Check or not to check...

I'd chuck the poles--it seems like it adds extra hassle. Maybe you could find some inexpensive poles when you arrive!

Yes, you will appreciate a pole on the rocky terrain. You can buy a cheap one once overseas, one that folds into thirds and at least check it on the way back. That's what I'm doing this summer.

If it's not too late for you, I say check the bag. I resisted poles for my walking trips in Scotland where not only is it rocky, it's often slippery. Since I've been using them, I've had fewer falls and better trips. What you might think about doing is getting a light weight packable duffle and wrapping the poles in bubble wrap and just checking them. Still use your carry on. That way, you have all your stuff in case of disaster. You can always use the duffle for packing laundry and wrapping up the poles on the way home so you can ditch that bubble wrap at the airport if you want to!

Pam

Thanks, Pam - I think that is what we are going to try. We'll be in London for 4 days, so even if the poles don't make the flight, we should get them before our flight to Greece. I've also found a place to buy them in London, but GBP is not in our favor right now, so I'll hope the poles make it. Thankfully, Ken from Vernon alerted me that this might be a problem.

This may be worth a try. If you have had knee surgery, or any medical attention to the knee, your physician will most likely sign a letter that the walking stick is necessary medical equipment, which it sounds like it is. Airlines often waive fees for these items, so long as they aren't mingled with non-medical things.

(Your dilemma gave me a happy thought - open a walking stick rental stand chain. Next to the sunglass hut.... I'll man the one in Greece! Happy retirement for me!)

I understand that you're concerned about your bag making it onto the Chicago connection, but rushing around the airport with it is also not much fun. I have checked my main bag on many trips and only on two occasions had the bag be delayed a day in reaching me. Pack valuables and hard-to-replace items like your guidebook, reservations, prescription drugs, comfortable shoes, and change of underwear in your carry-on bag.

So, if you’re okay checking bags with your poles from London to Athens, what’s the issue with checking them in at SEA for your trip to LHR? Unless you have two different airlines in play from SEA to LHR, where you’re changing to a non-codeshare flight type of arrangement at ORD, your bags would normally be checked all the way through to LHR, meaning you would not need to collect them in ORD for rechecking. What am I missing?

Anyway, regarding the previous reply, something like 1 in 150 passengers will have their checked bags lost, stolen, or damaged. Chances are with you that your checked bags will make it with no problem, but statistics show that there’s a decent chance your bag will be delayed. You need to think in advance about what you’ll do if your bag doesn’t get to London until you have already departed for Greece. If your bag is delayed on your trip home, who cares? But if it’s delayed on the front-end, it could cause you a few issues. As suggested, have enough of the critical clothing for a day or two in your carry-on. Any delay beyond that will require some extra work and planning on your part. I’ve had friends and colleagues whose bags were so delayed, they were back home before their bags finally arrived (back home).

Personally, I like previous suggestions to carry-on and buy cheaper walking poles there. You can always donate them to someone else who is about to buy new ones, leave them someplace that can use them, throw them away, recycle them, or check them for the trip home.

I never check, ever. Overhead bins full, and checking is required? No problem, my bag fits under the seat. It doesn’t matter where I’m going or how long I’ll be there, it’s always the same bag, and I will never check. Happy travels!

It doesn't have to be an either / or decision ...

Check the poles (put the poles in a small nylon duffle bag that you can fold up with some bubble wrap or cardboard around them).

Carry on the rest.

edit: went back and read this and see Pam suggested same thing

Michael,
Re: Why not check on SEA-LHR flight..That leg has a 50 min.change in ORD. I'm sure my husband and I can scoot to the next flight on time, but not sure the guys on the tarmac will be similarly motivated. The flight from LHR to Athens is non-stop, so I'm not so worried. On the way home, I could care less. It looks like we're going with the option to check a duffel with the poles and probably gel inserts ( have to double-check those with TSA, too!).

Sarah, you may want to add gel insoles to your rental business.

Patty

I got these Black Diamond hiking poles from REI on a sale, much cheaper than what is shown here -- http://www.rei.com/product/839641/black-diamond-ultra-distance-z-pole-trekking-poles-pair. They are for our trip to Greece in the fall. They come in a nice little bag and fit in my carry-on. My husband says he won't need one, but I'm taking both. He has some he bought a few years ago, but they do not fold and are way too big for carrying on the plane.

I'm with Sharon. I don't think hiking poles are worth the hassle or lost convenience of carry-on only.

