The unanimous verdict is, DON'T put anything expensive in your checked luggage. I get that. But I'm in a bit of a tough spot here. Long story short, I'm sitting here in the U.S. with a $2000 piece of music equipment that I agreed to bring with me to Istanbul next week as a favor for a friend.
It's their property, legit, brand-new out of the box. I didn't realize it would be too big for my carry-on. Jet Blue claims they'll check the box at least to New York. I haven't called Turkish Airlines yet. But even if they accept, I can't figure out a way to protect it. I'm not worried about damage, I can pack the hell out of that thing. I'm concerned with theft. I simply can't risk losing their $2000 item. Shipping it is a last resort. If it wasn't so expensive they would have already done so.
What can I do? Does anyone have experience, as musicians or business travelers, with checking a cardboard box on international flights?
The item is an SSL Nucleus. In box it's 18.25 x 8 x 31.5 inches and 16 lbs.