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try traveling with surfboards. i have lots of friends who are musicians and surfers, but i don't know which is worse.

surfers get charged extra, any where from 100 to 300 extra, then we have to, (or they won't take the boards) sign a waiver saying they are not responsible for the possible damage to the boards. there are 3500 dollar boards out there, but i doubt surfers travel with them, but average boards cost 700 to 1000 for boards.

there is a nation wide petition that was set up out of ny, against the high prices and treatment. maybe we should join forces.

I've never had an airline break my Selmer Mark VI saxophone, but 20 years ago I had one stolen in Detroit, and the insurance company refused to pay.

Seems like Corporate America just doesn't want to pay for musical instruments.

OK so I think this is great but...
I have not found an airline in the last five years who will even check a guitar. Like, this seems to me like a bit of a set-up from your guest. I know for 100% certainty that most airlines will NEVER check a guitar anymore. I have flown all over the world. Seriously. All over. So how you get your (reportedly) 35 Hundred dollar guitar checked is beyond me. NOBODY will EVER check an expensive guitar. Frankly, I find his premise total funny but total BS. It's a publicity stunt.

The only time a guitar goes below is if the overhead cannot take it -- and this only happens at the gate. So -- sorry, but this guy is totally BS'ing and IMHO a BS opportunist.

I plan to rent cellos this year for gigs near Austin and Boston...another rhyme! I will take a non-invasive pickup for amplification. I once used an un-named ground transport company to send my cello to Maine and the case was destroyed...and my claim denied. The rented cello won't be mine, but who knows, it might be better! I also know a band that did a European tour and they flew there without instruments or amps. The promoter took them to a room full of equipment and instruments and they borrowed what they needed to perform.

I fly with my double bass 3-4 times a year. I have an SBS fiberglass hard case I put it in. As long as I'm pleasant, patient and considerate, I have absolutely no problems getting my bass where I'm going. My case even has allen locks on it, so I almost always have to open the case for the baggage screeners. They really appreciate that I'm there to open it for them. Price wise, I usually pay between $50 and $100 in oversize baggage fees. I've paid up to $240 and even had it allowed on free (British Airways!). Granted, it's not a $75K bass or even a $10K bass, but it is my bass, and I can't stand playing others. Anyone who has a smaller instrument and flies without a hard-shelled (pref. cushioned fiberglass) case is asking for trouble.

If time allows - I recommend shipping your instrument ahead. If you have someone on the other end to receive it, this allows full insurance of the instrument.

I've travelled to the UK repeatedly with my tabla (packed in a hard travel case and at times also simply wrapped in towels in my large hard suitcase) and have never had trouble. Once when re-entering the US I was searched and asked to play the instrument to demonstrate what the instrument was.

I also brought a Ghatam (S. Indian clay pot drum) back from India post-911 and passed it through Indian security and French security without a hitch. Ironically travelling internationally seems easier than travelling domestically mostly because of familiarity with these "non-standard" instruments...

Love the show as always John!

Best,

Rohin

Ironically, with baggage screening/security, I always carry my pedalboard on, it goes through the x-ray machine and looks like nothing so much as battery-powered metal boxes connected by lots of wiring...and I almost never get asked to open the case.

But I've had allen wrenches taken out of my guitar bag more times than I can count. You know, in case I was of a mind to dismantle something.

Also, I was once required to pull out my accordion and honk a song on it at 5 am at the security gate at a small airport in Columbus Ohio. It was not an inspired song.

I experienced a broken guitar in 2002 flying AirTran home from New Orleans to New York. Landed late and there was no one in the airport to file a report with.
Guitar was valued at $1,000 and was traveling in a secure hardshell case designed for travel. The guiatr suffered a snapped neck. I received no compensation after months of phone calls and letters. Guitar cost $600 to repair and does not perform near as well as it used to.
I have since learned to loosen the strings to keep the tension down. This was my first experience flying with a guitar.
All said and done I would no longer trust anyone working baggage to treat my guitar in a manner that is proper for the instrument.

