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15 May 00 - 01:22 PM (#228274) Subject: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,barbara I am interested in hearing about anyone's actual experiences taking a Baby Taylor guitar (in a hard case) on an airplane as CARRY ON. Was it successful? Which airline? How about using a soft gig bag? Thanks, |
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15 May 00 - 02:01 PM (#228284) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Jed at Work I can tell you about my travel experiences with my baby Larriveee in a soft sided gig bag. I have taken several airline trips now with the instrument and had great success. I guess I cringe a bit when I watch other passengers stuff their bags in next to it, or shuffle the contents of the bin around - but it has travelled beautifully. It fits easily and, in fact, takes up very littel room. I presume your baby Taylor will travel just as well. |
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15 May 00 - 02:12 PM (#228288) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,barbara Thanks Jed at Work - Is your baby Larrivee about the same size as the Baby Taylor (34")? Did anyone give you a hard time about it at check in? |
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15 May 00 - 03:12 PM (#228317) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,moonchildatwork I travel with my Gibson B25 and have had no problems carrying it onboard, so far. I told the advice of Rick Fielding, who told me to want on the plane as if nothing is amiss and if they do say something to tell them it's your livlihood and beg them to let you take in onboard. It works ... moonchild |
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15 May 00 - 03:57 PM (#228350) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Jed at Work My baby Larrivee is just a bit bigger then the baby Taylor, and there were no problems with carrying it on-board. Moonchild and Rick have a point about carrying full sized guitars on-board, but chances are pretty good that you will be forced to make that plea! That is, while you may well be able to fit a full sized guitar case in the overhead, I suspect on most airlines, you would be asked/forced to check it. You could make the arguement, and you could win - but you might not. When I transport my big guitars, I'd rather not worry about the arguement; I'd rather check it, insure it, and pick it up at the end of my flight. And by the way, I'd never check one I couldn't replace if I had to. I think you'll find your baby Taylor travels well! |
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15 May 00 - 08:49 PM (#228485) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,barbara Thanks for your input Jed and Moonchild. I got the Baby Taylor so I could travel with it and not worry about it too much. There are alot of them out there. It's promoted as being of size to fit in airplane overhead compartments, but PR and real life experiences don't always jib! |
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06 Apr 01 - 08:32 AM (#434539) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Fortunato My Baby and I are going down to Fla for springbreak. We'll see if USAirways treats her nice. Now that I have a great guitar to travel with I face another dilemma. When it is necessary to leave her behind to go to a restaurant, do I leave her in the hotel room or locked in the car(Not for long because of the heat)? |
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06 Apr 01 - 08:54 AM (#434559) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: kendall What happens if you have to take a small commuter plane? You dont know that until you board, then, it's too late. |
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06 Apr 01 - 09:12 AM (#434577) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Fortunato In the USA, I'm sorry I've forgoten where you live Kendall, the 4 digit flight numbers are USUALLY commuters. But when you book the flight you can ask what the equipment is. regards, Chance |
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06 Apr 01 - 04:59 PM (#434844) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Scotsbard The last two times my Takamine rode in the cargo bay it arrived with broken tuners despite the heavy travel case. The second time I was actually watching the guy heft luggage from the little trailers onto the cargo belt. The belt was below waist high, which seemed convenient for most of the back packs and suitcases. When he got to my guitar case, he paused to look at the "FRAGILE STICKER", then lifted it up an extra foot or more and dropped it onto the ramp. If they'd have let me out of the plane I would have pasted him a good one, but as it was I had to fume all the way from Denver to Seattle. Needless to say, the guitar travels in the overhead luggage rack these days. If a question arises, I mention loudly that they broke it last time, and that has so far ended all discussion. Even a jumbo body fits into most of the overhead racks if the case is not heavily padded. I'm with Rick on this one: Insist on carrying it on, and be prepared to put up with a little flack. The little commuter planes usually have a vertical closet somewhere, or often get loaded by the copilot as you board. So far it's that's been safe practice. ~S~ |
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06 Apr 01 - 05:40 PM (#434854) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Murray MacLeod I don't know what airports you guys have been flying from , but the major airlines at the larger airports all have these newfangled sizing templates at the gate where all carry-on luggage must be X-Ray scanned. There is no way a guitar is going through one of these, either hard case or gig bag, so I don't see the virtue of trying to brass it out, as it ain't going to work. I have changed my views completely on the question of carrying guitars on board. I have travelled internal USA and transatlantic many times, and "smuggled " my guitar on board each time, but I won't do it any more. If you invest in the best possible flight case, and pack rhe guitar well with bubble wrap, damage is very unlikely. I cannot agree with the advice to brazen it out. It might work nine times out of ten, but one of these days you will be forced to check it in, and then, if you haven't taken adequate precautions, that is just when your guitar WILL get damaged. And besides, anyone who stores a hardshell case in the overhead is being bloody imconsiderate, IMHO. I always took mine on board in a gig bag. Murray |
