Flying with instruments - my guide

[dand666]

On 26/12/2017 at 14:02, ambient said:

You can have the best and most expensive case in the world. If it's opened and the instrument is damaged then, that's the problem. Patitucci's bass was damaged after it's case was opened, possibly by security people. Steve Lawson's one Modulus bass was irreparably damaged about 6 or 7 years ago, again possibly after the case was opened by security people, his case was undamaged.

I've got a Mono bag, personally I wouldn't want someone's heavy suitcase being stuck on top of it in a luggage hold. It's a great gig bag, and extremely well padded, but it's not robust enough in my opinion to protect an instrument during transit in a luggage hold of an aircraft.

A far better idea is to phone the airline beforehand and ask. 

Agreed, but the airline will always tell you that you cannot fly with it. They will always recommend putting it in the hold.

If people are so worried about it, just place it in the hold, buy a decent flight case and you'll be fine, mine once got lost in Vegas, and I had to have it shipped out to Hawaii when I was on a cruise, and a strong flight case will protect it. I, however, will continue to take it onboard with me like I have for the past 6/7 years. 

 

Each to their own :-)

[ambient]

3 hours ago, dand666 said:

Agreed, but the airline will always tell you that you cannot fly with it. They will always recommend putting it in the hold.

If people are so worried about it, just place it in the hold, buy a decent flight case and you'll be fine, mine once got lost in Vegas, and I had to have it shipped out to Hawaii when I was on a cruise, and a strong flight case will protect it. I, however, will continue to take it onboard with me like I have for the past 6/7 years. 

 

Each to their own :-)

I'd rather be prepared personally, and wouldn't risk my very expensive custom Overwater in a Mono Gig bag, in the hold with a ton of people's luggage on top of it.

I have an invitation to play some solo gigs in Iceland this year. I will simply plan that my bass travels safely in the hold, secure in a proper case.

[jposega]

8 hours ago, dand666 said:

Agreed, but the airline will always tell you that you cannot fly with it. They will always recommend putting it in the hold.

If people are so worried about it, just place it in the hold, buy a decent flight case and you'll be fine, mine once got lost in Vegas, and I had to have it shipped out to Hawaii when I was on a cruise, and a strong flight case will protect it. I, however, will continue to take it onboard with me like I have for the past 6/7 years. 

 

Each to their own :-)

No flight case on earth will protect your bass if the case doesn’t get latched properly when it gets searched. Most damage occurs when TSA doesn’t secure latches and locks properly, and then the case comes open during loading/ unloading.

[dand666]

On 12/28/2017 at 20:20, jposega said:

No flight case on earth will protect your bass if the case doesn’t get latched properly when it gets searched. Most damage occurs when TSA doesn’t secure latches and locks properly, and then the case comes open during loading/ unloading.

What's the answer to that then? Surely just to take it on the plane with you.

[jposega]

12 hours ago, dand666 said:

What's the answer to that then? Surely just to take it on the plane with you.

Call the airline and buy a seat for the bass. By the time you price out a flight case and the extra baggage fees, buying a seat is cheaper. And  safer.

[ambient]

This is why I would never trust an instrument in a hold in a gig bag.

https://m.facebook.com/myrna.herzog/posts/pcb.10156407588423888/?photo_id=10156407577063888&mds=%2Fphotos%2Fviewer%2F%3Fphotoset_token%3Dpcb.10156407588423888%26photo%3D10156407577063888%26profileid%3D100005948112141%26source%3D48%26refid%3D28%26_ft_%3Dqid.6507544490493731762%3Amf_story_key.1252773455737901813%3Atop_level_post_id.10212912851870424%26__tn__%3DEHH-R%26cached_data%3Dtrue%26ftid%3D&mdf=1

[Wolverinebass]

6 hours ago, ambient said:

This is why I would never trust an instrument in a hold in a gig bag.

https://m.facebook.com/myrna.herzog/posts/pcb.10156407588423888/?photo_id=10156407577063888&mds=%2Fphotos%2Fviewer%2F%3Fphotoset_token%3Dpcb.10156407588423888%26photo%3D10156407577063888%26profileid%3D100005948112141%26source%3D48%26refid%3D28%26_ft_%3Dqid.6507544490493731762%3Amf_story_key.1252773455737901813%3Atop_level_post_id.10212912851870424%26__tn__%3DEHH-R%26cached_data%3Dtrue%26ftid%3D&mdf=1

Baggage handlers would be dying in strange, almost Final Destination type "accidents" if that had been my instrument.

