Has Anyone Flown with a Guitar?

[pershing]

My son "the future Rock and Roll Star' really wants to at least bring his accoustic when we go to WL. He's promised to not play in his room but sit under a tree somewhere to play.

I can't convince him that he will survive wo/a guitar for 10 days.

Although I haven't told him he could bring it yet, I wanted to start checking to see if he actually can bring it on the plane or does he have to check it into one of those steel container things they do for golf clubs?

Does it vary from carrier to carrier?

 

[CarolA]

I have not flown with guitar myself, but having lived in Nashville I have seen a lot of them!

You can bring the guitar on as your carryon. Board as SOON as they let you, these thing take up a lot of overhead space.

 

[minkydog]

Call your airline. When my DS18 left home last year to parts unknown he HAD to take his beloved guitar. His airline refused it as carry-on; it had to go in the hold. Fortunately we were able to find a hard-side guitar case sturdy enough to withstand being in cargo and the guitar made it just fine. He hauled it all over the northeast U.S. while he was working with Disney On Ice. when he'd had enough of toting it around he shipped it home. Perhaps you could have it UPS'd to your resort?

 

[NotUrsula]

Musical instruments are one of those things that airlines will understand can sometimes just not go into the hold; as they are sometimes irreplaceable.

The catch is that if it is larger than a regulation carryon, your only choice for keeping it inside the cabin is to buy the instrument a separate seat. Cellists do this all the time.

As an example, here is SWA's musical instrument policy: http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/musical_instruments.html

If you check it, he'll need to be sure that it's packed very carefully. Here is a page that describes some of the recommended packing precautions for checked guitars: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/GenMaint/Packing/packing1.html

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I used to work with a band and we carried a letter from the Union that allowed us to carry our guitars onboard. With SWA we always had to be in the "A" line in order to insure overhead bin space for us. With other airlines we sometimes had to put them in the front first class closet if the bin space was full. Some of the guys had soft sided cases and they never had a problem putting them in the overhead bins.

There is a book that was just reviewed in People magazine called "Guitar" I think written by a guy whose guitar was damaged beyond repair by the airlines.

 

[Exevale]

Please pardon me for the long winded post but I am a great lover of guitars and I almost always travel with one. I have only flown with a guitar once. I took it on a trip to England with me. At the time I could not afford an ATA flight case for it so I wrapped it in bubble wrap and stuffed it inside a garment bag(not that I would do this now mind you as I am older and hopefully a little wiser) it made it almost 4000 miles in an unpresureized cargo hold each way without so much as a scratch. The main thing you want to make sure of is that you unwind the strings until there is absolutely no tension on the neck. The majority of damage that occurs during flight to stringed instruments, even when they are properly cased is caused by tension on the neck and bridge. This damage is a result of the expansion/contraction of molecules from the extreme cold during flight and the relative extreme heat of ground temperature. It would also not hurt to put a dehumidifier in with it to combat any condensation that may occur(a small silica pack would suffice) As a side note any time you store an un-played guitar for a prolonged period you should follow the same procedure.

 

[pershing]

Wow!

Thank you.

We are flying Jetblue. Maybe this will be a test to see just how great their service really is.



I'll let ya know.