Dolls on a plane?

I’ve flown with dolls from Cleveland to Seattle and back, and only had trouble once. I just take them in a sturdy carry-on bag and strap them in with their box cushions in there to keep them safe.
Usually the TSA agents see the dolls in the x-ray and either laugh or make some comment about “huge Barbies” ... But once I had my Iplehouse nYID flagged. The agent had me step aside, he opened the bag, and swabbed the contents. I freaked out a little cause I didn’t know what the swab (looked like an alcohol pad) might do to her resin, but she’s fine so I guess I worried for nothing. Like I said though, usually it goes just peachy. I’ve taken both MSD and SD sized dolls on several trips.

 

I got flagged at the airport recently for my dolls. Once I told the agent and he got a peek at them, he said that they were fine.

 

I feel like carry-on is the only way to go. Putting most things in checked baggage is risky and I don't trust the airline not to throw my doll around and break it.
But so long as you keep a good eye on it, you should be fine bringing them on the plane with you

 

I've taken few of my dolls on a plane before. I just carefully put in carry-ons and wrap them around a lot of softer materials like clothing. They are completely fine.

 

Want to thank everyone for their input!

I'm planning on flying to visit my parents this holiday season and am looking for recommendations on cases to put my MSD dolls in during transit! I read hard cases are good but are there any specific recommended products/items/links that anyone can post? I also live in Alaska so shipping is at least a week and I don't want to be caught having to pack my dolls in! Thankfully I'm only taking one with me but would still like any recommendations, if anyone has any.

 

I will move overseas and I was considering taking my MSDs with me as checked luggage. I have their original hard-case boxes, and I was planning to also use bubble-wrap around them. What do you think of this?

 

Depends on the size of the boxes. My MSD size boxes seem a little big to fit in a standard carry on

 

If you’re brave/dumb you can just stick them in a rucksack... That said, he was fine and although I had to open my bag at security, the woman there was fascinated rather than mean. XD probably helped that airports in the U.K. let autistic people wear special lanyards so staff are nice to us. He did get scratched a bit at Ldoll but I can fix that up. I’m not sure which airlines etc people travel with, but European economy class has very little carry on allowance on many airlines. A 72cm doll in a proper carry bag wouldn’t count.

But yeah, probably don’t do this. XD

 

Hello! I'm taking my first trip to Japan in October, and I want to purchase my first Volks SD doll at this time. However, I am worried about bringing her home. I am from Canada, so the plane ride back is about 13 hours. For those who have purchased dolls overseas: did you have to put them in checked luggage or will carry-on work fine? Did they get damaged? Thank you for your help!

 

I purchased a Yo-SD from Mandarake when I was in Japan. He was small enough to take with me in my carry-on bag.

If your SD is too big for your carry-on, I suggest unstringing it and wrapping the pieces in clothes/bubble-wrap before you pack it in your check-in baggage, to reduce risk of damage during transit.

 

Not Volks nor Japan, but I've brought home a couple dolls with me from an international trip in the past (from the US). I brought them bought on my carry on luggage, but since they were on the bigger side (65cm and 54cm) and I wanted both on my carry on, I brought them both in pieces. Everything went just fine though, I had all their pieces, elastic, S-hooks and all with me and had no issues. Just wrapped them up safely and padded the ends of the suitcase to make sure and they arrived without a scratch.

Best of luck!

 

I've flown with my dolls (domestically), and it was fine. With the carry-on baggage I had my luggage stopped and inspected and the one time I had it checked they were fine. That suitcase was pretty packed though, so that probably padded them. I was pretty panicky in the interim though. I would do carry-on if you can. One should be fine, recently I was able to jam three SDs into one carry-on. Not great for their faceups, but I do those.

