<p>As we enter the final weeks of son's audition season, we have officially gotten on & off of 12 planes with 3 different airlines so far. I thought it might be helpful to share some of the tricks we've learned on successfully carrying on his Viola.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>First and foremost, be INCONSPICUOUS! As much as possible, don't draw attention to the fact that you are in fact carrying on an oversized item. </p></li>
<li><p>If they ask you if it is a violin, just say, "Yes!" Most people we've run into don't know the difference anyway. Save your explanations & energy - you might need it later!</p></li>
<li><p>If they ask you to use the bag sizer, don't bother. We know it is too long. </p></li>
<li><p>Travel light - Whenever boarding my son carried ONLY his viola (like a backpack). Fewer of the airlines tried to gate check it this way. I carried his backpack or we combined our things into 1 larger suitcase. </p></li>
<li><p>If they do give you a tag to gate check your instrument, it may be best (easiest) to just smile and take it. It is easy enough to slip it off again when you are on the ramp. This did not happen to us but one airline did give him a tag "just in case" he needed to gate check. He just politely smiled and thanked them and stuck it in his pocket after we passed through. Easier than arguing!</p></li>
<li><p>Always board ASAP! The new TSA rule says that musicians should be allowed to carry-on their instruments as long as 1) it fits in the overhead bins & 2) there is room in the overhead bins. If they run out of room, you are out of luck. </p></li>
<li><p>Once on board, get it in the overhead as quickly as possible! Even if the overhead is not by your seat.</p></li>
<li><p>If you do find that there is no room in the overhead bins, you could try stashing it under the seat. If they do see it, they might try to help rearrange things to make room in the overhead bins. They seem very willing to help once the gate has closed so that seems to be the key. On one flight, they didn't notice where my husband had stowed it under the seats. On another, they did notice but the gate had already closed and the flight attendant was very helpful in rearranging things to find a spot for it.</p></li>
<li><p>Some airlines are better than others. We've flown with American, United (both great) and Frontier over the past few weeks. About Frontier: they have this policy that if you book with any online website other than Frontier, your tickets do not include any carry-on luggage or checked bags. If you check-in online, it is easy to add the extra $25 for a carry-on. If you get all the way to the gate and don't have this, they will charge $100 per carry-on. Knowing this, they are super strict about what they will let pass through the gates. Yesterday, on our flight home from Cleveland, they were adamant that the viola would need to be checked and that there was no way we could carry it on even though we had prepaid for a carry-on bag. I explained that the TSA had rules governing musical instruments as carry-ons and they claimed that Frontier doesn't follow the same rules as the other airlines. I explained again that this TSA rule wasn't an airline rule but a TSA/US Government rule. She finally went to a back room and called someone. She came back a few minutes later and said that she was wrong and I was right! (Whew!)</p></li>
<li><p>So finally, if all else fails you can make a scene (like I did) and if they check with a manager (or TSA if it comes to that) you should be allowed to carry it on.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>We will likely avoid flying with Frontier in the future (with the viola) just because we have had so many issues with them. It all worked out but it was a lot of added stress!</p>
<p>Excellent advice! Yes, it’s a “violin” and you might even be asked to play it at the security gate. D uses a shaped case with backpack straps and also does the inconspicuous thing (although she’s had to make a scene a couple of times also). You have to be prepared not to board if necessary. We used to carry a copy of the TSA rules but haven’t done that for a couple of years now … maybe will have D put a copy in her phone.</p>
<p>We like flying Southwest because of the prices but mostly because for an extra $10 you can be placed in the early boarding group, which pretty much ensures you an overhead bin.</p>
<p>Great advice! Flying with clarinets in a double case, plus a backpack, is the norm for my son. His only problems have been going through security where several times he has had to open the case and they swabbed around (not quite sure what they were checking for) and one time when there was no room in the overhead and the flight attendant tried to take it to be checked. He held his ground and refused–so she grabbed it from his hands, breaking the side zipper. Guess what–after some emails to customer service, Delta paid to replace the zipper. We’re big Southwest fans now here as well–love that they allow two free checked bags as well.</p>
<p>What do you do if you need to change planes and you can’t be the first to board, even after paying the fee to Southwest? Has anyone run into that issue? </p>
<p>Actually, my son has never paid the fee to upgrade. He usually tries to remember to check-in online 24 hours prior–that gets him a higher level boarding (usually A or top B). But, even when he has forgotten, he has never had a problem. Knock on wood, though. But, I don’t know what would happen if you’re too late to board first after you’ve paid–is there a refund of the fee?</p>
