Air Travel with my Guitar

klaatu

Jazzaferri wrote:

Guess the baggage guy was having a bad day or hated guitars or both....

Or he was just an asshole. Have you seen "United Breaks Guitars?"

Gene Rawe

My flying is most always international; I have never seen someone walk on with a gig bag (internationally) I have tried a few times to carry it through and have it checked at the gate but am always denied at the ticket counter. To top it off, I've usually been charged oversize fees each way as well. I am too attached to my guitars and have Calton cases. They see some abuse from baggage handlers but make out very well; and what piece of mind! Maybe gig bags are ok for some; but watching the jerks boarding late and then try to cram and smash their two or three carry ons? Into the already full overhead makes me apprehensive. How do people get their guitars to Samois?

Jeff Moore

Even if the guitar doesn't appear to be damaged from traveling with the cargo, the handlers must move fast. They throw the luggage and aren't paid to baby any of it. They aren't even paid enough to take care of themselves. I don't want my "Cigano" or "Selmer" smacked around even if it seems to survive. A case cannot prevent shock.
My daughter dropped a cased guitar from about two and half feet and broke a tuning key. Of course a guitar is mostly glue and light wood under tension, so the tuning key is likely just the observable damage, not the whole story, even if appears and sounds fine after the key is replaced.
In my discussions with airline and TSA personnel, they've also assured me there is no recourse if the guitar is damaged.

Summary: Until the pros tell us how its done, Take a gig bag as carry on, and be prepared to lose some or all of your guitar in the event they won't let you put it above the seats. Chances are pretty good you'll make it.

constantine

I travel with a parlor guitar and always put it in the ovethead. True its not a gypsy guitar but has steel strings and decent tone to give me something to play.

EmmettRay

I'm an airline mechanic and musician who travels far pretty often with expensive guitars. Some tips I can give... When checking in at counter try and not let the ticket agent see your guitar, they may make you check it right there. Always carry it to the gate and try to board with it! If they try to check it at the counter, ask them nicely if you can carry to the gate and check it there to minimize handling. I sometimes ask the gate agent nicely if I can board early so I can find room for my guitar. If you're super nice to them it goes a long way, you have NO chance if you give them an attitude. If you can't carry it on board when you get to the gate ask for a special handling tag, they use them for wheel chairs and strollers, it lets the baggage guys know to bring it up to the jetway when you land. Again, it minimizes handling. Im always able to carry on my guitar internationally (not just because I'm an employee), you just have to ask the flight attendant very nicely if they can put it in a closet for you. Most International flights have bigger planes with closets.

For cases I usually use a fiber glass Guardian like Michael sells here. I also use a reunion blues gig bag sometimes, it padded very well and will hold up if checked (as long as they don't crush it). I recently won an AJL guitar and along with it came one his amazing cases! The next time I fly I plan to use Denis Changs trick... Stick the AJL case inside a gig bag and carry it on board! They'll be less likely to make me check it if they see it's in a bag. The AJL case fits inside my Reunion Blues case and should be nearly indestructible.

Unfortunately AJL doesn't sell them separately. The only person I know of who bought one separately is John Jorgenson. If you can afford one of his guitars it's sooo worth it!

Jazzaferri

klaatu wrote:

Jazzaferri wrote:

Guess the baggage guy was having a bad day or hated guitars or both....

Or he was just an asshole. Have you seen "United Breaks Guitars?"

Sure have. United now use it as part of their training. This was before that incident.

Russell Letson

This is a perennial topic*--here's a recent thread on Stefan Grossman's site:

http://stefangrossmansguitarworkshop.yu ... ts-the-Law

Note that Stefan (who has been traveling with guitars for nearly a half-century) seems content with less case than, say, I am. My Dunn travels in a (no-longer-manufactured) FQMS SuperCase. If I had to buy a replacement and didn't feel up to a Hoffee or Calton, I'd probably go with a Travelite--they have considerable impact-absorbing ability and enough rigidity to stand up to mid-level pressures. But I'd still carry it aboard and reluctantly settle for gate-checking if the gate or flight crew were insistent.

BTW, I don't put spare strings (or tools) in my carry-on, but any TSA or security person who goes on about a strung-up guitar as a source of garotte raw material is full of it--not that it does much good to point out their ignorance of reality or regulations.

BTW-2: The overheads in most modern jets are big enough even for my SuperCase, which is bigger than a hardshell dreadnaught case. So the smaller Travelite would fit with no problems--and has the advantage of not looking like a cello in drag.

* For example, this from what I posted to a Usenet thread ten years ago:

Fact part: Flew a Northwest 757 a few weeks back and was surprised to
find that my big, fat, thick dreadnaught-size FQMS Supercase (bigger
than my archtop hardshell) fit into the overhead with room to spare.
Was less surprised (but still grateful) that the flight crew were
accomodating--the head attendant on the way out took extra trouble to
find a spot in first class on a very full plane.

Opinion and advice part: I'd never risk using a gig bag--it's always a
crapshoot, and all it takes is one uncooperative person to banish your
guitar to the Regular Baggage System and its attendant gorillas. On
the outbound leg of the same trip last year, the same case was taken
from me at the aircraft door, declared "odd-size" and not-a-stroller
(thus not gate-checkable) and left unattended in the odd-size section
of the baggage pickup area at SeaTac. Coming home, the FA stowed it in
the first-class closet and called me "honey." Go figger. (Well, her
manner said "honey," anyhow.)

(The whole thread, including some comments by Adrian Legg, is preserved at http://www.museweb.com/ag/rmmga/airlines.html)

Jazzaferri

Forgot to add a story .....any case that goes in the hold should also be waterproof.....years ago on a Delta flight my guitar sat on top of an open cart along with a bunch of bags.....in a driving rainstorm.....could see it once we cleared the gate....sat there getting rained on ....like someone turned the hose on it for 10-15 minutes. Fortunately the case was injection moulded plastic with a good rubber o seal and when I opened it just a few drops to wipe up.

Never did figure out why they left the cart uncovered in the rain,

If you can afford them Karua cases are amazing. If I were to start travelling with my Dunn again, instead of a sax, I would probably save up for one of them.

Joli Gadjo

Emmett's advice is the best of course... until the 3D-laser-printable guitar or until Scotty can beam it up.

I should also add that if you cannot gate-check your guitar, request that it goes to the oversized bin - that is with skis and golf clubs etc with couple of large "fragile tags". I understand that the loading system of the Oversized goes straight, or certainly does not take a million turns. Again this limits the handling.
If checked in, I have used a Calton Case - whom I think is close to retirement, or recently the AJL case in a BAM flight cover (really nice, but huge and makes your case almost look like a Bass case... compared to the tiny AJL case).
Unfortunately none of those are cheap.

swingnation

My recent travel experience:

Just flew from Newark, NJ to Austin, TX with one of cheaper guitars. Traveled with hard shell SKB travel case for guitar and small wheeled carry-on suitcase. I was planning on checking the guitar cause i didn't want to deal with the hassle. Checked in at main ticket counter at kiosk with attendant. Attendant told me I should try carrying guitar on plane because it's allowed now. Got to the gate and started boarding. They were very friendly when they saw the guitar but they told me "we have a smaller plane today and the flight is full so I doubt that will fit over heard, but we can gate check it with the strollers and have it brought to the jetway in Austin". Same deal going back. Guitar was fine both ways. No real problems, but everyone seemed to understand you can at least carry guitar to the gate.

J