Hi, If it goes in the hold they will more than likely charge you for it. A Lot depends on the airline .

In circumstances like this its always best to phone the airline and ask, that way you will end up with the correct info.

I have seen people collecting things wrapped in bubble from the luggage belt just last week.

A lot will depend on the airline you are using and whether you have a checked in baggage allowance or not, whether free or paid for etc but as MilleMiglia has already said - you really need to check whether you will be able to do this direct with the airline that you are flying with.

However, assuming that they will accept it as hold baggage then you still need to think carefully about whther you want to do this or not. Much will depend on how much it is worth both in monetary and sentimental value. The airline will probably be unwilling to accept any responsiibility for it ie they'll probably say that you can check it in but at your own risk so if it is of value to you or the recipeint for whatever reason, then you would be well advised to sort out some insurance for it.

Then you need to think about how you will pack it - I would never wrap a picture in just bubble wrap and expect it to arrive unscathed. At the very least you should pack it in a substantial cardboard box either under or over the bubblewrap - I'd personally go for over. Wrap it with a good layer/s of bubble wrap and then place in a cardboard carton that is snug enough to mean that it doesn't move around within the box.

If you go ahead with this allow yourself extra time for check-in. The check-in staff will weigh it and label it for you etc but if it is not of a comparable size to a suitcase or it is an odd shape then they probably will not put it through on the conveyor at the check-in desk. Instead they will ask you to take it to a separate desk for over-sized/no-standard luggage where it will be x-rayed before it is accepted. This is usually fairly straightforward but if you end up behind a queue of people, for example, all going on the same cycling holiday and taking their own bikes with them it can take a while. That's not a hypothetical scenario - that women quetly getting more and more anxious as she kept checking her watch was me!

Before he retired my Dad was a specialist art handler and there is nothing he doesn't know about to how to pack and transport pictures - including by air - so let me know if there is anything I can ask him about for you. One thing I do know because it was his worst nightmare - ask whether the luggage hold is pressurised before even thinking of handing an oil painting over to them. He made a purpose built wooden crate for a painting the gallery he worked for was loaning out to a gallery in Australia and they sent it out in a pressurised hold. The Australians sent it back minus its crate and just wrapped up in brown paper in an unpressurised frieght hold. When it arrived back here and they started to take the brown paper off it was immedaitely obvious that all the paint had flaked off the canvas and was simply heaped up in the bottom of the parcel like a giant jigsaw. A jigsaw that took an experienced restorer nearly 4 years to put together and re-attach to canvas!

SM

Thank you for your help, I have been trying to talk to someone from jet2 for over an hour, been on hold. I am flying with them next week so will ask at the jet2 desk. I would wrap in both cardboard and bubble wrap.

sue