Is it possible to insure an iMac in checked baggage?
October 5, 2016 11:32 AM Subscribe
Asking for a friend: My photographer/videographer buddy's going to Paris for a month, and would like to take along his 27" iMac to edit his work while he's there. Being as this whole business is too large for a carry-on, is there a way for him to insure his computer in checked baggage?
He seems to be hitting a $500 wall with traveler's insurance, and the total of the checked stuff would be more like $3,700. Is there a way he could insure his equipment if it's checked? He'll be flying Delta, if that makes a difference.
Alternatively, if it turns out his situation is weird and impossible, do you know a good way to rent Mac equipment in Paris?
Thank you!
He seems to be hitting a $500 wall with traveler's insurance, and the total of the checked stuff would be more like $3,700. Is there a way he could insure his equipment if it's checked? He'll be flying Delta, if that makes a difference.
Alternatively, if it turns out his situation is weird and impossible, do you know a good way to rent Mac equipment in Paris?
Thank you!
One could pack it, but this is arguably the entire reason humanity invented laptops.
posted by Sphinx at 11:48 AM on October 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Sphinx at 11:48 AM on October 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
Be aware that this might trigger attention at French passport control. A photographer friend of mine once went to Paris with a lot of equipment, and the French decided that meant he was there to work, as opposed to just being a tourist with high-end photography equipment. He was denied entry and put on a plane back to the U.S.
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:51 AM on October 5, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:51 AM on October 5, 2016 [7 favorites]
"Folks check expensive things regularly w/o insurance. "
..and if those things break or get lost or stolen?
posted by I-baLL at 11:51 AM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
..and if those things break or get lost or stolen?
posted by I-baLL at 11:51 AM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
This would be covered under his business or renters insurance, as far as I know (as a photographer with a ton of equipment I need in all sorts of locations and have flown with).
posted by jeweled accumulation at 11:55 AM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by jeweled accumulation at 11:55 AM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think the travel/checked baggage might be a red herrring. Call any place that sells laptop insurance and ask for a quote on an iMac that sometimes moves around and sometimes sits at home- that's where I'd start.
It might be covered on extant renter's insurance, but many of those policies only cover things in the home by default, so definitely don't just assume it's covered that way without explicitly checking.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:59 AM on October 5, 2016
It might be covered on extant renter's insurance, but many of those policies only cover things in the home by default, so definitely don't just assume it's covered that way without explicitly checking.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:59 AM on October 5, 2016
I don't recommend this. It might get stolen (I've had a laptop stolen from checked luggage) or broken (that 27" glass is particularly vulnerable for baggage chuckers throwing it on a truck.) Even if he manages to find someone to insure it for the full $3700 and it's lost/broken, he'll be running around getting paperwork from the airlines to the insurance company OR he'll be taking it to an Apple store in France to replace the glass and then waiting for them to repair it, which doesn't make for a nice trip. This is all on top of probably paying an oversized luggage fee if it's properly packed in the boxes in which the iMac is sold (and then explaining to Customs how you're not importing something for resale or using it for work on a tourist vista.)
I'd say buying a Pro or an Air and then reselling after the trip is a better plan, and it will ensure no downtime for his photography.
posted by bluecore at 12:08 PM on October 5, 2016 [9 favorites]
I'd say buying a Pro or an Air and then reselling after the trip is a better plan, and it will ensure no downtime for his photography.
posted by bluecore at 12:08 PM on October 5, 2016 [9 favorites]
I had luggage go missing completely... I would never put anything valuable in checked luggage, if nothing else because dealing with the airline and insurance companies was time consuming and awful. If you insure, insure it as business equipment that travels. I asked about adding it to our homeowners policy and because I had a related degree and nice-ish equipment and intended to travel they decided I was a professional and said no.
Nth Sphinx that it belongs in carry on - one way or another.
posted by jrobin276 at 12:09 PM on October 5, 2016
Nth Sphinx that it belongs in carry on - one way or another.
posted by jrobin276 at 12:09 PM on October 5, 2016
The standard answer would generally be insurance for a professional photographer/videoographer. I'm vaguely familiar with agencies TCP Insurance and InsureMyEquipment, but Google reveals a number of options. This is generally annual business insurance for photographers, covering a listed set of gear, liability, workers comp, etc... They may be able to do shorter-term policies to cover a trip, but there are generally minimum premiums below which they aren't going to bother writing a policy, and that plus the deductible may add up to a decent percentage of the value of the equipment. Be sure to check out the deductible; I've seen some of the short-term policies have especially high deductibles for losses outside the US.
posted by zachlipton at 12:25 PM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by zachlipton at 12:25 PM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
I would not travel with a computer as heavy and unwieldy as an iMac without a very solid carrying case.
