a decent price for hardcase

$50 isn't going to stand up to airlines a couple of times a year. Probably not even once. Maybe with a bit of luck and excellent packing.

$75 will buy you a halfway decent case. I still wouldn't trust an expensive guitar in it.

TKL is all right. SKB makes some ATA travel cases probably around $225. That's about as cheap as you are going to get ATA rated cases. IMHO to get a travel worthy case you should look at least at Ameritage. Not cheap though at $400.

If I'm flying now I use a Calton Deluxe case. It's the black box of guitar cases but you pay for the security. Calton Deluxe cases are custom fit with a variance of 1mm. Each latch locks, they have thick fiberglass reinforcement, strap lugs for the shoulder strap and they weigh a ton. You can't get a generic Calton case for say a dreadnaught, because they are so tightly built, which makes it difficult to find a used one. They'll set you back about $700. Peace of mind don't come cheap.

I saw some posts recently on taking guitars on flights recently. The posts suggested taking the guitar as a carry-on. One poster had had some luck getting the guitar stored in the coat closet (1st class?). Another suggested that worse case would be baggage check at the gate which should be better than any other alternative since it's hand carried down and should be on the top of the stack. I can't verify either since I haven't tried flying with a guitar.

Grump :evil:

My suggestion is to skip the 700$ case and buy a 700$ guitar when you arrive at your destination. Then Fed Ex it back to your house. :lol: :lol: :lol:

If you go first class you can most likely stow your guitar in the coat closet. Many planes don't have galleys or coat closets anymore.

You can gate check and request to have the guitar delivered back to the gate on arrival. No guarantees though.

Carrying it on might depend on how crowded the flight is.

If you approach the airline personel in a kind manner as if they are doing you a great favor you should be able to take it aboard with you. Room permitting.

The price of the case should reflect the value of your guitar. Treat it like an insurance policy. If we're talking about a $250 guitar a $400 case doesn't much make sense. I have an $85 SKB and feel very comfortable about putting my guitar inside of it.

Mike

Carrying it on is a crap shoot. That's why a good case is important. Some airlines automatically say no.
Some say yes but the gate personnel have the final say whatever the airlines policy is.

Most airlines are doing their best these days to make sure the plane IS crowded.

The coat closet isn't a guarantee anymore. Some airlines have coat closets. Some don't.

Kind manner has very little to do with it. I've been nice, not carried on any other luggage, had other passengers offer to give up their carry ons at the gate and the answer was still no. Being a jerk about it gets you nowhere though.

An $85 SKB is fine as long as the guitar doesn't get smacked by a baggage handler throwing somebody's 95lb suitcase on it corner first.

David had a guitar destroyed in a decent looking case.

If you really want to make sure it arrives in one piece, buy it a seat.

If you plan on having the guitar 10 years or more, buy it a good case. I will probably travel with my guitar 30 times in that period. It works out to an insurance policy for less than $25 per trip.

Not that this would change the type of case you need but...Why not ship your guitar to your destination with insurance via UPS or Fedex? It will probably be handled as much or less than the airline, but if it does get damaged you will at least have recourse. It may get handled a little better than the airlines also. Just wondering.

go with an skb case, you can get one that will make it through the roughest trips for 125 bucks, they are really good cases.

I don't want to be a jerk about this, but a $125 or an $85 SKB case isn't going to protect your guitar sufficiently in an airline baggage handling facility, in the cargo hold, while being dropped onto the conveyor or while sliding down the ramp onto the baggage carousel.

It just isn't designed to withstand that kind of force. Most cases at that range are molded plastic and a sheet of 1/4" plywood for strength. They are great for the car, around the house, gigs and storage.

You don't have to believe me if you don't want to. You may even get lucky and not have any damage done. But it would be luck.

Try this experiment at home. Stick your favorite guitar into a standard guitar case.

Now the weight limit for baggage in an airline cargo hold is right around 75lbs per bag.

Go get two cinderblocks, which are roughly 40lbs a piece and bungie them together tightly. Hold the two cinderblocks approximately 3.5 feet over the top of your guitar case. Now drop the cinderblocks. If you want to be really daring, hold the cinderblocks so the corner of your "suitcase" hits the center of the guitar case over your bridge. Let us know the results.*

If you are travelling regularly and you have a guitar you want to keep safe, spend the money and get the case.

