PSA: No instruments allowed as carry-ons on BA planes!

Majorscale

BA introduced this new policy which it brought in in the last month. I always used to be able to carry on a guitar as my hand luggage and have it stored in a cupboard or overhead. No more....

Flying to Barcelona for a gig and had to check in my Collings for the first time ever.

Double whammy of now suffering baggage handler anxiety and excess baggage fees....

Be warned!

stickyfiddle

Yish.

The obvious solution is not to fly with BA, which has the side-benefit of not having to fly with BA

ToneControl

which airlines do allow guitar carry-on?

Neil

Just in the  paper yesterday that Dave Davies of The Kinks wasn't allowed to take his guitar on the plane and had to stash it in the hold at extra cost on BA. 

Neil

ToneControl said:

which airlines do allow guitar carry-on?

It is the law in the USA that you are allowed to carry most instruments on board with you.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/41724

However space in overheads on long flights is always at a premium and I'd feel a bit miffed if somebody shoved a bloody great cased guitar in my area. 

Kebabkid

CITES and this will make things even more restrictive but as already requested, a list of those that do allow this would be useful.

Something else of note with BA - they do not allow you to spread your baggage allowance across your group/family i.e. 2 people with an allowance of 23kg each doesn't mean you can individually exceed that 23kg and keep within 46kg or even take just one case between 2 people at 27kg.
So, be warned as the excessive baggage allowance example I gave (3 lousy kilos) cost me 75 Euros and the frigging plane was only a quarter full!!!

stickyfiddle

ToneControl said:

which airlines do allow guitar carry-on?

Virgin were fine with it last I tried. I’ve seen people carry onto Etihad with guitars, but haven’t tried them personally

Moe_Zambeek

BA are on a drive to alienate all of their customers at the moment. They used to be quite good imo but now they offer budget service at premium prices and no longer have any USP. You may as well fly Ryanair and save 50% if it's short haul.

They do say they'll sell you a seat cheap for larger instruments (following a stramash in the classical music world).

stickyfiddle

Moe_Zambeek said:

BA are on a drive to alienate all of their customers at the moment. They used to be quite good imo but now they offer budget service at premium prices and no longer have any USP. You may as well fly Ryanair and save 50% if it's short haul.

They do say they'll sell you a seat cheap for larger instruments (following a stramash in the classical music world).

True, but I'll bet your extra seat will be the first victim if a flight is overbooked.

mburekenge

That's a shame. Slow clap for BA

They used to be great. I recently brought my les paul from the uk to kenya in a hiscox on board. 

I've always found that as long as you aren't a dick to the staff they normally help you out.

Majorscale

Made it to Spain, (soft) case looks OK but dare not open it yet as it’s pretty chilly...

Babones

BA have gone full-on budget airline style now, for short haul. Long haul not much better either.

ICBM

Majorscale said:

Made it to Spain, (soft) case looks OK but dare not open it yet as it’s pretty chilly...

Collings in a soft case in an aircraft hold? That would make me *very* nervous, even if it was a Mono.

Hope it’s OK. I would probably consider buying a hard case over there for the return flight if (I assume it will be) it’s also BA.

VimFuego

I take it most folks have seen those pics floating around facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myrna.herzog?hc_ref=ARSUnf0fiThExMIVwfJ8nhAesXN2conk34WjzKTHE3emYFlr52qAUygsLMAfy968vuo&pnref=story
scary stuff.

ICBM

VimFuego said:

I take it most folks have seen those pics floating around facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myrna.herzog?hc_ref=ARSUnf0fiThExMIVwfJ8nhAesXN2conk34WjzKTHE3emYFlr52qAUygsLMAfy968vuo&pnref=story
scary stuff.

No, but it doesn't surprise me. When I worked for a big traditional music shop I was asked to write repair estimates (or often write-off valuations as they turned out) quite a few times for instruments which had been "handled" by airlines. Never anything as valuable as that, but I do remember a 70s Martin D-35 that was crushed. It was just about economically repairable, but needed completely new sides.

