Issue flying with Delta

[H165]

I have read a few terrifying stories of guitars damaged while going as checked baggage, but I've done it so many times I've lost track. Never had a problem.

Anyone else done this (vintage guitar in an ordinary hardshell case)?

[Steadfastly]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

It won't help with the gate attendant, but here's a tip to get the flight attendants on your side:
Bring a small bag of Lindt truffles, or Ghiardelli assorted chocolate squares in your carry-on (not a guitar case! LOL) and as you enter the plane, hand it to the flight attendant standing there greeting you and say 'this is for you and the rest of the crew to share'. They will almost always ask you what seat you're in, and you'll get thanks and smiling service for the whole flight - for the price of a $4 bag of chocolate.

What an excellent idea! It reminds me of a wise person who said, "It never hurts to be kind".

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by H165

I have read a few terrifying stories of guitars damaged while going as checked baggage, but I've done it so many times I've lost track. Never had a problem.

Anyone else done this (vintage guitar in an ordinary hardshell case)?

I once gate checked my guitar but when switching planes it somehow got put back into the checked luggage and went through the baggage tumbler (This just happened to be on a Delta flight). It got neck whipped and I had to have it repaired. I packed it very well but baggage tumblers are not for guitars. I still gate check mine and have had no problems. I think that for me, checking it as regular baggage is just increasing the chance of problems. You are fortunate that it has worked out.

Best,
Jayne

[capefisherman]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

It won't help with the gate attendant, but here's a tip to get the flight attendants on your side:
Bring a small bag of Lindt truffles, or Ghiardelli assorted chocolate squares in your carry-on (not a guitar case! LOL) and as you enter the plane, hand it to the flight attendant standing there greeting you and say 'this is for you and the rest of the crew to share'. They will almost always ask you what seat you're in, and you'll get thanks and smiling service for the whole flight - for the price of a $4 bag of chocolate.

Absolutely!!! We have an excellent hand-made chocolate shop in town and I ALWAYS buy a small box (or 2 or 3 if I'm doing connecting flights) to hand to the greeter flight attendant as I board. They always are genuinely surprised and grateful - always ask my seat number and a free drink might even appear at some point. Although I think we've all had experiences with surly flight attendants, or worse, surly gate attendants I appreciate that their jobs are harder all the time through no fault of their own. I'm old enough to remember when flying was fun and adventure (true, young 'guns, though you might not believe it!) but now I think the vast majority of passengers without deep pockets who can't afford business class absolutely dread the experience from the moment they enter an airport to the point they finally get off their sardine can airplane. The flight attendants must deal with all manner of rude behavior on pretty much a daily basis. So much for the glamour of being a flight attendant.

The conundrum for me is whether to take a guitar in a padded gig bag - and risk having it gate checked when potential disasters can happen with a gig bag - or use a hardshell case, which may draw more attention to its size. I have a Hiscox case that is excellent; twice I have checked it and there were no issues. These days I just bring along a decent but less expensive guitar in a good gig bag (assuming I'm not going somewhere for a gig) and hope for the best. I also have a big sticker on my Hiscox that says: "I (heart) baggage handlers!" Can't prove it has worked but I'd like to believe maybe it has..... You can find them on Amazon.

Gene
Cape Cod Acoustics

[Rexsblues]

Originally Posted by Dreadfulnaught

I’m waiting to board a flight in Pittsburgh and has a minor kerfluffle from a counter type who did not want to let me bring my guitar as carry on. I mentioned the law that says they have to let guitars be carry on if there is room, she said there is no such law and would not look when I pulled it up on my iPhone. She said she is a trainer and if there was such a law she would know. She then tried to sell me a seat for my guitar. I detuned in case I had to check it as baggage. I pulled the Delta policy up to show her. She had looked it up independently and saw that it was Delta policy and law. She became sheepish and friendly after that.
I’m now on the plane and my guitar is safely in the overhead. Tragedy averted, but I wish everyone knew this stuff.

This is exactly the way to handle this situation. You really have to push them without acting hostile. They just don't understand the way a case can fit in the overhead. On an average flight, you can easily fit a guitar case in the overhead and have several bags around it. I've also paid a little extra for priority boarding so I have a chance to put it in the overhead.

That being said, gate-checking is the next best thing, since it's basically only handled by the baggage agent at the departure airport and the agent at the arrival airport.

I'm lucky living in Nashville where they are all too used to guitars being brought on board. Instead of hassling me they usually just ask what kind of guitar it is and chat about music for a few minutes. In this town, there's a good chance even your TSA agent is a struggling musician lol.

[Photojeep]

Originally Posted by H165

I have read a few terrifying stories of guitars damaged while going as checked baggage, but I've done it so many times I've lost track. Never had a problem.

Anyone else done this (vintage guitar in an ordinary hardshell case)?

Back in 2012, I flew with my guitar for the very first time and I didn't even think I could ask to bring it into the cabin so I checked it at the ticket counter and hoped for the best.

