Hi All,

I'm based in the UK and looking to buy my first drone, the Mavic Pro, the biggest appeal to me is the portability.  I've got a honeymoon planned towards the end of the year and would love to take the Mavic with me to get some great photos and footage.  We're landing in San Francisco, travelling down the coast (stopping along the way) to LA, then we're off to Mexico.

So enough of the back ground info, I have a few questions/grey areas that I was hoping someone could help me with.

• Firstly, insurance, can anyone recommend any insurance companies? A quick google reveal Moonrock as a UK based insurance company that seem reasonably priced but don't cover USA.
• Also, what kind of cover would you recommend, 3rd party liability is presumably a must, but from searching you seem to have various levels for damage or complete loss.
• Next, any rules/regulations, the UK rules are fairly clear (the dronecode) for personal use, but for California and Mexico I'm struggling to find a nice simple set of regulations.  Do I need to register before travelling or should I not sweat it and just go, following the same UK rules?
  

Any help/suggestions/feedback welcome.

Dex

P.S. Obviously I would be looking to buy the drone with plenty of time to learn all of it's functions well before the Honeymoon.  I don't expect to buy it and be able to fly it like a pro the week before we depart

P.P.S. Just noticed I was being a plonker! Moonrook insurance is "per month", I stupidly read that as "per year", guess that insurance is aimed at the Pros, should have read it better.

Hi Dex, I'd recommend joining the British Model Flying Association (BMFA) as a Country member for £33 per year. As a member you automatically get Third Party insurance cover for flying your drone. Link to BMFA insurance and membership is here -https://bmfa.org/Info/Articles/Know-your-insurance The basic insurance covers you for the UK and Europe, but you need to apply in writing for an extension cover for the USA. We went to Hawaii last spring and I did this myself. They will post you a temporary cover note for the duration you are away. Hope this helps.
Forgot to add they don't charge you any extra for this USA cover!

You may not get cover that you can use anywhere, or it may be so costly that it won't be worth it, you can take out dji care refresh which will cover your drone, each country has different regulations you will have to check this out, regulations for flying over or around people are 50 meters in U.K. And Ireland and I'm pretty sure this will be repeated where ever you go, so if you can't get Public liability, just be careful.  One last thing just giving you a heads up, dji don't like forum members using there logo as there Avatar.

Where are you based in the UK?  If it's anywhere near North Wales, give me a shout.  I'd be happy to go through anything you want to know, and let you try out a Mavic/Phantom/Inspire + others....

Andy

Wow, thanks for the quick replies and the heads up regarding the avatar, I'll change it in a sec.

I guessed the UK and USA would have similar rules, as long as there's no need to register or anything.  I guess I'll have to have a better dig through google for any California specific laws.

I would also assume Mexico is going have similar rules to the UK/USA, if not a little more relaxed.

£33 per year for 3rd party liability (which is the main thing I assume you want as a drone pilot) is fantastic!

I did a bit more digging around after posting and found that someones home insurance covered their drone for loss/theft/damage as part of their "up to £2500" cover while away from home since it is classed as a camera and it only cost them an extra £11 to add it on!  Might be worth giving the home insurance a call when the time comes!

Only other concern is how the wife will react to me "d**king about" with a drone every other day on our honeymoon...

Andy LIS Posted at 2017-1-6 05:54
Where are you based in the UK?  If it's anywhere near North Wales, give me a shout.  I'd be happy to go through anything you want to know, and let you try out a Mavic/Phantom/Inspire + others....

Andy

Cheers for the offer, when the time comes I might take you up on that offer, or at least PM you!  I'm near Birmingham, so not a million miles away, but also not 5 minutes down the road!

Hi again, I also forgot to add  that you need to have your drone registered to use in the USA. Don't know about Mexico.

http://federaldroneregistration.com/

Re your new wife's reaction - It will be a good test as if it's going to be a happy and understanding long term relationship between the 2 of you!

