Extremely Long Post Warning.
First, if you read no further, Do Not loosen the strings on your bass for this trip until you have read what I have to say about it under the prepping your bass for the trip section or unless talk to the instrument Manufacturer and they recommend it. In my opinion and from my research into it, loosening the strings of the instrument is a long held fallacy and could actually cause the instrument more harm. This is a subject you need to research for yourself and then do what you believe is right.
Below I have put together some ideas/suggestions that might help you when it comes to flying with your instruments. I have flown twice with a bass guitar and luckily both times the instrument was in the cabin. What follows is merely some ideas to get you thinking about how to best do this and maybe some little tips that may help you along the way. This is actually a fairly common thing and I’m sure there are a lot of people on this forum that can advise you without making it as drawn out as I have, but what can I say, I am a long winded sob. I initally put the prepping the bass section towards the end of the post then after rereading it moved to the top. Sorry if it reads a little disjointed or a mention something that I actually haven't said yet. By the end, it will all make sense. Also, some of it is pretty simplistic, I appologize for that too.
*First – Seriously consider having your instruments professionally packed and ground shipped to your destination. Still a risk, but could be a lot less risky then air travel.
* Prepping your bass for air travel.
- The first thing I would do is contact the manufacturer, as in Warwick customer support and ask them what their recommendations are. Think about it, Warwick or whoever, ships their instruments worldwide and often that consists of air travel. How does Warwick prep a bass for air freight?
- Detuning strings. Although a lot of people, including the airlines tell you to do this, from everything I have read, this is actually a no no and should not be done. Think about it. The neck of your bass is designed to be held under tension. That is when it is at its strongest and is most stable. Most manufactures tell you not to remove all the strings when changing strings. That is to keep the neck under tension and at its most stable condition. By loosening your strings, you are actually making the neck less stable and thus making it more susceptible to temperature changes and changes in pressure due to elevation. Again, your neck will be more stable if you keep it under tension. I have read that some people will detune their instruments one half step when flying, but no more. This would be a question I would pose to the instruments manufacturer and trust their experience and expertise in this matter. The two times I flew with an instrument, I kept it tuned to concert pitch and had absolutely no problem. However I must say, both times the instrument was in the cabin with me. Once it had its own seat, and once it rode in its hard shell case in a coat closet. If you are unable to get the manufacturers opinion on this for some reason, I would say that you really want to make sure you get the opinion of someone that actually has experience with traveling by air with their instrument and not just rely on the well meaning poster that is just relaying what they heard. This includes me. Like I said, my experiences were a long time ago, early ‘80s, and both times the instrument was in its hard shell case in the airplanes cabin.
- Pack the instrument appropriately. It would be easier to bring your instrument on board with you if it were in a gig bag. However, if it had to go in the planes cargo hold, a gig bag would mean almost certain damage. Every horror story I have ever heard about air travel and peoples instruments being damaged was a result of rough handling and not once from the actual flight. If your instrument is not going to be inside the plane with you, then it needs to be in a good case; preferably an actual ada approved flight case. Remember, baggage handlers don’t know you from Adam and frankly don’t care how valuable the contents of the case are. All they know is that they have to hurry up and get this plane loaded because there is always another one to load that is equally in a hurry. You might also be surprised that there are some jag offs out there that get their kicks from messing up someone else’s stuff, so the better you protect it in the first place, the better off you will be.
- If you know it’s going a cargo, I would suggest disguising it so that it is not so clearly recognizable as a instrument. What I would do is have it in a flight case, but then have the flight case in a box to help hide it. You will want to let the attendant at check in know what’s inside so that the xray doesn’t send up any red flags with all the metal associated with a flight case. The reason I am saying to disguise it is simply because the airline has a right to open any piece of luggage whether it is locked or not. And by disguising the case you run less of a risk of someone opening your case just to see the pretty guitar. If you lock your case, the airline has the right to break the lock open to inspect the contents. Disguising the case will just help deter this from happening. Also you have to consider theft. Your instrument has a lot less chance of walking off if it just looks like a big box as opposed to looking like a fancy instrument case.
- As far as backup plans are concerned (discussed later), one thing I would consider doing is bring both your flight cases and gig bags with you. If you get to bring the instruments on the plane in a gig bag, then cool your flight cases just make the trip in the hold all by themselves. However, if for some reason you can’t bring the basses on the plane, you still have the ability to put them in their flight cases for safe transport. And in fact, having them in a flight case disguised as previously mentioned might just be the best way to travel with them in the first place.
* Do ASAP - Call the airlines and find out their policies concerning traveling with your bass guitar. You should probably make them aware that you will be traveling with more than one (if that is the case). The following is some key points to consider and/or questions you might want to ask. Remember, the point of this is to get you thinking, so if you think of something, then ask that too.
