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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
 Posted - 07/08/2009 : 1:38:29 PM
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| Debbie - you beat me to the post. Well done! |
Andy |
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Pua Kai
Ha`aha`a
USA
1007 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 1:37:38 PM
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As a poor retiree I take the cheapest flights I can find on Travelocity. This time it was American to Maui. As always, I carried my guitar on in a soft case and it was treated gently everywhere. It would fit into all overhead bins, but the stewardesses were nice enough to squirrel it away in the first class or crew closet. And on the flight from HNL to LAX, she wanted to see what I had cuz she likes slack key and I was wearing a t-shirt from the festival held a few years ago.
A few of you know I bought a new, decidedly more expensive guitar (retirees need some comforts) while I was there, but I think I'll keep taking the old one on travel.
I'm ready to go again!!!
n
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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2009 : 4:57:15 PM
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Here's one response to the United Breakes Guitars video Debbie (islandboo)posted above.
http://www.taylorguitars.com/news/NewsDetail.aspx?id=101
Not sure if United has responded.
Paul |
"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2009 : 6:27:33 PM
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quote:
As a poor retiree I take the cheapest flights I can find on Travelocity. This time it was American to Maui. As always, I carried my guitar on in a soft case and it was treated gently everywhere.
Yes- I had the same philosophy for a while, but now the very same airline you mention AMERICAN, has broken my guitars not once, not twice, but THREE times. Once in a soft case that I was forced to gate check, and twice in hard cases. (check the Federal law - they can force you to gate-check anything that will not fit under your seat: Magic number is 22 inches in the LONGEST direction: or for that matter anything that they may deem slightly dangerous, such as things that use steel wire for strings!!). All you have to do is encounter a gate attendant or flight attendant that is a stickler of the law or having a rough day. Sweet talking (of any kind) does not always work!. Maximum liabilty of the airline is $250 (for an instrument) AND you have to ship the damaged instrument to their repair facility at YOUR COST. It cost me $50 to find this out via phone from Tobago to Miami and Chicago with American Airlines. I will not fly American Airlines EVER AGAIN.
But, I have already mentioned some of this earlier in this thread, and in several previous threads going back for years. This subject comes up quite regularly and is an excellent demonstration of the concept that those who do not know history (even short term history), are doomed to repeat it. (or at least talk about it over and over) 
Good Luck!!!!
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 07/14/2009 6:40:42 PM |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 05:56:36 AM
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| wrt American - they still are flying MD-80's - the WORST overhead storage (or baggage in general -everything is small) in the world. If you are booked on any airline flying them and you get an MD-80 for your flight, you are doomed. So - try to find out what kind of airplane you will be flying on. This can explain how one person was treated well and another screwed. Keaka, the aerospace guy. |
keaka |
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maggie
Aloha
USA
40 Posts |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 3:22:19 PM
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| I travel a lot and I always carry my guitar on board or gate check it (small planes flying in and out of Southern Oregon). Fortunately, I've had no problems...well...except for running through airports trying to make connecting flights. So far, I haven't hit anyone with my guitar case, though I have to admit that once, while running through an airport in Japan, I whacked a sleeping traveler on the head with my backpack. Poor guy...he never knew what hit him. |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 4:44:33 PM
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I know this post ahs been oging on forever, and someone may already have added this little line, but here ia somehting a friend sent me recently;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo&feature=player_embedded
He says they broke his taylor, but the show a gibson, still, a good song. |
Karl
Frozen North |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 11:25:38 PM
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| I am nervous as can be about Paul taking his guitar. He is leaving the new Taylor at home and taking the Simon & Patrick 12-string. We are going on Continental and will be flying in all Boeing aircraft, 737, 757, 767 I am having second thoughts about the wisdom of flying with the guitar. I always second guess myself. As time gets closer, I will probably be having nightmares about it. And now with that one plane getting a hole in the roof, and knowing what I know about other quality issues regarding aircraft and safety of flight programs, I am really jittery. But my old boss back in the DoD days used to tell me that a plane can fly perfectly well without landing gear. I think Paul is putting his bebedees in with the guitar. Maybe socks, too. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Hookani
Lokahi
232 Posts |
Posted - 07/16/2009 : 04:29:41 AM
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Maybe think about getting insurance for your instruments. I picked up insurance for all my instruments and sound gear for $250/year and covers just about everything. Everything is covered at replacement value which pretty much mean current retail price, you just need to periodically update the coverage price. I went thru Heritage - http://www.musicins.com/ Very responsive in any questions I had by email and easy to work with.
Ho'okani |
Ke Kani Nahe
YouTube
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Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 07/16/2009 : 08:04:34 AM
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Insurance is a very good idea for an instrument of significant value. If you're not a professional, it can be a rider on your homeowner's package--I pay under $40 for my (actually irreplaceable) Michael Dunn. If you're a pro (that is, if it can be demonstrated that you're using the guitar professionally), the rules change a bit and you need the kind of insurance the pros use--there are a couple of specialist carriers I can't recall now, but they seem to be the standard guys for this business.
So far, I've had my guitar taken from me only once in the last seven or eight years, but since my flight case is just a notch below a Calton, my only real worry is theft. On the other hand, the ingenuity and destructive powers of the baggage apes should never be underestimated--and now that a TSA employee has been caught stealing laptops and cell phones, there are even more hazards to consider.
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Julie H
Ha`aha`a
USA
1206 Posts |
Posted - 07/16/2009 : 09:17:02 AM
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Exactly why I've never wanted to take my priceless Rickenbacher Fry Pan (vintage steel guitar, for newbies) to Hawai'i. It's not so much the damage, this thing is built like a tank, but the possibility of theft that has me worried.
Julie |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 07/16/2009 : 11:50:59 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Julie H
Exactly why I've never wanted to take my priceless Rickenbacher Fry Pan (vintage steel guitar, for newbies) to Hawai'i. It's not so much the damage, this thing is built like a tank, but the possibility of theft that has me worried.
Julie
Not to worry. It's hard to ruin a frypan because it's aluminum. I take my Jerry Byrd 8 string frypan to Hawaii often. I have a nice gig bag for it which fits snugly in the overhead. The gig bag is for a tenor banjo, so I often get asked if it's a tennis racquet. I have no worries about it on the airplane. I just don't let it out of my sight when I get there, or securely lock it in the trunk of my rental car when I'm off doing other things. It tucks nicely behind the headboard of a bed in a hotel room, too. |
keaka |
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Julie H
Ha`aha`a
USA
1206 Posts |
Posted - 07/16/2009 : 9:43:53 PM
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Keaka,
Is your Jerry Byrd a short scale? I wonder if this long scale Fry Pan would fit into a gig bag of that size, I'll have to go check it out. Heavy thing, though, just the thought of schlepping this thing throughout the airports give me a bent spine.
Julie
PS, by the way, I was up in Tacoma this week to take care of some things, but did not get a chnace to schedule in a kanikapila at Neej's. Next time! |
Edited by - Julie H on 07/16/2009 9:46:21 PM |
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`Ilio Nui
`Olu`olu
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2009 : 07:32:56 AM
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I no longer worry about it. This is my carry-on.
dog
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Wag More. Bark Less |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2009 : 10:31:52 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by `Ilio Nui
I no longer worry about it. This is my carry-on.
Cool. And it looks like if you undo the twine, the guitar folds up to fit more easily in the overhead. |
Andy |
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Topic |
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Flying with Yer Guitar-- the real story