It may be easier and cheaper for your friend to make a Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner backup of his iMac, and buy or rent an iMac in Paris, using that backup to re-image the temporary computer. At the end of the month, just boot into Recovery Mode (power on, hold Option-R) and wipe the iMac's hard drive.
To rent an iMac in Paris, some useful French search terms to put into a search engine are, perhaps: "louer imac paris" or "louer apple paris". If you use Google, it can do some translation on the fly, or look for one month rates ("1 mois"): example 1, example 2, example 3.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:18 PM on October 5, 2016 [6 favorites]
It may be easier and cheaper for your friend to make a Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner backup of his iMac, and buy or rent an iMac in Paris, using that backup to re-image the temporary computer. At the end of the month, just boot into Recovery Mode (power on, hold Option-R) and wipe the iMac's hard drive.
To rent an iMac in Paris, some useful French search terms to put into a search engine are, perhaps: "louer imac paris" or "louer apple paris". If you use Google, it can do some translation on the fly, or look for one month rates ("1 mois"): example 1, example 2, example 3.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:18 PM on October 5, 2016 [6 favorites]
God, no, I wouldn't put it in cargo. He could ship it to his hotel ahead of his trip (likely expensive), but what I would personally do is bring a laptop in my carry-on luggage and then buy a monitor there and hook up to the laptop. Or, as suggested, just rent the whole kit.
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 2:40 PM on October 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 2:40 PM on October 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
I came here to suggest exactly what a lungful of dragon said. Clone a copy of his hard drive with Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper and rent an iMac with equivalent specs when he gets there. (He really should have a backup anyway, even if he weren't traveling.)
He should also bring or buy a monitor calibrator to ensure color consistency across his screen and print workflow. I'd probably bring an extra external drive too, just in case the other one gets messed up somehow while traveling.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 5:54 PM on October 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
He should also bring or buy a monitor calibrator to ensure color consistency across his screen and print workflow. I'd probably bring an extra external drive too, just in case the other one gets messed up somehow while traveling.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 5:54 PM on October 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
1. He ought not to ship the iMac. Way too much chance of damage or loss. The warning about Passport Control's reax is valid. Tourists do not carry desktops.
2. If he did carry it, he would be foolish not to backup the iMac first. Instead of leaving that backup drive at home and taking the iMac, take an empty portable drive to backup the purchased/rented laptop or desktop used in France.
3. Assuming the friend also backs up data cards to the net, he can keep on doing that in France.
posted by justcorbly at 6:34 PM on October 5, 2016
2. If he did carry it, he would be foolish not to backup the iMac first. Instead of leaving that backup drive at home and taking the iMac, take an empty portable drive to backup the purchased/rented laptop or desktop used in France.
3. Assuming the friend also backs up data cards to the net, he can keep on doing that in France.
posted by justcorbly at 6:34 PM on October 5, 2016
I would not check an imac in luggage. Even in a proper case, the forces exerted from it beign catapulted around in the airport conveyor/security system, loading tugs, baggage handlers into the plane, etc could seriously screw it up. I would be afraid of the display detaching(like this) or a ton of other things. I was a hardware tech for years, and tore down several imacs.
I also used an imac for live performance with my music project for a bit over a year. It held up... i guess, but i also paid peanuts for it(bought it busted) and it was ROUGH by the end of that. Like, the case was coming apart. I can't imagine taking one on a plane. And this was in a heavy duty anvil type metal-edged road case that weighed like a billion pounds and was heavily padded and reinforced with dividers etc.
In addition to the rental idea above... Why not buy one at the apple store in france, then return it before you leave? Assuming the trip isn't longer than 14 days. I checked, and thats the return policy as well.
I'm also in full support of the "bring laptop, purchase/rent monitor" idea if you want to lock up a few hundred bucks on a card instead of several thousand.
posted by emptythought at 10:25 PM on October 5, 2016
I also used an imac for live performance with my music project for a bit over a year. It held up... i guess, but i also paid peanuts for it(bought it busted) and it was ROUGH by the end of that. Like, the case was coming apart. I can't imagine taking one on a plane. And this was in a heavy duty anvil type metal-edged road case that weighed like a billion pounds and was heavily padded and reinforced with dividers etc.
In addition to the rental idea above... Why not buy one at the apple store in france, then return it before you leave? Assuming the trip isn't longer than 14 days. I checked, and thats the return policy as well.
I'm also in full support of the "bring laptop, purchase/rent monitor" idea if you want to lock up a few hundred bucks on a card instead of several thousand.
posted by emptythought at 10:25 PM on October 5, 2016
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Instead of insurance, I'd suggest get a good Pelican or similar hard case, and use that for packing and checking his computer.
posted by k5.user at 11:40 AM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]