flying with a guitar

  • Thread starter Thread starter notbradsohner
  • Start date Start date
N

notbradsohner

Compression Addict
will airlines charge me more if I check an acoustic guitar at baggage check? Or can that count as standard baggage? Im flying U.S. Airways. Thanks.
 
notbradsohner said:
will airlines charge me more if I check an acoustic guitar at baggage check? Or can that count as standard baggage? Im flying U.S. Airways. Thanks.

If you don't go over the baggage weight limit that's included in the price of your ticket, they won't charge you more. Find out what their weight limit is and what they charge if you exceed it.
 
I hope you have a good case if you're checking it. I've never flown with an acoustic, but you see dorks carrying them on every once in a while. I'd be inclined to put it in a gig bag and talk nice to the gals at the gate and the flight attendants rather than letting the baggage handlers go all american tourister on it.
 
More often than not, they will make you "check" it....meaning it goes with your luggage....not with you onboard. In that case, I would make damn sure it is protected....GOOD.
 
As has been said, it shouldn't cost you more unless it exceeds their weight limit.

Also, more importantly, you really don't want to check a guitar unless you have a very nice flight case. I've heard too many horror stories of people showing up with gig bags on their shoulder and being told "sorry, flight is full, you'll have to check your instrument."

For my bass, I actually had a flight case made that fit my gig bag, so I can dump the flight case where I am staying, and just carry the gig bag around.
 
There are over-dimension charges, as well. Call and check, they will tell you the max L x W x H. I would be leary of an acoustic in a standard hs case in the hands of a baggage handler. They don't have the time to decide what needs to be gently placed on top, and what can be hurled into the back of the cargo bay.
 
meh, its only a $100 dollar guitar. Ill stuff it with cotton, and re-enforce to case with some 1 by 2s. Well see what happens
 
notbradsohner said:
meh, its only a $100 dollar guitar. Ill stuff it with cotton, and re-enforce to case with some 1 by 2s. Well see what happens


Another thing, regardless of how you pack it, is to make sure you majorly detune (loosen) all of the strings. If the guitar gets banged around a little (which it almost certainly will) this could save you from damage.
 
I see that it's only a hundred dollar guitar, but anyone letting the bagage people handle an expensive or fancy guitar (or anything worth more than $250.00) should definitely buy extra insurance coverage from the airline.
 
I do it fairly often...I don't check it at the ticket counter. Take it with you to the plane. Often times (even still today) you can talk the flight attendant into putting it into the smallish coat storage area up front. If not, see if you can get a seat near the rear of the plane. You'll be one of the first people to board and have a better chance at getting to some open over-head storage. On some of the larger planes, you can actually get a guitar into the overhead (but not always). IF both of those options fail, only after all the passengers have boarded, then hand it over to the flight attendant for "gate checking". It will get onto the plane after all the other bags have been put into the cargo hold.

No matter how you do it, have a good case. I have one which is made for travel purposes.
 
thewanderer24 said:
For my bass, I actually had a flight case made that fit my gig bag, so I can dump the flight case where I am staying, and just carry the gig bag around.
Pure genius
 
Lots of times, the flight attendants will let you put your guitar in the closet upfront.
 
so do I take it in a gig bag or a hardshell case?


and if I try to work the flight attendants, what happens if they say no?
 
I'd go with the hard shell AND the gig bag. IF they won't let you stow it on board or if by chance it will fit over-head in the gig bag and not the hard case...you've got options. I always travel with an over-sized computer bag. I can roll my gig bag up and slip it into my carry-on luggage.
 
I just flew cross-country (Boston to San Diego and back) with my Epiphone Casino. I just put it in a hard case, let the strings down about half way, and check it. A lot of people take solid bodies on as carry-ons in gig bags. My advice would be to put it in a very good case and check it, or put it in a gig bag and carry it on. I don't generally fly with guitars worth more than $500, so I don't need to pay extra insurance, and I don't have to slash my wrists if it gets trashed. While I was waiting for my Casino to come up on the luggage conveyor, I saw a brand new Taylor case come up. The owner of *that* guitar is either a fool, a rich SOB, or just braver than me.
BTW, I like the Casino for traveling because it's light to carry, even in a hard case, thinner than a dreadnought, loud enough for just noodling around without an amp, not loud enough to really disturb people, and if there is an amp at the other end, I can just plug in and crank up.-Richie
 
I've carried on a huge old Gibson bass in a gig bag before, as well as a Gibson guitar in a hardshell case. Both times I was able to fit it into the overhead bin with no trouble. Both of these were a while ago, though...late 90s, I believe, so things might've changed since then.
 