I would never fly with a valuable instrument if I could possibly avoid it, and always use a full flightcase if I did have to - regardless of the airline's "policy", if there isn't room in the lockers because the flight is full then it will end up in the hold, and the baggage handlers simply don't give a shit - quite a lot of the system is automated conveyors anyway, so things get crushed even without being mishandled. And you have effectively no property rights when you fly, so you're unlikely to get any compensation.

webrthomson

Majorscale said:

BA introduced this new policy which it brought in in the last month. I always used to be able to carry on a guitar as my hand luggage and have it stored in a cupboard or overhead. No more....

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/baggage-essentials/sporting-goods-and-musical-instruments

It's pretty inconsistent to say the least – you can only take an instrument up to 80 x 30 x 25cm, but you can take on far larger sporting equipment up to 190 x 75 x 65cm – I think the first question would be why?

I agree with the comment above BA are really trying hard to ostracize their customer base as much as possible!

Kebabkid

webrthomsonu said

I agree with the comment above BA are really trying hard to ostracize their customer base as much as possible!

Absolutely.
In my recent dealings with them, I contested it and also added that we'd been asked to board a plane that they knowingly knew was going to be delayed by 2 hrs. They weren't having any of it.

To think, I picked BA because I didn't want to fly Ryan Air and risk a cancellation or give my money to that shit.

Grangousier

Another small change is that until recently if you had a Club class ticket for one leg of a journey, you'd have the second bag for both legs. So it sometimes turned out cheaper to get Club for the return journey (which sometimes was a blessing in itself, depending on how intense the trip had been) than Economy with extra bags for both. But they've cottoned on to that now, so no more free sandwiches. 

The thing about Club is (apart from all the free sandwiches, and I have done scientific experiments into exactly how much free food and drink I can shovel into myself and still make the flight) - all those tiny irritations that make flying so unpleasant just go away. 

I've long worked on the assumption that Ryan Air work as R&D for the airline industry - their job is to find out exactly how much shit people will put up with, and the technically more reputable airlines pick and choose from their findings. I flew between Stansted and Lübeck a lot during 2004 and it was fine, if basic. I think it would be unbearable now. 

Skipped

I have seen people claim that a particular airline has "always" allowed them to place a valuable instrument in the cupboard where coats are hung.
I still don't get it. One day the polite request will fail and at that point there will only be 2 options.
Either go home/abandon the trip, or put your vintage guitar without flight case into the hold.

These are not options.

Better to post the guitar to yourself in 3 or 4 boxes, like a Russian Doll.
Or...leave the Gibson at home.

Moe_Zambeek

Grangousier said:

Another small change is that until recently if you had a Club class ticket for one leg of a journey, you'd have the second bag for both legs. So it sometimes turned out cheaper to get Club for the return journey (which sometimes was a blessing in itself, depending on how intense the trip had been) than Economy with extra bags for both. But they've cottoned on to that now, so no more free sandwiches. 

The thing about Club is (apart from all the free sandwiches, and I have done scientific experiments into exactly how much free food and drink I can shovel into myself and still make the flight) - all those tiny irritations that make flying so unpleasant just go away. 

I've long worked on the assumption that Ryan Air work as R&D for the airline industry - their job is to find out exactly how much shit people will put up with, and the technically more reputable airlines pick and choose from their findings. I flew between Stansted and Lübeck a lot during 2004 and it was fine, if basic. I think it would be unbearable now. 

I used to hate Ryanair but they are a lot better now. I always get speedy boarding and add bags and pay upfront for anything I think I need, so it's cheap, reliable and predictable. They also (in holiday world) fly to some tiny airports without acres of shitty shops and queues everywhere (Beziers airport is airport perfection - 2 gates, one shop, one snack bar).

Teetonetal

Having worked in the holiday industry for 5 years I can honestly say every time you hand a bag over you enter a game with lady luck. The handlers don't give a shit. Stuff is alarmingly frequently run over or soaked.

Putting a guitar in a soft case in the hold, yikes.