Electric bass travel questions

[bassramos]

I have to fly to Winnipeg tomorrow. Supposedly the plane is tiny so I probably wont carry on. When I check a hardcase, is it necessary to lock the hard case? My Case has no key and Im wondering if thats ok or if it is required to have the case unlocked. Also, have you ever carried a bass on an Embraer EMB-145LU (ERJ-145LU)? Did it fit?

 

[tsverrir]

It should be unlocked, but you should put a strap around it to prevent it to accidentally open. They can be quite rough with the luggage.
Also It would not be a bad idea to try to cushion your bass in the case.

I try to take my instrument with me as a carry-on in a soft-bag, but you'd better be sure it's allowed because you wouldn't want to put the bass in a soft bag with the check-in luggage.

 

[jmjbassplayer]

ditto to all that

 

[FerK]

I just flew from home (Switzerland) to St. Petersburg, from there to Moscow, and back home. I took my hard case (which is nicely padded on the inside), so what I did to protect it against scratching on the outside was to wrap with food wrap/pastic wrap (I think in America it's commonly called Saran wrap). And Luckily I did: the wrap was quite heavily scratched.

 

[sayman]

I understand you can lock it as long as you use TSA locks so Airport Employees can open it. Otherwise, if it's locked with a non- TSA lock, they may break it open to inspect.

Just read this in Anthony Wellington's threads, as well as elsewhere.

 

[Dan Bozek]

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This is my solution. I have a case from them that has proven to be quite trustworthy to check, (butterfly clasps that keep it from coming open but let TSA violate my privacy) underweight so as to check for the normal crazy price, (of free on Southwest!! Yay!!) and is cut away on the inside for a gig bag, so once I get to my destination I can leave the beast in the hotel and shoulder from there. And it wheels nicely.

It is a little bit pricey, but it has been splendid. I had a really scary situation flying into LAX where I very nearly had an indispensable favorite instrument destroyed in a "Gator" style case. It was a bad bad situation, and I don't blame anyone, but it was certainly enough to make me fly with something a little more serious now. Or ship things ahead of time when appropriate.

 

[Dan Bozek]

And I have a friend that travels a TON by air that bought Pelican riffle case and cut the foam out to fit basses. There have been years when he's been out 150+ days (he plays with the CCM artist Matt Maher if you are familiar) and his babies lived to tell the tail, so that seems recommendable too.

 

[Schlyder]

It won't matter... the bird sized mosquitoes in Manitoba are gonna suck you dry. You are DOOMED.