<p>I know it is not the best idea to check-in cellos when you travel, but I heard a few good stories with BAM flight case cover, so I wanted to try it when my D goes to the music program this summer. I carefully read US Airways website and even called the company and made sure cellos could be checked in if they are appropriately packed. (see below for the terms) </p>
<p>However, the desk person at the airport said cellos can not be checked in even thought it is packed apporopriately so an extra seat has to be purchased. I had to pay almost double price for a seat than the price I bought for her seat and her departure had to be delay one day because they over booked their seats on the day. Anyone has a similar experience? I guess their baggage terms are no longer working and whatever they say at the airport are the rules....</p>
<p>Musical instruments</p>
<p>Musical instruments are considered a fragile item. Fragile items will be accepted as checked baggage if they are appropriately packaged in a container/case designed for shipping such items. Fragile items without appropriate packaging will be accepted upon the execution of a release furnished by US Airways relieving US Airways of liability for loss/damage of checked baggage.</p>
<p>Musical instruments are permitted as carry-on baggage as long as they can be safely stowed and have dimensions no greater than 75 in/190 cm (length + width + height).</p>
<p>US Airways allows customers to carry their musical instrument in the cabin with them if the instrument exceeds the size restrictions for carry-on baggage and/or the customer believes that the instrument is too fragile to be handled as checked baggage. To do this:</p>
<pre><code>* The customer must purchase an extra seat for the instrument. Cost of the seat is the applicable adult fare for the portions of the flight that the extra seat is requested plus sales tax.
* The musical instrument must be secured in or against a window seat (not in an Emergency Exit Row).
* The customer must be seated in the seat directly next to the instrument.
* Seat baggage must not weigh more than 170 lbs/77 kg and must meet the size restrictions based on aircraft type.
* Cellos and bass violas will only be accepted as seat baggage.
</code></pre>
<p>My son has flown Southwest, Jet Blue and Virgin in the last year with his cello in a BAM case and flight cover - checked - and he had no problems - although he did have to pay the oversize fees most flights. Your experience doesn’t make sense given their printed rules. Maybe this is something you should take up with a superior?</p>
<p>Mine has also flown many times on a variety of airlines and never run into this problem. In fact, he often doesn’t even get charged the oversize baggage fee. I would definitely call someone at the airline and find out what gives.</p>
<p>Looks to me like someone just read the last line of the policy and did not realize that it only applied to carry on. They must have thought that that meant you could not check it. There really shoudl be some way to appeal those arbitrary on site decisions.</p>
<p>You need to print out that policy…and make a copy of your ticket payment receipt…and write a letter to US Air. If it were me, I would politely ask for a refund of my extra ticket purchase because the counter person would not allow you to check this item. This is clearly not in keeping with their written policy which you followed.</p>
<p>I would also tell them that your family travels frequently with the cello and has never had this issue on any other airline. Tell them you will NOT be flying U.S. Air again.</p>
<p>You can add Continental, Delta and Airtran to the list of airlines that have definitely accepted a cello + bam case + bam air-cover as baggage. We have never been told that we must purchase a seat for the cello. At most airlines, imposing the oversize-baggage fee seems to be at the discretion of the clerk handling your check-in. All I can say is it <em>really</em> pays to be as friendly and charming as you possibly can be. The one airline that seems to be an exception to the rule is Airtran, where apparently they pay the check-in clerk a commission for discovering oversize baggage (or maybe they fine them if they discover that they allowed oversize baggage thru without charging for it - i don’t know and i don’t care - either way they are obnoxious about it (not just with cellos; with regular baggage too) and they are at the bottom of my list whenever i have a choice of airlines.)</p>
<p>We have flown Alaska, Continental, Delta, Northwest, and US Air in the past with cello as checked baggage. With the advent of baggage fees, oversize fees and additional size restrictions, we have found it is cheaper and/or less hassle to buy a seat.</p>
<p>Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences. I am writing a letter to US Airways customer relations with the desk person and supervisor’s name. Hopefully they understand that the counter person misinterpret the policy. I will follow up and let you know the result.
