Can i get a guitar in the cabin for AIR travel????

[math2014]

Hi all,

I am critically interested to find out if it is doable to carry my LP onboard an airplane, KLM to be precise. Has anyone got any ideas or experiences with them? I will try to contact them as well directly, but i would appreciate your feedback.

If not,

Would a hiscox case protect in in the cargo hold? I jumped on a hiscox case yesterday with a Gibson LP inside in-tune. I was surprises to find the guitar unscathed. We also droped the case 2-3 feet and again nothing. hmmm.

Thanks again guys

[Dakine]

If it won't fit in the overhead bin Good Luck!
Unless you buy it a seat of course :)

I travelled back from Texas to UK with mine axe in an SKB case, no problems.
I did using some carpet padding as extra packing and taped the clasps shut.

[deg0ey]

Well, when I was last in America, I decided I couldn't resist the amazingly cheaap prices compared to over here, and bought myself a Highway 1 Tele...I went back to the hotel and was playing with it happily and then realised I had no way to get it home...Panic set in

Right, so I head back to the shop and pick up a hard case. Then I phone the airline "I have fragile, oversized baggage, what can I do?" They told me basically to take it up to check in, and explain the situation. I did this and the person at check in did some phoning and whatever and was like "Right, well there's a locker that the flight attendants keep their stuff in - you can leave it in there"

So i kept it through the security checks and everything and took it up to the gate, and then when boarding I handed it to the person and they took it up near the back...Pressurised cabin and everything, win win situation :)

Only downside was that I had to wait 'til everyone else was off the plane before I could get it back

[OD-Black_Fire]

So how the hell does a band like Rammstein get all their guitars and stage shite from Europe to Mexico?

[deg0ey]

They pay a lot of money, and probably have their own plane :drink:

[math2014]

Its a European flight.... Bristol=> Amsterdam -\> Greece.

I hope it fits... otherwise i hope a hiscox will protect it

[Andy RV]

I bought a guitar when I went over to Florida a few years ago, I bought a SKB case for it, made sure the guitar wouldn't move around in the case at all, locked it and hoped for the best, the case was a little scratched but the guitar was fine.

I've heard a few people do what Deg0ey did.

[Searcher]

I wouldn't lock the case if you're flying through the US.  They'll bust it open and your lock will be useless.  

You won't get the guitar on the plane with you unless it fits in the overhead locker.  You shouldn't have a problem with it in the hold though.

[math2014]

Well it is a Euro flight.  A pilot just informed me that the LP case will fit the bins on Fokker100 and 737. I just need a formal final confirmation from KLM

[BleedMarshall]

If you can take in the plane with you killer, but if not, I would invest in a flight case. The locks work well, and there is no need to tape them or lock them up, just clas them. The padding is better as is the case itself, hence flight case. Just my two cents worth really.

[math2014]

What do you think about hiscox cases? are they ok for air travel?

[gwEm]

I regularly take my guitars on planes.

It depends on the airline, I've done most of the combinations, guitar in overhead locker, in the flight attendant cupboard, and in the hold. And all these with gig bags and a hard case. i never once damaged a guitar.

i dont recommend a gig bag in the hold, despite that I've got away with it a few times. take your paul in a hard case and try and get it in the overhead bins, but be prepared and happy for it to go in the hold. KLM is a decent airline - i'm sure they'll look after it.

some people think its a good idea to loosen the strings before a flight due to the change in temperature. its certianlly true it gets mightly cold up there. if you touch the hardware direct after the flight you can certinally feel it. i dont know if its a good idea to loosen the strings myself though. i've tried it both ways and it worked out.

[math2014]

Well i was thinking of loosening the strings because an LP gets snapped headstock from intertia forces by strings pulling on the headstock.

I ve sent KLM an email and waiting response. Finger munching now  :shock:

[_tom_]

I was gonna start a thread similar to this but I might aswell post it here now to save cluttering the forum up and people repeating themselves. I'm going to America in about a weeks time and hopefully I can get myself a guitar for cheap, I just dont know what is the best way of getting it back from America, wether I should get it shipped via UPS or take it on the plane. Oh and we're flying with United Airlines.

[Kilby]

Well i was thinking of loosening the strings because an LP gets snapped headstock from intertia forces by strings pulling on the headstock.

Unless it's a badly fitting case where the headstock is bouncing against the end of the case (even then it may involve the case skidding along the cargo hold or overhead locker) it shouldn't be a problem as the forces on a passenger flight are pretty minimal (under anything other than crash conditions).

Temperature changes in the cargo hold would be a hugely greater issue, or the cargo handlers dropping the case.

However loostyening the strings dosn't help when the baggage handlers run over the guitar with their vehicles, as happened to a friend of mine (there where 3 sets of tracks through the centre of his case and it didn't survive).

Rob...

FYI (if anybody is sad enough)

The so called vomit comet hits a peak of 1.3G where as dropping an object (say a guitar) from several inches results in appx 8G. of deceleration (BTW sneezing is around 2.9G and coughing is appx 3.5G)