<p>My son plays the tenor saxophone. He wants to take it to college with him. Can he carry it on? or does he have to check it? I would rather not check it. What is the best way to get it to him in college without any damage happening to it. Thank you</p>
<p>This is actually a really common problem with airlines. A lot of the airline employees don’t realize it, but instruments are considered “special items” that don’t count towards your carry-on limits. They are categorized on the TSA and airline websites like a baby stroller would be, so if anyone gives you trouble don’t let them get away with it. Go to the baggage FAQs part of the airline website and print the screen to bring with you to the airport. I’ve had to show them their own rules several times in order to avoid being charged fees. Good luck!! :-)</p>
<p>We just returned from Reno Jazz Festival and the tenors carried thier intruments on board. I flew Delta and the kids/chaperones flew Southwest. Many instruments were carried on board of both flights. I like muscian4u’s advice above about documentation.</p>
<p>Unfortunately with instruments it depends on the airline and frankly the personnel. On one flight, my S was allowed to put his violin in the overhead bin, in another they asked us to put it in the closet at the head end of the plane (I wasn’t happy about that, but they promised to keep an eye on it and said only they had access to it), other times it was no big deal. Grapevine is Delta is the worst (which doesn’t surprise me, those Delta ads you see now, claiming it is more important to treat the customer, not the rules, etc, are because they are rated the worst in customer service). </p>
<p>I agree about printing out the rules, and I also would call the airline and talk to someone there and see if they have any rules or policies you can cite if an employee gives you a hard time (the airline rules I mean). TSA itself shouldn’t be a problem, though we did have one agent who told my son to loosen the strings and take the bridge off so he could look inside the instrument and was adamant even after I told him that was a no go, that their xray would pick up anything inside…I got a supervisor there fast and it was straightened out quickly, but it tells you there are a lot of people who simply don’t know. On the other hand, also had smooth sailing most of the time.</p>
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Wow! Close call. Once, when my daughter was flying alone at age 16, a flight attendant tried to make her gate-check her instrument. She knew that if this happened, she would have to refuse to board the plane, and, worried about not getting to her music festival, she burst into tears. The flight attendant quickly reversed his stance and even found room for it in the overhead.</p>
<p>Don’t check it, ever.</p>
<p>A tenor sax is pretty big; it likely will not fit in the overhead of a small plane. So take larger planes. I was worried on a trip that my daughter’s alto sax might not fit, but it barely did.</p>
<p>Drive there if you can.</p>
<p>Carry that TSA documentation with you. however, be aware that airlines don’t HAVE to allow you to carry it on if they don’t want to. When boarding right after you show them your ticket, don’t argue with the attendants if they want to give you a tag to put your sax in cargo. Just say thanks, hide the tag and board with the sax.</p>
<p>What kind of a case do you have? the small, softer type that might allow the sax to fit in an overhead, or a large, heavy boxier type that might help it survive in baggage? (I still wouldn’t check it).</p>
<p>We have a flight case for my son’s electric bass. But we only checked it once, and we were on a direct flight.</p>
<p>Thank you all for responses. I will definitely print out the TSA guidelines and bring it to airport. He has two cases but the one I was going to use is a Protec Contoured Tenor Saxophone case. The other is a wood case and way too big. I will also take your advice and fly one of the bigger airlines if possible.</p>
<p>My son is finishing his junior year. He plays the cello and attends school in Iowa. We live in the CT/NY area. </p>
<p>He has always checked his instrument, mainly because he can never get a direct flight to his destination and because the size of the planes used for the shorter leg of his journey makes “passenger status” for his cello impossible. It just won’t fit in the seat. (Note: Always check the size of the aircraft for flights. Otherwise, you can end up spending money on a seat that you can’t use.)</p>
<p>He loosens the strings, packs extra clothes around the instrument in his hard case, then puts the hard case inside a Blobby - a heavy-duty canvas case lined with thick, dense foam, which we imported from England. The beauty of the case is that if it were to be tossed, it would roll rather than slam to the ground. Thus far, it has performed beautifully (knock wood). </p>
<p>The bigger issue for him is the extreme temperature in the cargo bin. The instrument has experienced some seam separation, which is easily repairable. Perhaps this is a greater concern for wooden instruments than for brass, etc. We have not been able to figure a way around this problem.</p>
<p>As to how the airlines treat his precious cargo, so far everyone has been great. He mostly flies United out of LGA, and the agents there got to know him. They always called a TSA agent to carry the cello to handlers, who carried it out to the plane. It was never put on a belt or trucked. The one time he flew Delta out of Hartford, the agent was more than accommodating and did not charge him oversize fees. He did play up the starving music student angle…perhaps that is what did it.</p>
<p>I seem to recall recent legislation that passed making TSA the final word on flying with musical instruments, not the airlines, but I can’t recall the link to that info.</p>
<p>When S flies with his trumpet, we just make sure it is his “personal item” and he carries it on. He uses the Bach hardcase the horn came in, which is overhead-bin-friendly. He’s only ever had to open the case once while going through security, at Newark, because he had put the filler in the bell of the horn and it was showing as solid on the xray. But it was no big deal.</p>
<p>Make sure to get to the airport early and do carry your supporting documentation. Playing nice with the counter agents and TSA folks is always a good idea, but you’re more likely to encounter problems at security (TSA) and at the gate. On one evening while waiting to board, I saw a girl allowed to take her violin on board and stow it in the overhead bin while a few minutes later, with a different gate agent, a young man was told that he would have to check his instrument (also a violin). Oddly, he was a professional with a major symphony orchestra while the girl was traveling to a young people’s religious/social gathering in the EU. Go figure… But later, at our destination, I saw the man carrying his violin up the concourse, so I assumed that his determination prevailed!</p>
<p>My son has been flying American from Dallas to Detroit and they’ve always let him carry his jazz trombone in its nylon Protec case (35" x 14" x 10") on board. They’ve been very accommodating; he said that once when there was no space left in the overhead bin they found some place else in the cabin to stow it. We’re flying Delta later this summer to Japan with the trombone, keeping my fingers crossed about that!</p>
<p>When D flies Southwest, we always invest the extra $10 for priority boarding so she can get her viola into the overhead right away. Backpack straps on the case also seem to help making it less obviously visible also.</p>