Thanks again,</p>
<p>I have a question that’s somewhat on and off topic.</p>
<p>How exactly does one buy a seat for an instrument ? Can you do it on-line because that always requires a name, address, etc. Can you list your instrument as Cello Jones ? Or does it have to be by phone where you might lose the internet discount ?</p>
<p>The airlines are all over the place with instruments, even with their official policies, it seems to all be up to the local people when you check them. Magazines and others have reported ridiculous things, like asking violinists and other relatively small instrument musicians to check their instruments rather then going into carry on, or refusing to take instruments at all.</p>
<p>When we flew recently on American, they were good about my S’s violin, but they handled it differently on each flight. For most of them,they were okay with the violin going into the overhead (it was in a relatively small case). On one leg they made him put it in a closet at the front of the plane, which made me a bit nervous, but the attendants kept an eye on it…even when you call and ask, it depends on who you talk to. I know there was an effort afoot to get the FAA and international bodies to come up with a uniform set of rules, but it hasn’t happened.</p>
<p>One piece of advice I can give is to be persistent, and if you are having trouble with a desk agent, talk to a supervisor. One of the big problems is that airlines today are not run with maximum efficiency and depending on the aircraft they often have limited space in their overhead bins, which can lead them to try and force people to check things (plus it is very hard to explain to a desk agent, who probably thinks an instrument is like an alarm clock, it gets broken you get insurance and buy an identical one…that they are unique and not replaceable…). Unfortunately, the airlines probably are not going to be all that sympathetic, the industry is such a mess, and with trying to squeeze every penny out of customers, they are far too busy cramming as many people onto flights and overbooking gates to care much about musicians and their isssues. Small instrument folks have it pretty easy, clarinets and oboes and flutes and the like can fit under the seat in front of you:)</p>
<p>Then, of course, there are the horror stories about some TSA agents (disclaimer: When we flew, the TSA people were perfectly cool with my S’s instrument, and the ones in New Mexico were really, really nice:)</p>
<p>First name: cbbg (for cabin baggage)
Last name: your name</p>
<p>I put cello in as a middle name so they would know what I was buying the seat for. So the ticket read: Cbbg Cello Mylastname</p>
<p>If you are flying on an airline that reserves seats, you need to call them after you buy your ticket and ask them to change your seating to bulkhead row for your cello. If you are flying an airline that does not reserve seats, like Southwest, you tell the agent at the gate you need a bulkhead seat for your cello.</p>
<p>I found last winter it would have been more expensive to check it as baggage than to buy a seat on board the aircraft!</p>
<p>My daughter has flown dozens of times with her instrument, no problem, but last summer she was trying to board a flight alone when the crew tried to insist she gate-check the violin. She knew that if this happened she would have to refuse to board the flight and was upset about missing the bus from the plane to the short festival she was attending. Her immediate reaction was – to burst into tears. Whereupon the flight attendant, in an exasperated voice, told her to go a head and take it on. </p>
<p>When she got home we bought an even smaller case for the instrument-- one of those lightweight BAM shaped cases. Now it’s is much smaller than all those rolling backpacks people cram overhead to avoid luggage charges. I know this is of no help to cellists, etc., but investing in the smallest violin case possible might help if you are a violinist who flies frequently.</p>
<p>Ive flown to and from school with my guitar (in a hard case) for every break this year and never had a problem. They usually gate check it (which is fine for an instrument in a hard case–mine maintained good intonation each time and was not damaged, they just put it under the plane, on top of the other luggage and then take it out first and bring it to the gate) or allowed me to check it in the overhead compartment.</p>
<p>Son just got hit with an oversize fee from Air France for his cello in a BAM flight case. Air France, which codeshares with Delta, had no details on Musical Instruments as checked baggage on their website. Delta does have more clear language about traveling w/an instrument, so now I’ve learned my lesson–to keep that in mind when choosing which airline to book through.
Some of these companies just like to keep it vague so they don’t have to follow through on a stated policy.
It still was cheaper than buying an extra seat for this trip (international). Now I’m just hoping the cello and my son travel safely and makes it to the destination. Sigh.</p>
<p>The Chiari String Quartet posted yesterday on FB and twitter (and asked musicians to spread the news): Outrage! United
Airlines is anti-music: they kicked Greg + full-fare-ticketed cello off
because it wasn’t first class tckt! Please retweet</p>
<p>That’s frightening!
Last year, when I was trying to buy a seat for son’s cello (and him) to fly to Colorado, United told me (after a half-hour wait to talk to a call-in center) that he and the cello would have to fly first class. He flew Southwest, but it was not a non-stop. At the time, I thought it was just the bad luck of talking to a call center in a country where cellos are not too common.</p>