I've done this many times and never had any major issues. Thought I would share a little on my latest experience.
The wife and I had planned a trip to Vermont for our 25th anniversary. First thing I always do when traveling is pull up my CCW app on my smartphone and check the gun laws in the state(s) I'll be in. Great, user friendly app, BTW.
So, Vermont is a Constitutional carry state and therefore honors Indiana's LTCH. No problem there.
We flew on American Airlines so when I arrived in Indy, I hit the kiosk and got our boarding passes and then proceeded to check the baggage. Declared the firearm to the agent. She never missed a beat. She started to ask the questions required and I quickly answered. "It's unloaded, in a locked hardsided case, ammunition is in the original manufacturers packaging and is under 11 pounds" She smiled, politely, and said you've done this before. I signed the declaration that it was unloaded, opened the suitcase and placed it on the case and away we went. She did tell me to check in with a TSA supervisor at the passenger screening, which I had never done before. He asked how long ago I had checked my bag. When I said 30 minutes, he said, "Oh, you are good to go, thank you"
Only problem came up when we landed in Washington DC. They did not have an open gate for us, so we sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes. This caused us to miss our connection by 5 minutes and I had to wonder if our luggage had made it on the connecting flight or if it would follow us onto our rescheduled flight an hour later.
My gut told me that it was transferred to the original plane and I pictured it going around the baggage claim carousel for an hour.
When we arrived in Burlington, I went to the American counter and they had our bag behind the counter.
On the return, when I hit the kiosk, it sent up a flag and said to see a ticket agent about the firearm and it printed a paper stating such. I went to the counter and presented the slip of paper. The agent glanced at it and the set it aside and proceeded to print out our boarding passes. When she said, "you can set your suitcase up here", I asked when I needed to sign the firearms declaration?
She gave me a quizzical look and said, "you have a firearm in your bag?"
Yes, that's why I handed you the printed paper. She quickly got back on track and all went smoothly there. Burlington airport is so small that she had me wait around for a few minutes while the TSA cleared the bag, right there.
All in all, it was an easy process, as usual. Pocket carried a Taurus 738 TCP the entire trip but other than being in some very rural areas where a mad cow or rouge Maple tree may have been our biggest threats, my Spider senses never went off once.
The wife and I had planned a trip to Vermont for our 25th anniversary. First thing I always do when traveling is pull up my CCW app on my smartphone and check the gun laws in the state(s) I'll be in. Great, user friendly app, BTW.
So, Vermont is a Constitutional carry state and therefore honors Indiana's LTCH. No problem there.
We flew on American Airlines so when I arrived in Indy, I hit the kiosk and got our boarding passes and then proceeded to check the baggage. Declared the firearm to the agent. She never missed a beat. She started to ask the questions required and I quickly answered. "It's unloaded, in a locked hardsided case, ammunition is in the original manufacturers packaging and is under 11 pounds" She smiled, politely, and said you've done this before. I signed the declaration that it was unloaded, opened the suitcase and placed it on the case and away we went. She did tell me to check in with a TSA supervisor at the passenger screening, which I had never done before. He asked how long ago I had checked my bag. When I said 30 minutes, he said, "Oh, you are good to go, thank you"
Only problem came up when we landed in Washington DC. They did not have an open gate for us, so we sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes. This caused us to miss our connection by 5 minutes and I had to wonder if our luggage had made it on the connecting flight or if it would follow us onto our rescheduled flight an hour later.
My gut told me that it was transferred to the original plane and I pictured it going around the baggage claim carousel for an hour.
When we arrived in Burlington, I went to the American counter and they had our bag behind the counter.
On the return, when I hit the kiosk, it sent up a flag and said to see a ticket agent about the firearm and it printed a paper stating such. I went to the counter and presented the slip of paper. The agent glanced at it and the set it aside and proceeded to print out our boarding passes. When she said, "you can set your suitcase up here", I asked when I needed to sign the firearms declaration?
She gave me a quizzical look and said, "you have a firearm in your bag?"
Yes, that's why I handed you the printed paper. She quickly got back on track and all went smoothly there. Burlington airport is so small that she had me wait around for a few minutes while the TSA cleared the bag, right there.
All in all, it was an easy process, as usual. Pocket carried a Taurus 738 TCP the entire trip but other than being in some very rural areas where a mad cow or rouge Maple tree may have been our biggest threats, my Spider senses never went off once.
