Flying with guitar

[frabarmus]

Small headless vs archtop

[WilliamScott]

I live in Wisconsin. My niece in London UK asked me to play for her wedding. I took a Voyage Air travel guitar which took up no more room than a carry-on backpack. It performed very well in a large church with a mic and PA system. They really are nice guitars. Almost perfectly in tune when you unfold them.

[Alter]

It has been a while since i flew with archtops. These days i only take acoustics and archtops on a plane if an extra ticket is paid, otherwise i take a tele. I have never checked a guitar as luggage, so flying has always been stressful. It gets worse every year i think..

Luggage seat tickets have no taxes so they are a bit cheaper, but still an expense. I just secure the guitar with the belt. You can't check in online, and the guitar always takes a window seat so it's not in the way if people have to evacuate..

[floatingpickup]

I have flown with expensive guitars several times. Years ago, I was able to put them in the overhead bins, but nowadays they have really tightened up on carry-on luggage so I don’t even ask for that option anymore. The last number of times, when checking in, I said I had a very valuable instrument that I would like to gate check. They have always agreed and given me a special tag, just like people get for baby strollers etc. I left the guitar (in a hard case) with all the strollers at the entrance to the plane when boarding and watched through the window as they hand carried it into the cargo area. It has worked perfectly every time, although I am always a little nervous until the ticket attendant agrees and gives me the gate-check tag.
Keith