 

I've flown with my YoSD dolls (one at a time) on previous trips, even internationally. Usually I wrap them up in a sleeping-bag type of carrier with a face protector. But for the most recent trip, I took my MSD project doll, April, and since she's already pretty banged up, I just stuck her in my purse with her head poking out between the unzipped top edges. Considering the pre-existing damage to her face, I wasn't too worried about doing further damage to her, and I thought I had her pretty well secured. I kept checking on her every few seconds by either looking at her, or by cupping my hand around her head.

Well, we got our bags checked in and were headed to the security line when I looked down and noticed something terrible. "Where is April's head?!" I screeched, and my husband checked his stride just in time to avoid stepping on her headcap/wig, which had fallen at his feet. And then he spent the next five minutes laughing at me, and at the expressions on the faces of the nearby TSA agents who had heard me.

Moral of the story: I will never again travel with a BJD that's not properly contained in some way.

 

My new job has me traveling a lot more than in the past, so I've been doing a little research on overall travel stuff that may be helpful here Let me start by saying that in my opinion, the absolute safest place for a doll, no matter the size, is under your seat. You have the most control over them this way. Option 2: rigid small suitcase, carefully packed. This can also be problematic, however, especially in very small planes where you get asked to gate-check your carry-on because overheads are too small for anything bigger than a backpack on a good day.

Here's some other bits of wisdom I can add:

-Get to know the planes the airlines use. You can typically see what kind of plane you'll be flying at the time of booking in the flight details, which are usually hidden because only people really into planes, or people really picky about what they will and will not fly on. Knowing the planes will help you no matter what airline you fly with. Note that the smaller the plane is, the higher your risk of having to gate-check a carry-on, which could be problematic if you have a doll in there.

-Not all seats have the same underseat space. Often, the middle seat is the seat that's the most "generous", while the window and sometimes the aisle, are shorted for some reason. I've noticed that older planes fitted for various seat amenities, such as power outlets, will lose space because the conduit used, and the aisle and window are where it mostly ends up (hi, United).

Travelon has a wheeled carryon that's 18 x 14 x 9 that has been really helpful to me; I've gotten it underseat on a flight or two, and into an overhead when some were not sure it could get in there. MSDs can get in there easy, at least one 65CM sized doll could manage with some careful packing,but I need to verify. It's semi-rigid, so it can give a little, but it's sturdier than, say, a cloth carrier.

I hope that helps!

 

Follow up: Rosalie and Annabel have volunteered to show you the doll safety features of the Travelon case that I mentioned. As you can see, mine is a red version, but it comes in black, blue, and purple as well.



More images under the Spoiler tag... I figured I'd at least make this fun.

Spoiler

Anabelle goes first: As you can see, her MSD body fits in here flat, with room to spare for a few like-sized friends. Of course, she knows if she were really traveling in here, she'd be properly padded. Her feet are faced to the bottom of the bag, and she's nestled in between where the retractable handles go when they are down.



Now we have Rosalie - She's gotta go at an angle, but even SD13, she still gets in. Due to gravity, her back is at the bottom of the bag, her feet pointed to the top. Keep her to the back of the bag if possible; the straps may be able to help there. SD 16/17 and 70cm resin beings might fit with legs bent, but only if their measurement from the top of their heads to their butts are the same as an SD13.

Rosalie sits here with about a quarter inch or so of clearance to the side wall.



"Tadaaaaaa!"

Anabelle shows that an MSD size and SD size doll can fit comfortably as well in this arrangement. Future flight attendant, this one!



Two SDs (precisely, SD 13 girl and SD13 boy)....Eh, they get in there, but I don't feel as good about this arrangement. Not only will gravity be problematic for Rosalie unless she is packed so she doesn't slide down, which could be done), my boy Willington here would have to suffer Rosalie's feet in his face the entire trip. It's doable, but it's the least safe arrangement in my opinion.



Closing shot of Willington with the closed bag for reference on the height, and to make up for the discourtesy of the previous shot. The front is the softest part of the bag, which is why I recommend packing dolls towards the back. You could use your own clothes for this padding, along with cushions, bubble wrap, masks, and any other safety items.



We now return you to your dolly travel discussions.