me. No way would I check a sewing machine even if you boxed it and wrote all over it that it was sewing machine. Baggage handlers are too rough.

[K. McEuen]

I would carry-on, if possible.
Have you seen baggage handlers load and unload?
YIKES.

My thoughts exactly.

[Jean Sewing Machine]

I'm still looking for a travel machine. Which one do you have, Jean? I would love an 11 pound machine.

It is a barebones cheapie Janome 3128 that I bought at Hancock. I had to buy a zipper foot for it, that's how barebones it is. I did a big upholstery job with it, though, and it worked like a champ. Absolutely nothing fancy about it, but it fit into my big suitcase just fine, packed all my dirty clothes around it to get it home. Lots of ladies here like the Janome Jem, which is small but has more features, and I believe it only weighs in at 12 pounds. Costs a bit more than my $90 cheapie, which now sells for about $120. Same machine as the green Hello Kitty.

[Ahamblin]

Thank you for the input. I would be nervous checking a machine as luggage also. Things do get thrown around. I have an old Viking that weighs about 20 lbs. A little heavy to lug through the airport. My Pfaff is huge and weighs about 30 lbs. I won't even take it to class. Maybe I need to buy the new Pfaff Passport 2.0. It's only 11 lbs. Hmmm - something for next year maybe. Must save my pennies.

[nyscpa2be]

tsa.gov has a feature where you can type in what you are thinking of bringing, and it will tell you if it will pass through security. Sewing Machine came up as fine for checked or carry on, subject to airline restrictions on size.