If you’re headed on a long-distance trip, the process of boarding the airplane can be mentally draining. We all want it to be efficient, but that means different things to different people. Collectively we have a stake in boarding progressing quickly, but individually we want to make sure that we’re there first and that our stuff is safe.

You’ve saved for your bucket list vacation, acquired all of the necessary gear and the luggage to get it there. The forecast is perfect, the flight gets off without a hitch, but when you arrive at the baggage claim it’s the nightmare scenario. Either your rod tube doesn’t arrive or its contents are destroyed. Here’s how to avoid that nightmare scenario.