- First thing to remember. These people don’t know you and frankly don’t give a rats a** about you and your problems. There’s a good chance they been dealing with rude, obnoxious people all day long. You have to remember at all times dealing with anyone at the airlines; these are the people that can help you. However, they are the people that can screw you over too, so it is important to win these people over so that they want to help you. Be friendly and try to make a personal connection with these people. Write their names down (obviously not if your standing right in front of them, they could take that the wrong way) and use their name often while talking with them. Make sure you introduce yourself, and anytime they call you sir or ma’am, correct them, “Oh please, call me Randy”. This will help get them feeling like they are dealing with someone they know and will be more likely to want to help you.
- Keep track of everyone you talk to, who they are, and a brief note of what they told you. This could come in very handy later down the road. Generally do this on the sly so they don’t worry your trying to get them in trouble or something. Unless of coarse it is someone being intentionally rude or uncooperative, then making sure they know you are taking their name down could help turn them around. However it could cause them to become even more obstinate, so you really have to play that by ear. There are a couple benefits of knowing the names of people you have talked to. Of course the obvious, if something bad happens, you have a record of who told you what. But, the benefit I think could help you the most would be the appearance of having connections and for opening doors. Example, “You know Karen over at customer relations, she told me that you were the person that might be able to help me with this”. Just be careful so you don’t sound like you’re just name dropping. That could work against you.
- Ask about their policies for carry on luggage. Including, but not limited to size and weight restrictions. You should really impress upon then how valuable and fragile these instruments are. You may also have to coax them along a little, especially if you are talking to someone who doesn’t have much experience with this situation. Questions like “isn’t there anything you can think of that might help” might just get them to come up with an idea that could work to your advantage. Remember, the airline is generally going to give priority to people and their little briefcases and laptops over your bulking bass, so inquire if it would be better to book a flight that was less likely to be full and if they could help you with that. Remember, no matter what you are told, when you actually get to the loading gate things could change so you would be well advised to have one or several fall back plans so at the last minute you don’t end up having to hand over your $3000.00 custom shop bass protected by nothing more than a gig bag and have it unceremoniously thrown in that cargo hold underneath a pile of overburdened suitcases. Not a pretty image is it. So remember to ask these people questions that will help you devise back up plans.
- Ask about their policies about buying a seat for your instrument. I have done that once, but that was back in the early ‘80’s. I know today they are much stricter about such things. Again, a flight where they are not fully booked might really help considerably here. To an airline, an empty seat is like losing money so they may well take advantage of the chance to sell an extra ticket. But remember, just because some ticket seller sold you a ticket, doesn’t 100% guarantee that come boarding time they will allow you to bring your bass on board, so remember to have a backup plan ready.
- Make sure to find out is there is some place or some way you can get their polices in writing so one, you can read it for yourself, and two, you can show it to the ignorant slob at the gate who is not aware that what you are trying to do is well within the airlines policy.
- Ask anything and everything else that might remotely help you devise your plan and backup plans.
* The Big Day – First, if possible try not to put yourself in a bind where you have to take this flight over perhaps waiting for a later flight that day or even the next. This will help you avoid the unthinkable scenario where you hand over your beloved instrument at the last minute to an uncertain fate because you’re in a time crunch. If your schedule and finances allow, try to book your flight a day or two early so that if something happens, you have the time to implement one of your backup plans.
- As most people know, it has gotten crazy to get through airport security these days and almost everyone knows to arrive at the airport early. But your situation is extra complicated and you would be well advised to show up extra early. You need to make sure you have plenty of time to make sure your initial plan is in fact going to work If not, you will then have time to implement one of your backup plans.
- You got there early, so don’t wait till the last minute to ensure the plan is going to work. Talk to the attendant at the gate and make sure they understand what it is you are planning and make sure that at the last minute your plan won’t die. Remember the talking to the airline personnel tips and try to endear yourself to the people at the gate. If they are sympathetic to your cause, they can be very helpful and might even allow you to board early or with the first group so that you can get settled and out of the way before the general boarding begins. This is something that you might suggest if they don’t come up with the idea themselves. Push that getting out of their way aspect. That could easily be the key that could make or break your plan.
- If you have to allow your baby’s to ride with the luggage in the cargo hold. Try and get permission to actually be able to see your instruments get loaded into the plane. They clearly will not allow you to go in the cargo hold, but just seeing that your instruments made it into the plane safely could be a major stress reliever. Remember to document everyone you talk to and if you hand your instruments over to anyone, make sure you have their names and employee identification.
Well, sorry this post was so long and sorry I have such a tendency to ramble, but I hope this post at least got you thinking and perhaps there was a gem or two in it that you found helpful. Good luck. And when you get your instruments home safely, please post how it went and what all you did. Perhaps with enough actual experiences from people on this forum, we could put together a pretty good guide to air travel with your beloved instruments.
Peace
