I am going to Thailand for Christmas and was hoping to take my Phantom 3 Pro.  I contacted Emirates, who I am flying with, asking what their policy was with taking drones on their flights.  Their reply was, the drone has to be checked in baggage and the batteries need to be in a lipo fire safety bag in the cabin baggage.  I am now hesitant to take my drone, the thought of the bag with my drone being thrown around everywhere concerns me.  I do also have a hard case but this won't be very easy carrying around Thailand with my main backpack.  Has anyone else checked in their drone in just a backpack?

I took my other brand name quad to Mexico this summer. I disassembled it as far down as I could, stored the batteries in a separate checked bag with the connectors taped up and had no issues. I sandwiched the body, props, and landing gear inbetween clothes.

chadrob30 Posted at 2016-9-10 11:08
I took my other brand name quad to Mexico this summer. I disassembled it as far down as I could, sto ...

"stored the batteries in a separate checked bag"
You might have got away with it that time, but checking batteries is just asking for trouble.
Every airline has a dangerous goods section for their website which tells you their requirements for Lithium batteries.
And they all tell you that lithium batteries must be in carry-on luggage.

In my case I packed everything in a backpack - following the guides of the airline.

During the security check I heard a loud "We have a drone here!" yell.  It turned out that even though the airline would accept the drone as a carry-on, the freaking airport does not.

They showed me a paper that specifically restricts drones from being handled as a carry-on. They wanted me to put the drone in the luggage compartment. Since I have no hardcase, I had to call my wife to bring it home and took off without it.

Unfortunately there is no world-wide ruling in this topic.

Bought me some fiber glass bags for my next trip. They will case the Lipos which meanwhile all must be transported as carry on lagguage. In earlier days you could keep one Lipo in the original apparatus' battery bay. But now everyone (including  me)  is happier having them all rather under visual control inside the cabin then somewhere unattended  in the plane's belly.

amarok Posted at 2016-9-10 19:35
In my case I packed everything in a backpack - following the guides of the airline.

During the secu ...

Which airport was that please? I fly throughout the US and have never had a problem taking a drone in carry-on luggage. I would hate to get stopped at the other end of a trip where there would be no choice but to check it in.

I think I'm going to check in my drone in the hard case and use my backpack for hand bagage. Then when I get to Bangkok airport, put the drone into my backpack and try and put my hardcase into storage at the airport until I leave Thailand. It's not great but I really want to take my drone with me but don't want risk taking as cabin baggage and not being allowed at check in. My only comment is, we are getting a connecting flight at Dubai before arriving in Thailand, I've been to Dubai before and you can by Phantom drones at the airport in departures, so if I were to buy one and take on the plane, I wonder what their policy is then?

Different airlines no doubt have different regulations.  I flew to the UK this summer with Air Transat and I had to open the drone case and it was swabbed but they were more interested in seeing it, lol.  Too bad it rained everyday