[ambient]

On 02/01/2018 at 08:41, dand666 said:

What's the answer to that then? Surely just to take it on the plane with you.

But what happens when you get to check in and they say no?

In an earlier post you said that with a mono gig bag you’d be fine. See my post above where the instrument was wrecked in a case, albeit not what I’d call a flight case. 

In my opinion, if you’re going to fly then either buy a seat, or check it in and use a proper case. Or do what I do and go by train 😊

[SnakeEyes]

6 hours ago, ambient said:

This is why I would never trust an instrument in a hold in a gig bag.

https://m.facebook.com/myrna.herzog/posts/pcb.10156407588423888/?photo_id=10156407577063888&mds=%2Fphotos%2Fviewer%2F%3Fphotoset_token%3Dpcb.10156407588423888%26photo%3D10156407577063888%26profileid%3D100005948112141%26source%3D48%26refid%3D28%26_ft_%3Dqid.6507544490493731762%3Amf_story_key.1252773455737901813%3Atop_level_post_id.10212912851870424%26__tn__%3DEHH-R%26cached_data%3Dtrue%26ftid%3D&mdf=1

I saw it and my heart hurt. I would have been arrested, to say the least, had this been my instrument.

[dand666]

On 1/5/2018 at 19:24, ambient said:

But what happens when you get to check in and they say no?

In an earlier post you said that with a mono gig bag you’d be fine. See my post above where the instrument was wrecked in a case, albeit not what I’d call a flight case. 

In my opinion, if you’re going to fly then either buy a seat, or check it in and use a proper case. Or do what I do and go by train 😊

Never had that problem and I've flown all over the globe.

Working with agents, and doing cruise work, they will not pay for an extra seat.

 

Just buy a 'proper' case, I'm merely stating my experiences :-) And you're right the one in that picture is not a decent case. 

Edited January 8, 2018 by dand666

[AndyBob09]

Soooooooo, I've been flying BA with my bass for the past 4 1/2 years (I work cruise ships) and always taking it as hand luggage. Last month, I got to check in as usual, and check my bags and they spot my guitar. Usually, I give them the, "it's at the cabin crew's discretion" line but she showed me the updated policy and told me it was up to me to check that before I flew. They forced me to buy a £205 seat for it or I don't fly and they can't check it as it wasn't in a hard case. It was in a Mono M80. I call my work and tell them my predicament. They're far from sympathetic. "We'll pay for it to be checked". This went on for a while. All the while, the lovely lady at check in is reminding me that check in closes in two minutes and I need to make my mind up fast. I handed over my credit card *big gulp*. On the phone, my work refused to pay for it. Tight cnuts. I got to plane and of the 130 seats, around 60 of them were filled. I stuck in bass in the overhead and the nice cabin attendant told me to contact BA and ask for a refund. I did with no avail. I passed on my plane ticket to claim it as an expense at work. If I do get my £205 back, I'll buy a bass safe for it. Lesson learned I guess.

 

Just to reiterate what people have said here: DON'T EXPECT TO CARRY YOUR BASS ON THE PLANE ON BA.

 

Oh, and I have all that to look forward to when I head home from this contract. FML.

[dand666]

I used to do cruise ships and your agent or cruise line will pay for it dude. Just ring the HR up, you'll get it back, sometimes when your on the next ship even.

 

Just seen your on the ship now, just go see pursers or ring your agent it'll get sorted.

[Lozz196]

Did my first flying gig last weekend. Bass in Hiscox case, paid to go in the hold. All went fine, though the first thing we did when getting the guitars off of the carousel was open the case and check them. Neither were checked on the way out, but we both had stickers on the cases saying they`d been inspected on the way back to the UK.

[dand666]

Last time I put my guitar in the hold it was from London to Vancouver. 

It somehow got lost and ended up in Vegas. I was scheduled to cruise out to Hawaii a couple of days later so had to get it flown out there, luckily someone on board had a bass to lend me! Pain in the derrière.

