How safe would 8' rods be if shipped in a Plano 45102 rod case on a commercial airplane flight? What precautions should be taken. Is there a better way to pack these rods?

If the Plano case you mentioned is the same one I look at in the store it might work. Better, I think, and certainly cheaper, would be to ship them in something made from thick walled PVC pipe from Home Depot. I don't think you will have a problem, but it is possible that a long tube like that could get snapped in half by rolling part way out of one of the little baggage cars or getting crossways on a conveyer. They seem to get ski's through okay, but the rod tube is even longer and nastier to keep straight. My solution was to just build some 3 piece rods. You may have the makings of a couple when you get back though.

The Plano case you mention is adequate, and would likely fare well in commercial air travel.

Like the previous poster, however, I have always erred on the side of caution in commercial travel. I have a suite of "travel cases" made of schedule 40 PVC, with screw-on adapters at both ends. I use a pipe with a legnth just slightly longer than the rods to carry, and I use two female threaded adapters for the ends. These adapters are capped by male threaded plugs. The plugs have a single 1/8" hole drilled into them to allow for compression/decompression. The cases have my name and home address stenciled into two places, at opposite ends.

If you're transporting special or custom rods, I also recommend use of newspaper padding or a sock for each rod, because there's a tremendous amount of vibration that these rods will see on even short air trips. I've been dismayed to see extensive cosmetic damage to rods, even while well protected, if the rods are not protected from rubbing against each other.

It may also be a good idea to verify the regulations of the specific airline(s) you will be using for legnth of checked baggage. While enforcement may be spotty, some carriers have restrictions on the legnth of checked baggage, and I recall more than a few that specified extra charges or prohobition for objects in the 8' or greater range.