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07 Apr 01 - 07:22 AM (#435125) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au I recently travelled from Kennedy to Sydney with a Martin 000 guitar in a hard case. I didn't mention it to the check in people (but didn't hid it either.) It tended to fit in most overhead lockers and the airplane personnel didn't give me any trouble. On the last leg from Tokyo to Sydney the airplane had smaller overhead lockers. I refused to check it. It turned out that the first (or business) class compartment has a place to hang up coats. The stewardess put my guitar in there. That worked out quite well. The 000 is bigger than the baby Taylor or the Larrivee Parlor, but then again, international planes are probably bigger than domestic ones. Anyway if there are problems with the plane being crowded or the lockers being small, ask if it can be put in the first-class luggage compartment. A friend of mine here, who sings professionally has even had the guitar ride in a first class overhead locker while he sat in a tourist-class seat. Murray |
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07 Apr 01 - 10:44 AM (#435189) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,barbara What a surprise to see this tread revitalized after almost a year! I have travelled from CA to MA and HI with my Baby Taylor using the gig bag with no problem. One was a small commuter flight and I had to put it under the seat where it fit just fine. Not much room for my feet though. All the other flights it fit easily in the overhead compartments. It didn't attract any attention from the airline personnel, and was only 3" longer than the fiddle my husband carried aboard in a hard case. |
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07 Apr 01 - 05:02 PM (#435395) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,Fortunato, forgot to reset the cookie. Well, Barbara, I just got a new Baby Taylor for travel and revived your thread for recent info. Thanks for your input. I'm off to the airport in the morning. Murray I haven't seen the device you've spoken of yet. do you mean the Baby Taylor softshell case cannot or should not go through it? thanks, Chance |
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07 Apr 01 - 06:52 PM (#435442) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Rick Fielding Murray. You're absolutely right. Airport security and regulations have changed dramatically in the last few years. I would NEVER "brazen it out" (as I did for many years) these days. Sadly, you simply can't trust airport personell to respect your property...and it seems that a "FRAGILE" sticker just makes them meaner. Can you imagine for one minute that a handler who DELIBERATELY smashed your instrument would even be disciplined, let alone lose their job? Not a chance. I'm afraid the only "sure" way, is to "leave the Martin at home" and have a cheap guitar to travel with. Sad. Or get a Calton case. Rick |
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08 Apr 01 - 05:41 AM (#435662) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au But remember that a Calton case can be stolen as quickly as a cardboard one! Murray |
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08 Apr 01 - 05:34 PM (#435926) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Murray MacLeod The infuriating thing about all this is that the FAA do not impose a uniform standard, and there are huge discrepancies in what different airlines will allow on as hand luggage. I used to carry a small tape measure and check the "test bins" or whatever the proper name for them is, into which all hand luggage is supposed to fit. Their were length discrepancies of up to 4" and width discreoancies of 2" between the various ailrlines. The new templates are supposed to allow an article 5"x15" through, but even there, not all templates are the same. I guess it would be possible to get a Baby Taylor in a soft bag through. Actually, you could put the guitar and the gig bag through separately, and reunite them after they were x-rayed! (As long as that was your only hand luggage). FWIW I am currently in the process of building my own guitar specifically for travel purposes. It has a detachable neck of my own design, but will look (and hopefully sound!) like an OM when assembled. WHen I travel I will simply crate it and no one would ever know that it was a guitar. If the handlers throw it about, it won't matter. I would suggest that it is probably not a good idea to put a "FRAGILE" sticker on a guitar case wnen you check it in. The handler is liable to think "Does this guy think I am stupid or something? He thinks I don't know a guitar is fragile ? Well, fuck HIM ! BANG !" Murray |
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09 May 09 - 02:27 PM (#2627811) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,Guitarist I know that the baby taylor fits great in the overhead compartments of a plane while in a gig case. But I was wondering if anyone had any experience of taking a big baby taylor on a plane with you. Did it fit in the overhead compartment while in a gig case? |
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09 May 09 - 03:10 PM (#2627824) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: breezy I refused to sign a disclaimer |
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09 May 09 - 06:22 PM (#2627941) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Genie If there were a way to find out, an hour or so before takeoff, whether you could take a guitar on board, I'd probably risk taking one on board in a gig bag. But I usually find that, while you can go through the main security hours before your flight, there is no one at the airline's counter at the GATE until about 30 min. before the flight. Should the flight happen to be very full or you happen to get one of those airline gate attendants with a stick up his/her arse -- like the guy last month who was going to make me leave behind my very small, lightweight blanket because I had taken it out of my carryon case during the stopover/plane change -- you'd probably have to let them check your gig bag (which probably wouldn't stand up to their luggage handling) or miss your flight. They'd probably charge you and extra $50 to $100 to change to a later flight, if space was available. And breezy, I don't blame you for not signing those disclaimers. The other problem with checking a guitar is that there's usually no security in the baggage claim area. Anyone can pick up any bag and walk off with it. The only thing your claim ticket is good for is getting them to reimburse you for stolen or damaged luggage -- but they refuse to take responsibility for damage to or theft of just about anything that's fragile, valuable or both. Genie |
