Thank you, Nancy. Excellent, relevant recent information. Important that it is post Christmas. Seems to be a "don't ask, don't tell" "Least said, soonest mended" etc. type of modus operandi. That's how it worked with my old, small vihuela in about 2005 going to the Amherst event from S.F. Bay area also. For a Cleveland adventure I was afraid to risk being turned away at the gate with no alternatives (as Ned is afraid of) with the 13 course Baroque lute so I reinforced the old case with 4 more sturdy latches- but no extra padding measures except for lots of socks and underwear inside the case around the neck and pegbox, and some music pages between the strings and the soundboard. Totally detuned, of course. It came and went both directions unscathed, I think by sheer good luck. United hadn't yet learned how to break guitars, I guess. Hasn't someone this list given a link to a promo for a new guitar case that was thrown off a building, and the (but solid body) guitar survived intact? Still an accomplishment, I would like to see that ad again- couldn't google it up.
Dan > All of this depends on what you can afford, and for those of us in the > US fitting into all the airline regulations and price cuts. I flew > from the San Francisco area to New York City with my orpharion, a few > weeks ago and because I was using my United frequent flyer miles for > part of the flight, I was on 3 flights both going and coming = 6 > planes. Plus it was Winter weather, so I had some delays and plane > changes. All the airlines are charging for checked bags and have > weight limits. They do not charge for carry-ons. On the way out I was > on United and they have a lot of new rules - they will no longer do > gate checks for anything except wheel chairs and strollers. I had the > most problem with a flight from Denver to Chicago, where there was a > "rule book Johnny" at the gate. I ended up asking her about the YouTube > videos with the Taylor guitar and she seemed to think they were > entertaining but rules are rules. She tagged my orpharion for a gate > check, but there was nobody to take it when I got to the gate, so I > just walked onto the plane. The flight attendant was happy to put it in > the first class coat closet. > My theory is that if you start asking these people if you can carry an > instrument on, they will say no because that is what they have been > told to do. It's also better if you book the flight early, so you get > on the plane before all the overheads are full. The instruments are > odd shaped and if the bin is full of suitcases they are not going to > move them so your case will fit. > On the way back from NYC I was on American and Alaska Airlines, where I > saw quite a few guitar and bass cases, plus something like a French > horn, in the waiting area. There were no questions about any of these > instruments going on the planes, and no announcements about no > instruments as carry-ons. So it might be well to avoid United until > they change their policies. > Nancy -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