I doubt any of your hiking will require special equipment. If you feel you really want them, however, you can pick them up there.

The American TSA revised their prohibited list in 2013 to allow poles:
http://blog.tsa.gov/2013/03/tsa-prohibited-items-list-changing_5.html

That said, inconsistent implementation could led to conflicts at the entry portals. The safe approach is to carry-on all your trip essentials and check the extras like the poles and your dancing shoes.

Agree w Laura...check the poles and carry on everything else. Worst that will happen is that they lose the poles and you have to either do without or go buy another pair. When I travel for business domestically, I always check because a day or two delay isn't a major hassle. For a vacation, however, I carry on because I strive to eliminate all worries, major and minor.

Keep in mind, even if TSA lets you carry on the poles, that doesn't mean that security at Heathrow or in Greece will let you carry on.

Way back in 1999, I traveled Stockholm - Paris - Nice with a carryon bag with collapsible hiking poles. Stockholm let me on with the poles. When I got to CDG and had to change planes, security made me check the poles. It was a real hassle on a tight connection. That is why I say go ahead and check your poles from the start. It is a much bigger hassle to deal with at a connection point than just checking the poles all the way through.

By the way, I've had luggage "lost" 4 or 5 times in 25+ years of travel. Ironically, it has never been lost on a short connection. It has been lost twice on direct flights. All but once, the luggage showed up the next day. One time it took 5 days. Honestly, I don't think there is any rhyme or reason as to when a bag gets mishandled. One time, I checked in with a friend for a direct flight from Stockholm to Paris. Her bag showed up and mine did not. They were put on the conveyor belt right next to each other. How does one go missing? Did the baggage handler take a coffee break after loading hers? Seriously, if you carry on important items with you, checking the non-essentials really isn't inconvenient.

Thanks everyone for the input. Poles are going to get checked, the rest we'll carryon. Together, we've never lost luggage, but my husband has on business trips. The odds are stacking up against us. I'm afraid I'm due!

Lo, too bad I didn't know you were going on the Greece, you could have had our poles - assuming the make it back. But, those are the poles I'm talking about.

Patty

Based on what you said, I contacted the TSA about my little hiking poles and got the pat answer that I can't take them in my carry-on because they are sporting equipment, even though they are more of a medical device for me. This part of the email back to me caught my eye:

Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) have the discretion to prohibit an individual from carrying an item through the screening checkpoint or onboard an aircraft if they believe the item poses a security threat. Therefore, TSA security screening personnel make the final decision on whether to permit items into the sterile area of the airport.

I think this is consistent with most people's experiences with security screening. So I could take the poles to the Tucson airport and I might get an okay from them, but if we get stuck in Atlanta and have to go outside and then back in through security, we might get an agent who wouldn't accept them.

That's where last year one snatched my passport out of my hand after I got through the body scanner, flipped through it and made me go back on the other side, put my passport and my boarding pass in a container and send them through the X-ray machine alone, then made me go back through the body scanner again to the other side. In the meantime, all my other stuff was already through and waiting at the end of the conveyor for anyone to pick up.

@Lo, every airport I was in on this past trip in August (six all together) had signs before the body scanner stating that nothing was to be in your pockets or hands when you went through. In addition, one place (Heathrow, maybe?) had a person stationed there to tell people the same thing. Perhaps they didn't get the message where you were.

That's good to know. I didn't notice any such sign last year, here or in Atlanta. Maybe that's why I had to go through all that at ATL. I haven't flown since a domestic flight last September and I didn't notice it then here either. I'll watch for it next time.

It does seem like the larger the airport, the more restrictive things are. I guess that's because they need to be. It's one of the reasons why we like to fly out of Tucson, along with no body scanner where you go inside and get sealed up, no long lines on either side of the X-ray machine where your stuff can get stuck going in or be hanging out there at the end of the belt if you get stuck for some reason.

In any case, I don't even get fully dressed when I go to the airport anymore. I leave everything but my wedding ring in my carry-on(s). Depending on the sensitivity of the scanner of whatever type, it's not worth the hassle. I can put the watch and earrings on after I get past security.

Our favorite story about that was an elderly German guy in Frankfurt who literally was stripped to his underwear right there because he kept setting the machine off. Needless to say, he was miffed and it caused a big delay. We had already gone through and were getting ourselves together while that was going on. We headed on to our gate, so we never saw what the story was.