Have an upcoming trip to Japan, planned long ago. My son is ready for another sax and what started as a thought to let him demo high end saxes while there, transitioned into buying one and bringing it home with us. After much research and thought, my plan is to buy the [TENOR - edit] sax, remove everything but the main body, pack as needed to prevent any movement and use custom cork pieces to prevent key bounce in the factory case and factory box, then double box is again using a cutdown golf box (51x16x16") and more bubble wrap which will give 2.5 - 4.5" dead zone around factory box, followed by FRAGILE stickers.
This will be an oversized checked bag on SIA from NRT to LAX. We'll declare at LAX, remove everything down to the factory case, and my son will backpack it carryon onto our Embrarer 175 puddle jumper home. (1st class for first boarding and side of the plane with large bins - taking advantage of the US rule that musical instruments can be placed in overhead storage if it available when passenger boards.). Am I missing anything here??? Appreciate any help, nervous dad here.