<p>It’s probably easier to check in with a clarinet or a conducting wand than a viola! (I know Spiritson does also play cello.) Today my kid is flying to LA from JFK in New York. She left her apartment at 5 AM and returns tomorrow on a red eye…in time for class. She hopes. Knocking wood.</p>
<p>(Once, when my daughter was 16, she was flying alone and they insisted on checking her violin. She knew that in this position her only option was to refuse to board–but that would have made her late for the festival. She burst into tears and they threw up their arms and let her on.)</p>
<p>Airlines still have the right to refuse to allow things on board, even if TSA says it is okay, Airlines are allowed to set policy, TSA is simply saying they don’t have a problem with instruments being checked. On one flight we were on (American) they put my son’s violin in a closet near the front of the airplane, but they also promised to keep an eye on it…wasn’t happy about it, but it ended up working out. Some airlines are better than others, American and United have good reputations with instruments…Delta on the other hand has been written about time and again for not being friendly to musicians, but that is no big surprise, Delta has one of the worst customer service ratings out there…and instead of trying to make it better, they spend some ridiculous money on an ad campaign to convince people they are customer focused, you can always tell beancounters at work <em>sigh</em>. I told my son a long time ago that with his instrument it fits into the overhead bin and not to back down on having it checked, given the price tag of the instruments the conditions in the hold, plus rough handling, no way, and even if the airlines were liable for much (they aren’t, by international law), you can’t replace string instruments that easy. </p>
<p>My daughter successfully flew from from JFK to LAX today on Delta-- knock wood she gets home as easily! We had not taken Delta’s rep into consideration when booking!</p>
<p>I have a new client who is a flight attendant for Delta so I posed my question to her about traveling with cymbals. She said that she would recommend trying to carry on the cymbal pack as a backpack/carry on and just act casual as MWstringmom suggested. She also advocated just being really cute and nice and ingratiating to help the mood of the gate staff. She said that now and then you will get “an old bat” (her words not mine) who will take issue, but the average flight attendant responds to pleasant. She said that it would be still better to gate check if it came to that than to check as baggage. I like the tip on taking the label than carrying on anyway myself. I realize that a stringed instrument is a whole different level of fragile, but it seemed like a good place to offer this bit of information since Delta was mentioned.</p>
<p>My daughter and her viola have flown extensively over the past few years with little difficulty. Her biggest challenge is always on the little commuter jets which have very limited overhead space. To deal with this, we always pay for early boarding. Additionally, we try to book connections with a little extra buffer time to deal with delays to prevent that last minute boarding. She has never incurred an issue specific to carrying on an instrument. Any difficulties have always been simply a matter of available space. As anyone who flies knows, that overhead space is a precious commodity that is not limited to musicians. The Delta flight attendant gave excellent advice on ingratiating the gate staff as well as the flight attendant. </p>
<p>She flies American most frequently, along with Southwest and Delta occasionally. While Delta may not have the best customer ratings, they are tops with me. When she missed her flight on American out of Detroit due to some confusion, Delta put her (and her viola) on their next flight to her destination.</p>
<p>Great advice MWstringmom! As if getting the whole family through security isn’t stressful enough! I always breathe a huge sigh of relief when we are all seated in the plane and my son’s guitar is safely stowed above. We have flown on Jet blue with the guitar on several occasions and they have never given us a problem. </p>
<p>We always pay for early boarding and it has helped. We’ve had attendants at the gate tell us that the case wouldn’t pass muster but we went down to the plane and there was no problem. Just be sure to say “violin” even if it’s a viola! They don’t get viola. </p>
<p>We did a lot of flying for auditions and didn’t run into any troubles. One thing we did though was take one big bag between us and pay the $20 to have it checked. That way we didn’t have anything with us that ‘rolled’. One flight they were making EVERYONE check their carryon luggage because it was a smaller plane and the flight was full. I was in panic mode. However, the person checking the boarding pass didn’t even look up at us (likely because we weren’t pulling anything behind us) and we walked right on with the violin strapped to my son’s back. </p>
<p>And in case anyone ever decides to visit Canada by plane, both Westjet and Air Canada have never given my son a problem with his violin - even the little puddle-jumpers.</p>
<p>We rely on the “smile, be inconspicuous and act pleasant” approach and it works. We have palmed the gate tags, walked on the small planes and twice!! the flight attendants put the viola case in the crew coat closet. Amazing, especially as this was United Express. Once they took the pilots coat out to make room. ( this was at Cleveland Airport, so maybe they are just very used to violas on the plane, but still very much appreciated)</p>
(I know Spiritson does also play cello.) Today my kid is flying to LA from JFK in New York. She left her apartment at 5 AM and returns tomorrow on a red eye…in time for class. She hopes. Knocking wood.</p>