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08 Jun 10 - 06:36 AM (#2922931) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST I take about 40 flights a year since 2002 and my baby taylor goes with me everytime. No problems whatsoever from flight attendants or gate checkers. |
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08 Jun 10 - 09:36 AM (#2923049) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Cool Beans I've had no problems with my Go Guitar, a travel guitar, in a soft case. They may look at it funny--it looks a long gun, for Pete's sake--but the X-ray reveals it as harmless (until you hear me play). |
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08 Jun 10 - 09:42 PM (#2923573) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Seamus Kennedy My Big Baby Taylor fits in overhead bins in its gig bag, no problem. On puddle-jumpers where I have to check it on the tarmac I ask them to put it on last and PLEASE don't put anything on top of it. Always works. If I'm taking the Dreadnought Takamine, I always check it in the Calton case. |
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09 Jun 10 - 04:45 AM (#2923707) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Rusty Dobro Get a uke? |
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10 Jun 10 - 04:21 AM (#2924419) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Genie A fine musical commentary on this issue: United Breaks Guitars Makes me seriously consider getting a uku to travel with. |
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10 Jun 10 - 06:37 AM (#2924475) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,Ana Two of us travelled to India return recently, ex Oz, flying Qantas. We took a Baby Taylor over and brought back a portable harmonium as well - all as cabin luggage. Got through all the incredibly tight security easily - no probs! |
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21 Nov 12 - 05:16 PM (#3440042) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Genie I've traveled 3 round trip flights, on Southwest Airlines, with a 3/4 size guitar stored in the overhead compartment in a gig bag. (One flight was with a 3/4 size Ibanez and the other two with a Martin LXI.) The ticket counter people never batted an eye when I did not check my guitar (which was strapped to my back in plain sight), nor did the attendants at the gate where my flights originated. The one time I did have a hassle, though, was when I was checking in for a connecting flight in Denver. One of the attendants at that gate was being very insistent that I had to check the guitar, because it was longer than their carry-on baggage specs - and that the airline had no responsibility for handling it carefully. I had to plead, beg, etc., and keep pointing out that the guitar took up no more space than a standard rectangular carry-on suitcase, to get her to finally leave it up to the judgment of the guy who was taking our boarding passes. Probably what 'won' the argument was my pointing out that about 25% of the other passengers also had carry-ons that would not fit in their little sizing box. (Many carry-ons are deeper than spec, even if their width and length are within limits.) I did succeed, all 6 times, in carrying my 3/4 size guitar onboard, but it is scary that the airline's policy can change from one airport to another or employee to another, such that you can't find out beforehand whether you're going to have to check your instrument or not. |
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22 Nov 12 - 05:50 AM (#3440312) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,iain I have flown back and forth between the uk and Canada(Nova Scotia)I take my custom built Oakwood mandola with me and it has been checked every time, only time I had any damage to the case was when I flew into Boston, Air Canada are very good and have never damaged it. I recently purchased a Pegasus Case which is built like a brick S**thouse no problems on the last trip in September, pack them well and they should be fine. |
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22 Nov 12 - 09:21 AM (#3440412) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,999 "Air Canada are very good and have never damaged it." Air Canada are great. They hand-carry instruments both to the baggage hold and from the baggage hold. Then they deliver them by hand to the baggage area so the instrument doesn't end up on a conveyor belt. Also, I think AC baggage handlers work for Air Canada, so all the folks who handle your stuff are for-real employees of the airline and not subcontractors who basically don't give a rat's ass what they damage. I've flown AC many times in the course of my life and cannot recall ever having a complaint about service, manners or luggage. (They did misplace a suitcase once but had it to me within a few days with an apology and a discount on my next trip via them. They did everything in their power to ensure I was a happy camper and from that they ensured that when I have the choice, they are that choice.) |
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22 Nov 12 - 09:24 AM (#3440414) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,iain Guest 999 I couldn't agree more they are super. Iain |
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22 Nov 12 - 09:35 AM (#3440418) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: Charmion My only problem with Air Canada nowadays is the price of their tickets. Back in the 1970s -- another story. They used to put your luggage on any old aircraft going to your destination, and park unclaimed baggage on the concourse floor where anybody could get at it. In 1974, my first guitar disappeared from Dorval Airport, where it was simply left on the floor in the baggage area along with everything else belonging to people who were supposed to be on a flight from Halifax that was cancelled because of an air traffic controllers' strike. Thanks to counter-terrorism security measures, that stuff just doesn't happen any more. Now, your luggage must be on your flight, and if you get off the plane at the last minute, or don't board at all, they hold up the plane until your luggage is found and taken off. In airports, unclaimed luggage is whisked promptly off the carousel, and unattended luggage gets taken away for investigation. Which causes a whole 'nother set of irritations ... |
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22 Nov 12 - 10:03 AM (#3440436) Subject: RE: Baby Taylor Guitar and Airline Travel From: GUEST,999 Well, they've learned since I guess. |