Recently, we were asked by a player planning to attend the upcoming NY Classic event (June 9-11, Paintball Sports NY) if we could provide them with an "invitation letter" to the event, as they needed such a thing to be able to get their gear on the plane and/or through US Customs upon arriving in the US.

Of course we'd be more than happy to help insure that players and teams traveling for events in the US can do so;  anyone who has traveled internationally with paintball gear knows that it can become a nightmare - especially when having to deal with different languages, let alone different policies, different laws, etc.

For sure, no one wants to arrive in a country for an event only to have to leave their gear behind at the airport.  (And no one wants to be ushered into a windowless, concrete block room under any circumstances.)

We issued the invitational letter, and will be happy to do the same for any team traveling to a US-based WCPL event, but I wanted to share a few things that were highlighted by this inquiry.

First, for foreign travel, the Transportation and Security Administration (TSA)  is not the correct Federal authority to deal with.

Yes, TSA has its own rules and restrictions regarding airline travel - who and what can pass through to the plane - but that's only for domestic travel.  (Not that you can ignore those rules without peril:  gear needs to go in your checked  luggage, tanks need to be depressurized, etc.)

For those non-US citizens traveling to the US, the governing authority is Customs and Border Patrol.

We reached out to CBP to find out if the requested letter was their regulation or simply an airlines own internal policy.  At this writing, we have not yet hard back from CBP, but when we do, we'll post any relevant information they might pass on.

In the meantime, its probably best if you check - well before departure - with your own country's version of TSA and/or CBP, AND with your individual airline.

There was a time, BITD in the US, when we were instructed to declare the presence of our paintball guns during check - in and often make them available for inspection.  Rules and regulations can change at any time, so its best for players to double check the appropriate authorities, be it a branch of government or an airline.   No one wants to have to decide at the last minute whether to travel without gear or skip their flight.

And if you do check and run in to some unanticipated restrictions or roadblocks, get in touch with us.  We can't promise to be able to help, but we can promise to try.

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Teams attending the New York Classic:  Your deposits/entry fees are due by May 10th.  For payment details, go here