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As a guitarist moving to NY in the new year, I've spent the last week obsessing over if I can bring precious instrument with me. Now I need to find out if this

As a guitarist moving to NY in the new year, I've spent the last week obsessing over if I can bring precious instrument with me. Now I need to find out if this legislation applies to an american airline flying into american airspace from the UK (fingers crossed)

sborsje 13y ago
When flying with Iceland Air a couple of months ago (AMS -> NYC), I was surprised how incredibly smooth the whole check-in experience was. I thought I would get into trouble, because I was carrying both a backpack and a guitar (MONO Vertigo softcase), but literally nobody asked me about it.
- jacques_chester 13y ago
  In the US, most airlines charge for checked-in luggage in economy class. So passengers have reacted by taking carry-on luggage instead, leading to the long tedious loading times. Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, you typically get one bag checked in as part of your ticket. So there's no economic incentive to try and shove half your possessions into a small overhead compartment. Then it gets sillier when they gate-check the luggage anyhow. To deal with the problems caused by not checking luggage "for free", they are ... checking a random selection of luggage at the gate. In a less efficient manner. In a way that slows boarding. The most amazing part is that this situation has now totally inverted the order of boarding. It used to be that boarding last or near-last was a privilege. Who the hell wants to sit in a cramped plane for even longer? Now it's a curse. Small changes can have surprising consequences.
julian_t 13y ago
For several years now, UK regulations have allowed you to take an instrument on board as well as a carry-on. I've had to insist on it a couple of times with check-in staff. But as a colleague told me years ago: never travel with anything you aren't prepared to lose, because You Never Know. When I take a guitar with me on the road, I take one of these: http://www.brunner-guitars.com/?page_id=591 http://www.brunner-guitars.com/?page_id=591 Not the cheapest, but it'll fit in the overhead every time.

sborsje 13y ago

When flying with Iceland Air a couple of months ago (AMS -> NYC), I was surprised how incredibly smooth the whole check-in experience was. I thought I would get into trouble, because I was carrying both a backpack and a guitar (MONO Vertigo softcase), but literally nobody asked me about it.

jacques_chester 13y ago
In the US, most airlines charge for checked-in luggage in economy class. So passengers have reacted by taking carry-on luggage instead, leading to the long tedious loading times. Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, you typically get one bag checked in as part of your ticket. So there's no economic incentive to try and shove half your possessions into a small overhead compartment. Then it gets sillier when they gate-check the luggage anyhow. To deal with the problems caused by not checking luggage "for free", they are ... checking a random selection of luggage at the gate. In a less efficient manner. In a way that slows boarding. The most amazing part is that this situation has now totally inverted the order of boarding. It used to be that boarding last or near-last was a privilege. Who the hell wants to sit in a cramped plane for even longer? Now it's a curse. Small changes can have surprising consequences.

julian_t 13y ago

For several years now, UK regulations have allowed you to take an instrument on board as well as a carry-on. I've had to insist on it a couple of times with check-in staff. But as a colleague told me years ago: never travel with anything you aren't prepared to lose, because You Never Know. When I take a guitar with me on the road, I take one of these: http://www.brunner-guitars.com/?page_id=591 http://www.brunner-guitars.com/?page_id=591 Not the cheapest, but it'll fit in the overhead every time.