I took a tripod to NZ last year. I cannot recall if it was my Manfrotto or a lightweight Slik. Probably the latter.

Later I bought a roller bag for travelling and that was sized to take my Manfrotto tripod as they are no longer popular as on-board luggage. As for packing for air travel, certainly, inside a bag surrounded by clothes (i.e. in the middle of the bag). Gone are the days when you could take golf bags (with clubs), rifles in bags and large duffle bags as on-board baggage. These days you are lucky to get a pygmy's purse on board. Even then, won’t be long before they hit you with a $50 surcharge for something the size of a postage stamp.

Now of course, if going to NY, I might put a Gitzo Ocean Traveller on my shopping list to pick up from there. Even though it is a lot cheaper in the US, it would still become the most expensive bit of kit in my collection - oh, just dreaming.

BTW, the concept of not 'congregating' on a plane is fascinating. Must be a US thing. How do you not congregate when jammed into a small space with 500 other people?