Over about a week and a half, it flew on 5 different airplanes (all Southwest Airlines Boeing 737s) and during one leg of the trip, even went through a plane change at Chicago Midway Airport. In all the travel, my guitar never even went out of tune! (I was so green I didn't know I should have lowered the tension on the strings.) At the time I was using a Roadrunner molded case without any special padding other than what is built into the case so I was doubly lucky. The only special thing I did was to put a bright red bungie cord around the middle of the case so I could easily see it from the gate area as it was being loaded into the cargo area of the plane.

While I would never do such a thing again if I could avoid it, I was both very happy and much relieved when I picked it up each time to find it had survived unscathed.

One thing about traveling with a guitar is that I have become somewhat used to people looking very closely at me in the airport while I'm carrying my guitar (I guess since I fly out of Las Vegas they are trying to see if I'm famous or something... ) As you might expect, I had the complete opposite reaction when I was traveling through Nashville during that busy week in 2012. There, the passengers who WEREN'T carrying a were being looked at very closely!

Best,
PJ

[Dreadfulnaught]

Originally Posted by Rexsblues

This is exactly the way to handle this situation. You really have to push them without acting hostile. They just don't understand the way a case can fit in the overhead. On an average flight, you can easily fit a guitar case in the overhead and have several bags around it. I've also paid a little extra for priority boarding so I have a chance to put it in the overhead.

That being said, gate-checking is the next best thing, since it's basically only handled by the baggage agent at the departure airport and the agent at the arrival airport.

I'm lucky living in Nashville where they are all too used to guitars being brought on board. Instead of hassling me they usually just ask what kind of guitar it is and chat about music for a few minutes. In this town, there's a good chance even your TSA agent is a struggling musician lol.

Yep to everything you said. Unfortunately it was not an option to purchase priority boarding, but I have done so on Southwest before. I flew from Sacramento to Pittsburgh with my maple Harptone Lark, one of the few ever made and sister guitar to George Harrison’s. I did not have it in a good Hiscox flight case (I have since bought one), just a Road Runner purchased for the occasion. I had no problems at all, it fit fine in the overhead.
My guitar (Marlboro points guitar) and I have made it safely down to Mexico, and I’m going to play in a few hours at La Bodega de Ajijic. Set list, for those interested:The Highwayman, Can’t Find My Way Home, California Dreaming, and One Meatball. You are all invited!

[Manothemtns]

Originally Posted by Dreadfulnaught

Yep. Marlboro COPD Dread in a bright yellow Eastman case, not one of my flight cases. I’ve traveled with my Harptone Jumbo in overhead with no issues before.

"..COPD dread..." Too funny! I know those guitars and think I asked you on another thread but I'll ask again...can you could tell me who, what company, made them? They're high-quality guitars. I looked at one being sold on Austin CL a few years back. I didn't buy...buy it played nicely and had the look of a "Lawsuit Era" Takamine.

[LadysSolo]

Originally Posted by capefisherman

Absolutely!!! We have an excellent hand-made chocolate shop in town and I ALWAYS buy a small box (or 2 or 3 if I'm doing connecting flights) to hand to the greeter flight attendant as I board. They always are genuinely surprised and grateful - always ask my seat number and a free drink might even appear at some point. Although I think we've all had experiences with surly flight attendants, or worse, surly gate attendants I appreciate that their jobs are harder all the time through no fault of their own. I'm old enough to remember when flying was fun and adventure (true, young 'guns, though you might not believe it!) but now I think the vast majority of passengers without deep pockets who can't afford business class absolutely dread the experience from the moment they enter an airport to the point they finally get off their sardine can airplane. The flight attendants must deal with all manner of rude behavior on pretty much a daily basis. So much for the glamour of being a flight attendant.

Gene
Cape Cod Acoustics

This is SO TRUE!! I used to love flying, now I don't travel unless it is within a reasonable one-day drive. It's just NOT WORTH IT!! Pay a ridiculous price to be uncomfortable for hours - no way!

[sbmackie]

Originally Posted by LadysSolo

This is SO TRUE!! I used to love flying, now I don't travel unless it is within a reasonable one-day drive. It's just NOT WORTH IT!! Pay a ridiculous price to be uncomfortable for hours - no way!

I respectfully reply: air travel has become considerably cheaper in real dollars by lots and lots over the last 30 years. Not apples to apples, I know, because due to consumer demand for ever cheaper flights (think People Express, Southwest in the early days, Ryan Air, etc), food, bags, booking services, refundability, travel flexibility, etc, have all become ala carte. You want it? You pay for it. Comes with what some call the democratization of flying.
You get what you pay for. 40 years ago (well within my lifetime) it was an adventure and expensive to fly. Also less safe, with less destinations,\ and choice of carrier, but I digress. Now, Ma and Pa Kettle and the three kiddo's don't have to jump in the panel wagon to go to Dismal World. They can pay half of what there parents did...yet somehow expect the same level of comfort and service. This does not excuse poor behavior on the part of an airline, or airline employees. Neither does it excuse poor behavior or unrealistic expectations on the part of passengers, although I can certainly understand some frustration when travel plans are disrupted, whether by a dead battery at the hotel, an alternator failure on I-75, or a weather delay at a busy hub airport.

