Premium Members geoff shotz Posted November 8, 2006 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 this post applies mostly to the l.a. brethren, but also to anyone working in and out of l.a.. having made a few trips out of town in the last few years, with and without my gear, i have begun to dread flying. there are days when it all goes right annd there are no problems, and then there are the others. we've all been there and it sucks. well, if you must fly out of l.a. try to use burbank instead of lax. the reason being one gentleman- jerome davies. he owns and operates the skycap service at burbank curbside. call him in advance and he'll be waiting personnally or have one of his trusted guys there for you. you unload at the curb and he takes care of the rest- ticketing, seat assignment, baggage check. you just pay at the counter for excess baggage. sometimes he even knocks a few bags off the overage costs too. just be sure to tip him and his guys well! some commercial company blasted through there a while back and didn't tip, they almost ruined it for the rest of us. don't be afraid to give him some of productions' money. so you know, on my last trip through, he had me checked in with 10 cases and my cart (charged for 5 and nothing was weighed), paid up and marching through security in under 15 minutes from the time i hit the curb! pretty much the same as the 2 previous times. well worth the $100.00. life is so much better with help like that. he can be reached at: jerome davies 818/ 846 1349 put it in your phones. geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted November 8, 2006 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 Glad it worked for you Geoff. I love flying out of Burbank (and Long Beach isn't bad either). The stuff that you describe that this gent does though, I'm thinking all of that is what the skycaps usually do curbside anyway? or am I missing something? Obviously knocking down the case count is not SOP but other than that...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members geoff shotz Posted November 9, 2006 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 charles- the help he provides is what skycaps used to do. now you are lucky to get one to help you pick your stuff off the curb and move it anywhere. some airlines are helpful and some won't help you with that many cases. alaska airlines doesn't even have skycaps anymore. at lax, there are just crickets. there are no carts, no help and you can't leave your stuff on the curb while dragging your cases inside. the police almost arrested me once while i was traipsing in and out with cases. it was silly. also, with alaska, there are no production deals for overages and they charge double if your cases weigh between 50-70lbs.. not my worry, but it sure pisses off production when they see that bill. as for jerome, i am just happy someone is still available to us and helpful on a personal level. geoff 'missing the old days of operators and skycaps' shotz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Michael Stumpf Posted November 13, 2006 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 Maybe there's something I'm missing to bringing your gear with you on the plane, but I fly out of town for work a decent amount and NEVER deal with shipping my gear myself. The production always hire a trusted courier service. They come to my home pick up my gear, take it to there shipping place by LAX, put everything on a crate, wrap it up in that plastic wrap stuff so it all stays together and it's shipped to the production office of wherever I'm shooting. This eliminates ANY responsibility on my part for the shipping. I don't even have to worry about tipping or anything (but I still usually do give the guy $20 that picks the stuff up just to make sure he takes good care of it). I've done it this way going to everywhere from Venezuela to the Bahamas to North Carolina, to Arizona, etc. Never an issue and the gear has always showed up where it was suppose to be. Plus, unlike shipping your gear on the plane WITH you, you can LOCK your cases when it's shipped by a courier. So there is no worries about sticky finger skycaps, TSA personnel or baggage handlers. Just a thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted November 13, 2006 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 Yup, that's the way to do it. The problem comes when you are flying for a short hop and then going right on to another gig, sometimes it's unavoidable to have to shlep the gear. The shippers that I use out of LA are Transgroup Express at 800-932-3383. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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