[BassBod]

Noticed recently that my instrument insurance (with Allianz via broker) now specifically excludes claiming damage for any instrument that travels in the hold, in any case.  The instrument has to be physically with you in the cabin to be covered.  This level of risk evasion looks new to me, and a bit useless for “worldwide cover” 😳

[jposega]

32 minutes ago, BassBod said:

Noticed recently that my instrument insurance (with Allianz via broker) now specifically excludes claiming damage for any instrument that travels in the hold, in any case.  The instrument has to be physically with you in the cabin to be covered.  This level of risk evasion looks new to me, and a bit useless for “worldwide cover” 😳

Yup. Average out the cost of your travel insurance plus what you might pay for a really nice flight case and suddenly buying a seat for your bass doesn't seem like such a bad idea. 

[BassBod]

It’s going to be cheap bass in a Hiscox,  which is pretty much what I used to do anyway.  Now I just need a gig worth flying to.

[Belka]

This topic has been a massive pain for me over the last year. I moved back to the UK from Ukraine and had to take 4 basses with me. I took a few risks and was lucky but came to realise just how annoying this is if you have to travel regularly. The first two basses I put in a Mono M80. One was a neck through, one bolt on. I actually put the body of the bolt-on in my suitcase and the neck in the Mono, wrapped in clothes to keep it from hitting the other bass. I gate checked the Mono so it wasn’t under anything and everything was fine when I collected it at gatwick. I planned to gate check another bass but when I got to the gate it was too late and I had to carry it on with me and put it in a spare seat. Luckily I wasn’t made to pay for this. Finally with my last bolt on bass I put the body in the suitcase again and just had the neck in my carry on rucksack. It was sticking out but no one at the airport raised a fuss. Even though I consider myself lucky not to have had any damage to the basses, each time the process was stressful as you just can’t predict how staff at the airports are going to behave when they see a guitar case.

[Roxy]

Hi guys; wonder if anyone can help with advice/comments please. I’m emigrating from the UK to south east Asia, and can’t decide if I should take my 1980s 5 string wal with me. Worried about possible warping? Also, a slight feeling of do I really need to have the worry of transporting my beauty , but should I instead say goodbye and buy a quality bass out there. Cheers for any sensible comments!

[jposega]

37 minutes ago, Roxy said:

Hi guys; wonder if anyone can help with advice/comments please. I’m emigrating from the UK to south east Asia, and can’t decide if I should take my 1980s 5 string wal with me. Worried about possible warping? Also, a slight feeling of do I really need to have the worry of transporting my beauty , but should I instead say goodbye and buy a quality bass out there. Cheers for any sensible comments!

Bring it. It’s a high quality, handmade, well designed instrument. It shouldn’t have any problems, but you can keep it in its case when not playing or get a dehumidifier for the room it will be in. As for moving it, buy an extra seat on the plane for it (every airline has allotments for this, you just have to call them to book your seats; it will be considered oversized cabin baggage but you’ll pay the cost of one seat for it).

[Micky b]

Hi folks, wondering if you could help. 

A friend at work has bought his 17 year old nephew an ibenez as I surprise present. Said nephew is due over to the uk in a couple of weeks from Ireland. Any ideas how he should get the bass home to Ireland. It’s a £175 bass so any ideas of booking extra seats or buying expensive hard cases will outweigh the cost of the  bass. Any pearls of wisdom gladly accepted. 

Many thanks

Mick. 

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, Micky b said:

...Any pearls of wisdom gladly accepted...

Would going back to Ireland on the ferry not be an option..? I don't think there'd be any problems carrying a bass in a gig bag, along with any other luggage. Just sayin'; may not be relevant. 

[Micky b]

Mmm.. good point. I have a feeling they may have booked the flights already. 

[jposega]

19 hours ago, Micky b said:

Hi folks, wondering if you could help. 

A friend at work has bought his 17 year old nephew an ibenez as I surprise present. Said nephew is due over to the uk in a couple of weeks from Ireland. Any ideas how he should get the bass home to Ireland. It’s a £175 bass so any ideas of booking extra seats or buying expensive hard cases will outweigh the cost of the  bass. Any pearls of wisdom gladly accepted. 

Many thanks

Mick. 

Seperate the neck from the body. Put the body in their luggage amidst their clothes, and get some sort of long cylindrical bag to carry the neck onboard in; possibly a fishing rod carrying bag or something designed for posters? 

[Micky b]

Fantastic idea!

cheers jposega.