[Dreadfulnaught]

Originally Posted by Manothemtns

"..COPD dread..." Too funny! I know those guitars and think I asked you on another thread but I'll ask again...can you could tell me who, what company, made them? They're high-quality guitars. I looked at one being sold on Austin CL a few years back. I didn't buy...buy it played nicely and had the look of a "Lawsuit Era" Takamine.

No one knows who made them. Perhaps more than one factory, idk. Having no markings or serial numbers led to the mystique and the false claims that they were made by Martin or from Martin parts. I put letters on that say CF Marlboro, like the vertical D-45 logo. Got tired of people asking me what brand it is. If anyone asks, I say the CF stands for Coughing Fit.

If the baggage mutants bust it I’ll be pissed but probably won’t commit homicide over it. I played it tonight in a club and we both did fine.

There is one on Shopgoodwill.com for a few dollars if you want it.
Update: sold for $14.13 They show up with regularity though.

[LadysSolo]

Originally Posted by sbmackie

I respectfully reply: air travel has become considerably cheaper in real dollars by lots and lots over the last 30 years. Not apples to apples, I know, because due to consumer demand for ever cheaper flights (think People Express, Southwest in the early days, Ryan Air, etc), food, bags, booking services, refundability, travel flexibility, etc, have all become ala carte. You want it? You pay for it. Comes with what some call the democratization of flying.
You get what you pay for. 40 years ago (well within my lifetime) it was an adventure and expensive to fly. Also less safe, with less destinations,\ and choice of carrier, but I digress. Now, Ma and Pa Kettle and the three kiddo's don't have to jump in the panel wagon to go to Dismal World. They can pay half of what there parents did...yet somehow expect the same level of comfort and service. This does not excuse poor behavior on the part of an airline, or airline employees. Neither does it excuse poor behavior or unrealistic expectations on the part of passengers, although I can certainly understand some frustration when travel plans are disrupted, whether by a dead battery at the hotel, an alternator failure on I-75, or a weather delay at a busy hub airport.

I am more talking about paying per suitcase to take any luggage (can take a reasonable amount in your own vehicle,) being cramped into too-narrow seats for comfort, used to be able to get to the airport about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes before your flight and be on time, now is 2-3 hours before your flight time, used to be able to take a water bottle to drink on the 3-4 hour flight, now no way! , etc, etc. Can drink and eat what I want in my car, leave when I want, and be comfortable.

[sbmackie]

Originally Posted by LadysSolo

I am more talking about paying per suitcase to take any luggage (can take a reasonable amount in your own vehicle,) being cramped into too-narrow seats for comfort, used to be able to get to the airport about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes before your flight and be on time, now is 2-3 hours before your flight time, used to be able to take a water bottle to drink on the 3-4 hour flight, now no way! , etc, etc. Can drink and eat what I want in my car, leave when I want, and be comfortable.

Your mileage may vary. I carry a 22 inch roll aboard on board, and put a backpack under my seat. Mind you, this is for a trip of less then a week. I buy water or food to take on board with me once I'm past security. There is no issue with this. True, at major hub airports, one must plan for long lines at security. 2 hours is reasonable. At smaller airports, an hour is usually enough. True, seat pitch (distance between seats) has been reduced. Seat width has not, I don't think, but I'm not that expert.
To your point, if my drive is 7 hours or less, I will generally drive. More then that and it becomes cost effective to fly, assuming I'm not paying for the last apple on the tree (last minute fare). It is also sometimes more convenient to drive even if it's longer then 7 hours because of destination isolation, need to rent a car, etc.
Anyway, the thread has wandered. Enjoy your guitars and safe travels.

[Pura Vida]

I always bring a water bottle with me. It's empty, and I fill it at the growing number of water stations at the airports, or they'll fill it for me at an airport restaurant. If it's a long flight, I throw some snacks into my carry-on bag (and if it's a really long flight, I'll bring a meal or purchase something from the airline). And my bags almost always fly free on SW, as well as Delta and United (credit card benefit). Those credit cards also provide me with priority boarding, which is helpful when I'm bringing a guitar along.

[Manothemtns]

Originally Posted by Dreadfulnaught

No one knows who made them. Perhaps more than one factory, idk. Having no markings or serial numbers led to the mystique and the false claims that they were made by Martin or from Martin parts. I put letters on that say CF Marlboro, like the vertical D-45 logo. Got tired of people asking me what brand it is. If anyone asks, I say the CF stands for Coughing Fit.

If the baggage mutants bust it I’ll be pissed but probably won’t commit homicide over it. I played it tonight in a club and we both did fine.

There is one on Shopgoodwill.com for a few dollars if you want it.
Update: sold for $14.13 They show up with regularity though.

Cool stuff on that guitar of your's. Intriguing how there's so little information out there about my question. They're well made, I know that much. Sounds like the gig went well. Like your idea regarding paying it forward at Goodwill. Thanks for your response. If you ever find out who the heck made them...I believe "Lawsuit Era" (mid-70s to mid-80s) time frame, I'd love to know. If I ventured a guess, I'd say Takamine. Wonder what one of those guitars in great condition would appraise for, at, say, Gruhns?