Flying With an Instrument

[KWL]

I thought people may like to read this Washington Post article. As a non-professional I can just look on in dismay from the sidelines. - Ken

https://wapo.st/3TknAsQ

[NotSkilledHere]

I saw that article. Yea some airlines really are just resistant to taking your instruments on with you. but they also will fight every step of the way to not take responsibility if it's damaged in any way. especially budget airlines in particular.

[LeTromboniste]

Yes all too common. I'm always conflicted about these reports. On the one hand the ridiculous inconsistency of baggage policy from one company to the other, and the generally poor treatment of musicians by the airline industry is awful and should change, and it's just extremely frustrating that industry-wide policies are not adopted. The US (mostly) solved this problem a decade ago now but other jurisdictions are just putting their heads in the sand. It's just baffling that it's so difficult when it could be so easy.

On the other hand, those high profile cases reported in the media are invariably of big name string players who can't be bothered to look up the airlines' musical instrument policies and respect them or take the most obvious precautions. As someone who has to navigate travel with an instrument far trickier to travel with than a violin, it's hard to feel sorry for them.

In this case, the violinist says she's flown numerous times with Ryanair with no problem before...well, then she had just been incredibly lucky so far, because everyone (and I mean everyone) in Europe knows that Ryanair has SUPER strict bagage policy, charges you for every option they can, and has the worst customer service and check-in experience. Every musician knows that if you're going to fly Ryanair, either your instrument fits the maximum size, or you get an extra seat. Period. This violinist had two obvious and very easy options to prevent this situation: 1) they're lucky enough to play an instrument that has tiny cases available that are specifically designed so that they fit the most stringent baggage policies. Just invest in a case, problem fixed. 2) if you're not going to do that, then buy an extra seat. Given how cheap seats are with Ryanair, there's just absolutely no excuse not to do that. So yeah, if you're going to cheap out and book tickets on an airline that is super cheap but you know is awful and super strict, and then cheap out again by not buying an extra seat in the hope that you slip through, don't go complaining that they enforced their shitty but very much publicly-available and infamous policies...

[tbdana]

The inconsistencies in interpretation and enforcement of baggage policies for musical instruments is exactly why I turned down a European tour last month. There really is no way to be 100% sure that you can safely travel with your instrument, when enforcement is at a random person's whim and interpretation differs depending on who you're talking to. And when you're told you can carry it on, but at the last minute an airline employee defies that and buying another seat is no longer an option, it's too much of a chance for me. You just can't be certain, no matter what you're told in advance.

[harrisonreed]

How many times is this topic going to come up? Don't be cheap, buy a real flight case, request to be present at the special baggage area when TSA checks your flight case (so you can ensure it's put back together correctly).

I have flown to many countries and all over the US with my Tank case and I've had zero problems. The case itself has taken a massive beating over the last 14 years, but the inside is still perfect. I would never try to bring a regular case on board the flight and never check a regular case (barring JAL or ANA). If I'm flying with my horn, it's for business, and not as some thing I'm trying to sneak on.

If you want to fly with your horn stress-free, that's what you gotta do.

Now for a violinist with a multi-million dollar instrument, that's a sightly different story, but again, you gotta pay to play -- don't fly on some airline that is known for giving grief to musicians. No one on this forum has that problem, where your instrument is worth millions of dollars. We play the trombone.

[LeTromboniste]

The inconsistencies in interpretation and enforcement of baggage policies for musical instruments is exactly why I turned down a European tour last month. There really is no way to be 100% sure that you can safely travel with your instrument, when enforcement is at a random person's whim and interpretation differs depending on who you're talking to. And when you're told you can carry it on, but at the last minute an airline employee defies that and buying another seat is no longer an option, it's too much of a chance for me. You just can't be certain, no matter what you're told in advance.

Very frustrating indeed. That being said, it's not 100% unpredictable. There are absolutely airlines that you can reliably expect will be good. Airline policies and attitudes are something that can be researched, and you can then remove the uncertainty of the "random person's whim" from the equation. Add to that the option of having a reliably safe case to check your horn, and it's really fine.

I maintain a mental rating of airlines for carry-on instruments (based on their published official policy and/or non-official but reliably consistent practice) in three categories: reliably good, unreliable/unknown, or reliably bad.

The good ones have policies/practices I can rely on and know are safe (in some rare cases policies that are not good on paper but that are well-known and proven to never be enforced), the bad ones have policies I know are bad, and the unreliable ones have bad policies on paper that they are inconsistent with and in some cases very often don't, but sometimes do enforce. I simply treat every unreliable/unknown as if they were bad, because they might be bad that one time. Then with the bad ones and the unreliables, that means I entirely avoid them if I can, plan on checking my instruments (with an appropriate safe case), or buy an extra seat. For example if I fly Ryanair (which I generally avoid doing, but will in a couple weeks) I KNOW they are bad and that I HAVE to book an extra seat. On bad/unreliable airlines that are too expensive for an extra seat, I know I always have to check the instruments. There are good airlines that I know are good no matter what horn I'm bringing, even the long bass sackbut case (e.g. EasyJet), and good airlines that I know I can bring a tenor alone but have to check the bass/double case (e.g. KLM), or I can reliably bring a small tenor but not large tenor or bass (Air France, Air Canada). The choice just gets dictated by that and there's not much reflection needed.

The only times I ever have to actually weigh the risks are when airline choice is limited (which is rarely the case) AND the best or only choice happens to be an airline that is generally ok in practice but not reliably so (e.g. Lufthansa, Swiss) AND checking instrument is not an option. Then it does become a question how much risk I am comfortable with taking, which varies depending on the instrument I need and how good the gig is. But again, it very rarely actually comes to that, maybe one out of every 20 trips.