flying with multiple instruments

Subject: flying with multiple instruments
From: GUEST,Claire
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 03:15 PM

(Hi Jed M. and Texas friends - it will be great to see you)

My band (Round the House) is coming out again to NTIF in March and the week before we are in Colorado. Both trips, we are flying on Southwest and since we have 2 multi-instrumentalists, we are faced with choosing between instruments. Yikes. If we had our way, we would board with 7 instruments for 4 people.

I was wondering if anyone has recent info on traveling with multiple instruments. I know hard cases will protect them better, but would they trigger security concerns? Also, if a person carries two (mandolin and bouzouki) in soft cases, would the airline be more forgiving about putting them in the overhead than if they were in hard cases? On the other hand - if one or both were relegated to being gate checked,the question becomes - how safe is gate checking, really.

That's not a fiddle that is my purse - honestly sir.

Best,
Claire from Tucson

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 03:27 PM

I am interested in how this question develops. A friend of mine is joining a group of 11 musicians who are flying to Paris, France, this winter. Each of them will be taking along one or more instruments, fiddles, mandos, guitars, etc. I asked him how he thinks it will be handled- obviously there won't be enough room in the little bitty closets. He shrugged and said they'll figure it out, that the French host has money and clout. They're flying on British Airways.

This is in Alaska. The Frenchman has been coming over here annually to join them on the Kenai peninsula for a famous (notorious?) longdrawn out music party.

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: GUEST,DrWord
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 06:36 PM

as has been noted on a previous thread, don't use the word bouzouki around airports [lol] --call it a banjo

cheers
safe travels
lots of good info on previous threads

dennis

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 08:44 PM

Seriously,

why not see if suitable instruments can be sourced locally? I KNOW we all have our favourite instruments, but in these days of 'terrorist madness', dragging delicate things around the world is getting less sensible and practical...

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: number 6
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 08:50 PM

Send it by Fed-Ex ... better chance of the instruments getting to the destination (not lost) and on time and no damage. I know someone who has done this with their luggage rather than book it onto the airline ... has encountered no problems ... certainly worth looking inot.

biLL

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 11:03 PM

Ahhhh....many is the time I have received free passage....for insisting to play and then paly a boderhan or diggeridoo into the cabin of a 12 hour flight.

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 11:56 PM

Hi Claire - I'm going to be performing at NTIF in '08. Hope you'll be back.

My take on this. I do a LOT of traveling on airlines to gigs and back.

International too..

I always check my guitar in a hardshell case, in my case a Calton from Canada. I've never had one damaged or stolen. Sure, the case gets a few nicks, dings and scratches but that's what it's there for.

Smaller instruments, bodhrán or mandolin, I put in the overhead bin.
And I've seen lots of fellow musicians bring tenor banjos, fiddles, etc., and bring them on board and stow them overhead.
A guitar in a Calton won't fit in the overhead.

Having said all that, as recently as 3 weeks ago, I saw several guys with guitars in soft gig bags being allowed to take them on board and put them in the overhead. It depends on the airline, I suppose.

But I NEVER argue with either the security people or the airline staff, because they can make life really difficult for you.

Call your airline first.

And don't beieve that piece of paper saying that an agreement between the musicians' union and TSA allows you to bring your instrument on board. It's OK if you're carrying a small instrument - banjo, flute or a fiddle...but when I tried it a couple of years ago, neither the TSA guy or the ailrline personnel had heard anything about it.

But I repeat, I saw several guys getting on borad with guitars in soft gig bags.

Good luck.

Seamus

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: Scoville
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 10:35 AM

I'd ship it. "Fragile" means nothing to baggage handlers. You wouldn't believe what they can do to a hard case in just one flight.

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: Rutger
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 10:55 AM

Hey Claire -
This spring I travelled from Michigan (US) to the UK with a very hard-to-replace Taylor Limited Edition guitar.
I queried a number of folks and the consensus was DO NOT try to take it on board, as the airport folks have a vast discretionary powers as to what gets on board and what does not. You might be in transit - and prevented from taking it into the cabin. Then you might be faced with having to check or gate-check it without adequate protection. Gate-check is risky without a true travel case. These are expensive!
My friend Abe, who takes his guitars all over the world, places them in an extra thick gig bag, thence into a big cardboard box with styrofoam peanuts or bubble wrap. You check it and just unpack it at the other end. It may go thru as "oversize baggage" but for a musical instrument there may not be an extra fee (check with your airline).
I needed to travel by Tube and rail once in the UK so I got a travel case from CaseXtreme. I put my "baby" in a Taylor gig bag, thence into the CaseXtreme case, and had absolutely no issues, no problems there and back again.
For multiple instruments, I would do some variation of the above, unless you could reliably arrange for good instruments to be loaned to you at your destination.
Good luck on your gig!
Rutger