SKB ATA are available at ZZounds for $225.

*No really, I'm kidding. Don't try this at home

Next time you're on a plane watch the luggage handlers.

Watch the luggage go flying through the air as they throw it into the plane, or from the plane to the cart, or from the cart to the ground.

Notice the luggage handlers opening the stuff that breaks open and pocketing what they want.

If you're going to check the luggage, you must have a top end travel case. Not a common ordinary hard-shell, but one designed to protect quality gear from the kind of abuse that it will see on a trip where you check the luggage.

If you're going to go carry-on:

1) put your instrument in a soft-shell, padded plain black case with nothing but the instrument and a bungee cord inside. Both padded and black make it look smaller. You probably won't even get it measured. If you do, make sure you squeeze and adjust the bag so that you come in under the allowed linear inches :)

2) Do not have anything else to carry on except a small personal item like a book. You want to be as cooperative as possible.

3) Carry a copy of the airlines' instrument policy. Almost all airlines have one. You can find many of them here Continental's reads:
Musical instruments can be carried on board or checked as baggage. If necessary, a seat can also be purchased for an instrument.

Carried on Board

* A musical instrument can be carried on in place of a carry-on bag.
* The maximum combined linear measurement (L + W + H) of the instrument is 51 inches (130 cm).
* The maximum weight of the carry-on bag is 40 pounds (18 kg).

4) If you can't afford a first class seat, or you're not a frequent flier or a member of their premier/elite/super-great-guy club, get a seat at the very rear of the plane. This puts you on board as one of hte first passengers.

5) Be friendly, courteous and kind to the stewards and crew. They will be your friend in all this!

6) Get their early. Security will take a lot longer ....

7) If the crew has a problem, remember that yours is an unusual case and they are just trying to do their job. Be calm and cool. Be prepared to explain that your guitar is valuable and fragile, but safe it it's nice soft case. Be prepared to suggest storing the guitar upright, or in the rear of the plane, or in a galley or crew coat closet. Have a bungee chord in the bag to tie it down with. If that doesn't resolve things ask to deplane and to speak with airline supervisor. You only have a few minutes so you need to be prepared to miss your flight or make alternate arrangements for the instrument.

You don't have the law on your side, but the law isn't against you either. Congress has actually asked the FAA to set stanards for instrument travel allowances. The specific language is:
S. 1447 Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001, Relating to Public Law 107-71 Page 41, Section 135
SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

It is a sense of the House of Representatives that
(1) the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security should develop security procedures to allow passengers transporting a musical instrument on a flight of an air carrier to transport the instrument in the passenger cabin of the aircraft, notwithstanding any size or other restriction on carry-on baggage but subject to such other reasonable terms and conditions as may be established by the Under Secretary or the air carrier, including imposing additional charges by the air carrier.

So if you have to talk to a supervisor be prepared to pay a reasonable extra charge.

In all honesty, while it's true that flying with an instrument is a crap shoot, if you're personable, friendly, calm and reasonable, you should have no problems. I never have . . .

forget it. buy a martin backpacker guitar. or tacoma makes little guitars for traveling. they're really really cute.

We have travelled to the Riverside Jam several times using "stock" hard cases. We always gate-check, as they seem to handle them more gently, and there is less chance of theft. So far, we have had no problems. However, we never take Laura's prize red Guild - they don't make it any more. We only take guitars that can be replaced one way or another, and have little sentimental value.

David did have the neck broken on his 12-string, and that was sad.

So it's really a cost/risk decision. Using FedEx with insurance is an interesting idea.

-Laz

Just curious, and this is a little off-topic, but if a professional guitar player was on a national tour, how would they transport their guitars?

it was actually me that started the flying with guitar thread, and after flying to new jersey and back to oregon, the guitar was fine. I borrowed a TKL case from a friend and stuffed the neck with socks for support, the guitar was fine during the trip.

The most important thing for me was to gate check the guitar, since that means it won't go through the belt and that's where some of the damage occur

so i've heard some brand name case i should get, and will try to look for a good deal