Traveling With Guitar

I have never traveled by air with a guitar, but many have posted on other forums that the best way is to unbolt the neck and put the guitar in a carry on bag.

buy it a window seat....but skip the in flight meal :lol: :roll:

I have never traveled by air with a guitar, but many have posted on other forums that the best way is to unbolt the neck and put the guitar in a carry on bag.
+1

I took my guitar on a long haul flight. Its an acoustic and I bought a hard case for it. I said i didn't want to check it in & they allowed me to take it on board, no hassles. In the cabin they put it in the cupboard with the suits so it had a comfy ride.
If you are going on a short haul flight or in a smaller plane they may not have room in the cabin so the advice about taking it apart seems the best (though it seems to be a bit of a pain to have to do that).
I would phone the airline.
Ola

Well, looks like the unbolting the neck may be the way to go? Only problem is, I wouldn't be able to put it in a carry on bag - it would have to be checked - bad idea? I will call the airline about carrying it on, but I think I am only allowed to carry one bag on, and I already have a laptop that has to come with me.

a laptop ccould be compared to a purse or handbag that women always carry on board. I bet you could have a soft gig bag, without even unbolting the neck, and have the flight attendants store it in the front compartment with the baby strollers etc. someone posted that idea and I like it. I would not put it in with the rest of the luggage in cargo without a superior hard flight case.

Well I just brought back my old classical guitar from France and despite the 'strictly-one-piece-of-hand-luggage' paranoia, they let me have it on board with me. And on a low-cost airline too. It shouldn't be too much of a problem, I suppose it all depends on which country you're travelling from.

I just traveled from Phoenix to Santa Fe and back again over the Thanksgiving holidays. I decieded to take the plung and travel with my acuoutic this time for the first time. I found a nice website that explained alot of things and gave me the confidence to do it.

http://www.win.net/mainstring/carryon.html

I flew Southwest. I took my Takamine, loosened the strings and packed it in a hard case (chipboard actually) so it wouldn't move. I then confidently passed ticketing, through security, and up to the gateway. I asked the flight attendant on board the plane if I needed to gate-check (which I was willing to concede to if necessary) and she assured me it would fit in the overhead baggage compartment, which it did. I mentioned that I was concerned about being a full flight and how I didn't want to bogart the storage space and she assured me that if they ran out of space, she could stow it in the wheelchair storage compartment. On the trip back, I just carried it on board. No questions asked. It helps to get on the aircraft as soon as possible and be courtious not combative. Don't bring it in a gig bag exptecting to get on board because you may not and, well, sending your guitar into never-never land in the belly of the plane in a bag would suck.

Well, looks like the unbolting the neck may be the way to go? Only problem is, I wouldn't be able to put it in a carry on bag - it would have to be checked - bad idea? I will call the airline about carrying it on, but I think I am only allowed to carry one bag on, and I already have a laptop that has to come with me.

Check with the airline, some airlines don't count a laptop as a carry-on item.

Just a little update - I ended up taking the neck off, and just putting it and the body in with my clothes and other stuff in a suitcase - I put some padding around it, checked it at the luggage counter, and hoped for the best. It turned out to be fine - now I just need to get some strings for it, and it will be ready to go - hopefully working fine. Just in case anyone was thinking about doing the same, now you know it works...for me anyway. :)

I have to get 2 guitars to China when I go soon, an electric acoustic and classical acoustic. Thanks for the link Joefish. Has anyone tried the 'gate check' option? Ie, storing the guitar in the hold as you board?

I have an inexpensive guitar that I travel with often. I bought a flight case (which actually costs more than the guitar) and just check it with my luggage. The airlines have only lost it once (this past Christmas) and it took a week for them to find it (I was travelling within the US and somehow my guitar made it to Manilla and back). Otherwise, no problem.

If I was travelling with my LP or Strat or Martin, I would definitely carry it on board. You see a lot of people doing it, so it must not be that bid of a deal.

Jim