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: Big Mick
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 11:12 AM

Claire,

I do it all the time. If these are instruments you love, they are worth the investment in a Calton. If these are instruments you rely on to put bread on the table, they are worth the investment in a Calton. There is no comparable case out there. They are heavy buggers, but they do the job.   They will withstand incredible force, and cushion the instrument like a baby in a bassinet. They have a seal on the lid which protects against pressure changes.

My Larrivee 6 string and my Freshwater Bouzouki were both in my auto when I had a horrific crash which included flying through the air over 100 feet, several flips of the vehicle, and it was totalled. The Bouzouki in a hard case was demolished. The Larrivee, in a Calton case, flew forward, smashed against the windshield post, then flew out of the vehicle, was struck as the vehicle flipped, and came through with nary a scratch, no broken braces, and in fact was still in tune when I pulled it out of the case. I, on the other hand, landed in hospital. The case has some marks, but is fine. I wouldn't travel without it.

Mick

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: Bert
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 11:21 AM

Mick, that sounds just about how the baggage handling conveyor systems work.

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: Big Mick
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 11:27 AM

Remind me never to ride a baggage handling system then, Bert. LOL.

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 11:33 AM

We'll be traveling to Maui for the holidays with two fiddles and a guitar. Here's how we intend to do it. Both fiddles in a double fiddle case, and a Little Martin in a soft gig bag. Both will fit easily in the overhead, and they will be our carry-on luggage. We will also take a "personal item" which will be a small backpack. This almost always works, except for puddle jumper flights. Will post upon return to let you know the results.
Al and Barbara

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: Skipjack K8
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 11:56 AM

Claire, this subject has driven me up the wall over the years, both sides of 9/11. I travel with a 72 bass piano accordion in a soft rucksack bag, so it easily goes in the overhead bins. I am talking about flying in the UK and Europe, although I did bring a fiddle to the States and did some domestic flights post 9/11 (where the only problem was a mountainous black security man insisting I gave him a tune on it!), but the rules seem pretty universal.

What I do is this. If I'm travelling alone, I leave my instrument in the car and check my bags in at the desk. If I'm travelling with friends, I leave the instrument with them, and check in. I then retrieve the instrument and go through security. I am never challenged going through security checks, as they are only bothered about X-Raying everything, and then when I get on the plane, it is too late for the cabin staff to get arsy about the instrument, and they always assume the check-in desk allowed the instrument through and are more interested in getting bums on seats and everything stowed.

I have never been challenged in this way before, and have even got hard guitar cases into overhead lockers. It is always good to get on early though, before all the space has gone, especially if you have a couple each.

Good luck, and let us know how you got on after.

Greg

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: Bert
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 02:12 PM

I know I've posted this before but the question keeps popping up so I guess it bears repeating.

I used to design baggage handling conveyors.

How it works is.

You check your bag and they put it on a conveyor. At the same time people are checking in bags at all the other airlines and check in stations.

We'll follow your bag on it's journey but remember that it is one of thousands.

Your bag goes to a transfer matrix (another set of conveyors) where it has to change onto a sorting conveyor and then onto the conveyor that goes to the boarding gate.

Here's where the problem lies, you have this bag travelling along at a fair speed, followed closely by the next bag.

Now you have to get this bag off of the conveyor and onto the other conveyor without tangling with the next bag.

To do this they have a device euphemistically called "A Pusher".
This device has a paddle which hits the bag (gives it a big hefty clout) and sends it flying into the air where it hits a rubber curtain and falls onto the next conveyor.

I tried to convince the company I was working for to design a device that synchronized its movement with the conveyor and picked up the bag. But they weren't interested.

Subject: RE: flying with multiple instruments
From: number 6
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 10:17 PM

The lost and delayed luggage rate is gone up significantly in the last few years. The chances are even greater if you use connecting airlines and specifically if one of the connecting airlines is commuter service (the smaller planes).

Sending expensive instruments by airline ... I'd think twice. Seriously look into another alternative ... as I mentioned Fed-Ex. You may pay but the cost will ensure delivery and no damage.

biLL