Jimney Posted at 2017-1-6 06:43
Hi again, I also forgot to add  that you need to have your drone registered to use in the USA. Don't know about Mexico.

http://federaldroneregistration.com/

Thanks for the link I'll have a read...

LOL - We've been together for over 14 years...I'm sure she'll be fine with me stopping to mess about with a drone, my main issues will likely be my own capabilities (with getting the "right" shots and then editing them all together when we're back home!)

As Jimney says; join the BMFA, it's worth it for the 3rd party insurance alone. It's very comforting knowing if you do have an incident where, God forbid, you do cause damage or injure someone, you've got cover.  Secondly, if you're going to buy a DJI Mavic, or any other DJI drone, buy the Care or Refresh package. Thirdly, if you bank with Barclays, they will insure your phone AND another piece of tech hardware for £9.99 per month. I'm sure other UK banks offer similar plans.

Airobotix Posted at 2017-1-6 11:26
As Jimney says; join the BMFA, it's worth it for the 3rd party insurance alone. It's very comforting knowing if you do have an incident where, God forbid, you do cause damage or injure someone, you've got cover.  Secondly, if you're going to buy a DJI Mavic, or any other DJI drone, buy the Care or Refresh package. Thirdly, if you bank with Barclays, they will insure your phone AND another piece of tech hardware for £9.99 per month. I'm sure other UK banks offer similar plans.

Good shout, if/when I can afford a Mavic, I'll remember to have a look at my banks options too.

Thanks all for your kindly advice to a complete noob, all to often you see people being lambasted for signing up to a forum and asking some simple questions, but there's been none of that here!  Makes a refreshing change!

Apple finally has this available to order again!  So now have one ordered for the princely sum of £898 + change!  Also ordered some spare rotors.  Will worry about additional batteries once it's arrived and tested.  with some of the horror stories on here, I'd like to know it works fine and have a play with it for a bit first before spending another £76 per battery!

Current estimated delivery is 25th April - 10th May!

Excited and scared, hope I have no issues getting it on the planes when going to USA and Mexico! Given current travel restrictions! (I know it's only from certain countries but you never know what could happen between now and November/December!

Wow - just received a dispatch notice saying it'll be delivered tomorrow!  So much for the 1+ month estimate!

Dexter1759 Posted at 2017-3-23 13:10
Wow - just received a dispatch notice saying it'll be delivered tomorrow!  So much for the 1+ month estimate!

Wow that's a good price! How did you find it for that price? Apple shows it at £999

Phantom_menace Posted at 2017-3-23 15:28
Wow that's a good price! How did you find it for that price? Apple shows it at £999

It's through some employee discount scheme we have at work, must be preferred partners or something similar.  Not sure as to the exact details when it comes to discounts, but seems to be 10% off a huge selection of items. (Likely to be a lot smaller % for the latest iPhones)

Just FYI, from what I've read, the Moonrock insurance doesn't cover for recreational/hobby use. Purely business use only. (Check the second line of every policy's page when you click the Buy button)

Jimney Posted at 2017-1-6 06:43
Hi again, I also forgot to add  that you need to have your drone registered to use in the USA. Don't know about Mexico.

http://federaldroneregistration.com/

Also, unless I'm misunderstanding something, you can only register your drone as a US citizen (FAQ Q21)? So does that mean visitors don't have to register them? Personally myself, if I was going for a couple week holiday to the states I wouldn't bother registering

OMG - it's here, it's charging...I feel like a little boy at Christmas again!   Though the OH was like "It's tiny...don't you think it's expensive for what it is?"

Supposed I'd better ring my home insurance company to see if they will cover for loss and damage.  If they do, presumably that'll be better than forking out for the Care Refresh thing right?

Any tips for a first time drone flier (I know not to try indoors or even in the back garden first time out! lol).

To confirm, since I've paid less than £1000 for the drone, it's covered for Loss/Damage through my home insurance (the away from home bit).  If I'd paid over £1000 I'd have to specify the drone as an item and presumably pay some additional money.