I've tried flying with a violin and the metal string mute set off security. Then I tried traveling with my flute - never again. I had to go through security in Stockholm, Sweden several times due to a delayed flight and the flute caused great consternation every single time. A pennywhistle I took to Japan once was a very bad idea. Security didn't know what to do with it. This was in 1999.

I just invested in a WiplStix travel fiddle that ingeniously fits into a PVC tube, and that made it to Bermuda and back, pre-Christmas.

With the new security procedures, I doubt I'llever be able to bring any sort of musical instruments along in a carry-on bag.

I once had my guitar CABLES confiscated; or rather, they made me check them along with my battery-operated tuner, which they first scrutinized as if it were some sort of Martian device. I guess the cables could have choked someone???
By the time the ticket desk attendants found a box for me to use and I got all the stuff packed up, I missed my flight.
However, I've never actually had to check the guitar itself, thank goodness.

I never even called Delta. I hate dealing with those sorts of phone call centers. It was devastating, disrupted my show, but ultimately was worth not dealing with the stress of calling those SOBs. I just switched the instrument I was playing in bands at that time (from pedal steel to piano and lap steel) and eventually found another pick up for 100 bucks.

Delta destroyed the pick-up on my pedal steel on a flight to Missoula, Montana a couple of summers ago. Needless to say, there were no 10-string pedal steel pick-ups in Missoula and no repairmen who build a new one in one day. I ended up playing a different instrument entirely.

Insurance, insurance, insurance! Music Pro insurance is great, cost $1 per $100 per year, and they cover any kind of incident. Also never bring an instrument that can not be replaced by simply buying a new one.

In the interest of full disclosure,
isn't Mr. Carroll now an endorser for Calton Cases?

In May of 2002 I flew from San Francisco to Osaka, Japan on JAL for two weeks of gigs. The whole band was very concerned with checking our instruments under the plane. When we arrived in Osaka, we waited at the baggage carousel with a rising sense of dread as our instruments did not appear. When the carousel stopped, panic set-in, but just at that moment, a side door opened and in walked four JAL employees HAND CARRYING our gear. The same held true when we flew from Osaka to fukuoka. Flying back to the states into LAX then back to SF on AMerican, really showed the contrast between US airports and Japanese airport workers.

Here's another sad story, this one about trumpter Valery Ponomarev, whose arm was broken in a struggle for his trumpet with an official at Charles de Gaulle Airport:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/10/nyregion/10musician.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%22Valery%20Ponomarev%22&st=cse

When satire is satired, you know you've made it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEqvCktdSBM

Having traveled with a violin for many years now, I've learned there's one paramount lesson: Never let anyone put it in the baggage hold. One of my cellist friends generally buys a seat for her companion, Alexei Cello, instead of taking that risk.

Tom Paxton wrote a great song about this at least 20 years ago. Title is (I think)
Thank you, Republic Airlines. You should play it.

My favorite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEqvCktdSBM

They may not pay for the damage, but United doesn't break the guitars--baggage handlers do. They're despicable. I've seen them treating luggage in general with _purposeful_ damage-inducing roughness.

Why can't United or any airline do anything about their arrogant handlers?

I'd like to know what sort of protective case (if any) Mr. Carroll was using when the incident occurred.

For what it's worth, I've traveled by air many times with instruments and have never had a problem. With solidbody guitars and basses, I have always been able to store them aboard the plane. For my acoustic dreadnought guitar I have an inexpensive but heavy-duty wheeled case that is made to withstand the rigors of air travel. Any professional musician would be foolhardy not to take similar measures.

I just watched Dave Carroll's video. I empathize with his plight (rhymes with flight). The melody of "United Breaks Guitars" is fine if you like country music; however, the lyrics leave a lot to be desired and barely rhyme. Hence, the point that airline employees don't give a damn about passengers and their baggage isn't really "driven" home hard. See rhyming tip in sentence above.

With all due respect to Dave Carroll, the very witty and talented New York bass player, Jay Leonhart owns this song genre with his classic, "Bass Aboard a Plane". I suspect Mr. Carroll may have been inspired by it. Please don't overlook this gem for your story.