If you are flying with your guitar, there are a few things to keep in mind.


First, the FAA has told the airlines that musical instruments (within reason, so no kettle drums here, but guitars are specifically included) are to be considered as allowed additional carry on luggage. The airlines are allowed to ignore this, but if you make a stink about it, it usually works. Ask your local musicians union to get you a copy of the letter from the director of the FAA to the nation president of the musician's union.

Second, FAA regulations are very specific, the ONLY people who can say you MUST check you guitar are the pilot and the lead flight attendant (or at least, that used to be the case, and I assume it still is). If a baggage clerk or gate attendant says other wise, smile and nod, and then take your guitar on the plane. If they insist that you must check it, then get a hand carry tag at the gate, which allows you to walk down to the end of the jet way and have it carried from there. Put the tag on your guitar, and then ignore it. Walk on the plane with your guitar, and put it in the overhead compartment. Unless one of those two people tells you other wise, just smile and be polite, but ignore it. (Of course, I haven't had to fly with a guitar since 2001, so you should probably listen to an Air Marshal if they say something. They have guns, after all.)

Which brings us to number three on Light's Tips for Flying with Guitars (which I used to do at least 6 times a year). Get a seat which boards early. This means, if you can, get a seat in an exit row (if your airline boards exit rows early, as Northwest does, though I don't think AA does), or in the very back of the plane. You want to be one of the very fist people on the plane. Walk on with your guitar, put it in the overhead, and as soon as the overhead is full, close the door. I've never seen a flight attendant open one of those things yet when looking for more room. Don't be a prick to other passengers or anything, and let them put smaller bags in around your guitar, but as soon as it is full, close it.

By the way, if you are going to be flying in the back of the plane all the time, make sure you bring ear plugs. The engines get fucking loud back there.

If you DO have to check your guitar, you want it in a hard shell case, (a flight case if you can, such as a Calton), and it is a good idea to pack it up the same way you would if you were shipping it any other way (UPS or FedEx, etc.). Whatever you do (checked or carry on), MAKE SURE you COMPLETELY slack the strings. A blow which would not otherwise do any damage will frequently make the peghead snap right off if the strings are at tension. Also, you want your guitar hand carried if at all possible, because you don't even want me to get into the shit that airlines will do to guitars when they go through the normal checked baggage lines. I know of no single entity which completely totals guitars with the frequency of the airlines.

Most importantly, though, is that whatever you do, be polite and courteous at every step of the way. Remember, those ticket agents and gate attendants are dealing with working for companies who are doing everything they can to fuck their employees (just ask a former Northwest mechanic, who have been told that about 10% of them can come back to work, at a 70% pay cut, with the understanding that they would be supervised by the asshole scabs. A 25 year old scab is all of a sudden the boss of a guy who has been fixing planes longer than the new "boss" has been alive? Does anyone really think that is anything other than being fired?) They, understandably, are trying to exert authority which they don't really have. Just smile and make them think you are listening, and then do what you were going to do in the first place.

And make sure you put your string clippers in your checked baggage.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Oh yeah, and on one of those old DC things (I think the DC10), the overheads are too small for a guitar. Try to pick flights on Boeings, 727's or 737's and the like.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I won't do it.

When I had to spend a week in LA on business, I looked into renting a guitar for my stay. No go. Then I though of buying one to use while I was there, but I couldn't work in a used guitar shopping trip ahead of the work I had to do. At no time did I consider bringing my guitar with me.

If you know when you are traveling and where you are going to say, you can box it up and let UPS take it for you. When I had to ship a guitar, I begged a box from my local music store. (I offered to buy the box, they refused to take my money. If you are in New England, that customer-oriented store is Union Music in Worcester.)

(I know a guy who puts on business conferences. When the conference is in places like Phoenix, he stops at WalMart and buys a $100 bike, uses it for the week he is there, and gives it to Goodwill at the end of his stay. Cheaper than renting a bike.)
 
Back
Top