Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Gate Checking axe onto airplane?
- Thread starter BassTerd
- Start date
Always be prepared to gate check your bass. The airlines are so quick to cancel and rebook you on another flight these days it is pathetic.
I fly more than my share and can testify that the minute you think you are on a non-stop big bird, it has a mechanical problem and you are on 2 short hops with a gate check...
Also, be sure to put any of your tools in your checked baggage or leave them home.
TSA recently denied my entry at the security station because I had 2 allen wrenches in my HSC. I had to return to the ticket counter and check my carry on suitcase. Never mind that I had already been through 3 airports & screenings with it or it is only 2 inches long. There are NO tools permitted past the TSA checkpoint. You can argue, but in the end you will either check something, ship it back to youself or throw it away.
I fly more than my share and can testify that the minute you think you are on a non-stop big bird, it has a mechanical problem and you are on 2 short hops with a gate check...
Also, be sure to put any of your tools in your checked baggage or leave them home.
TSA recently denied my entry at the security station because I had 2 allen wrenches in my HSC. I had to return to the ticket counter and check my carry on suitcase. Never mind that I had already been through 3 airports & screenings with it or it is only 2 inches long. There are NO tools permitted past the TSA checkpoint. You can argue, but in the end you will either check something, ship it back to youself or throw it away.
DGbass70 said:
Remove the caps lock please!
It's horrible to read....I don't even want to read your post!!
First thing: never use a gig bag, use a hard shell case, put BIG fragile stickers all over it, up, etc. If you are flying to other countries put it in their langauge. I fly to Peru a lot and write in Spanish all over the case with paper taped all over it. The only problem I ever had was one of my basses went to Brazil while I went to Lima, it showed up about a week later, which reminds me put your name and address and country in BIG letters again all over it. I brought an SVT head once to S. America and 2 single 15" Ampeg cabs and had no problems, just put thick cardboard all over both and many directions in both Spanish and English. The main thing is you want protection and you have to do it yourself, they will not be liable unless you want a big fight on your hands, especially the different American airlines, other countries seems to be a little more accomodating. Anyone that checks a bass onto an airline in a gig bag is crazy, I won't even walk down the street with one, never use them no protection at all except against scratches. I have never been able to get a bass into the cabin, they're over length.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Here are a couple of links that will explain it all in wiritng. There is also a letter that AFM and TSA agree upon and if you have a copy of that when you go through security it will help.
If you are not AFM - Google it.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Here are a couple of links that will explain it all in wiritng. There is also a letter that AFM and TSA agree upon and if you have a copy of that when you go through security it will help.
If you are not AFM - Google it.
gottawalk said:
Not yelling ,just being reallistic.
Yes is true that there's a few individuals(airline employees)
that are careless.However for those few careless ones there's a lot more airline employees that care,that includes of course the ones that are musicians.
SEE THE POINT!
I think the big thing is to call the airline at both ends. Just because an attendant in L.A. with American Airlines lets you carry it on doesn't mean the attendant in New York also with American will let you do it too. Cover Your A**!
MysticMichael said:
Thank you MM.
I carry gear with me a lot and it is always a adventure. Like everything else in the government sector if you don't know your rights better than they (in this case TSA) do, they will seriously run you around.
I can't stress the tool thing I posted earlier enough though, it could easily cause you to miss your flight, I almost did.
One more thing, be prepared to open your case and explain evey bit of lint to TSA! I have never figured out if they are interested in seeing my basses or just nosy...
In my expirence the bass almost allways has to get checked in because of the size of the hardcase. If you travel with a flight case i would think it would be over the aloted limit of weight for a piece of laugauge i think its at around 60 LBS.
MAJOR METAL said:
Most airlines will let you get away with 50# unless you are a frequent flier with some status. With an ATA flight case (I have 2) you are over the length/weight restrictions and it will have to go as freight.
With the letter I told you about the airlines and TSA will let you carry a HSC to the gate and check it. I stopped carrying a gigbag because the airplanes are shrinking and gate check is getting to be manditory.
I have tried to use that letter several times to no avail. They all just laugh and say TSA's policy has nothing to do with airline policy.rddog said:
So here's the skinny from a frequent flier...for the past 8 years, I have put my bass in a gig bag and brought it on as a carryon to be put in the overhead bin. Unless we were in a small plane with bins too small to fit it, I have never had a problem with carrying a bass onto the plane anywhere. And the ones with bins too small they would either let me put it in the closet or gate check it with the understanding that it was fragile and it was to be put on top. And they did it and were always very nice about it, and I never once had a problem.
Until this year. 4 times out of about 20 trips, I have been forced to gate check my bass. And at Columbus airport in Ohio, they wouldn't even let me gate check it. To their credit, they gave me a box and packed it very securely, and the bass was fine. However, not every airport or airline will be that nice. And lugging my bass through an airport with a hardshell case is completely out of the question. Hard enough getting through an airport without adding 30 lbs of case. So what I do now is I leave my good bass at home and I bring this little Bradley Steinberger copy I bought off Ebay for $75. And I don't get any static about gatechecking it because it's very small and most people don't even know it's a bass. Or at least I haven't got any static yet. And if I do, I'll just gatecheck it, and it's sturdy enough to where it will be fine for the trip, and if not, no big loss.
So my advice to you guys is either buy a hardshell case for your bass if you insist on taking a really good one (a flight case is way too heavy and will amost certainly put you over your 50 lb luggage limit and cost $80 each way), or buy the cheapest bass you can find so if something happens to it if you have to gatecheck or ticket counter check, who cares?
I find that the TSA letter to the union means nothing. There are recommendations on the TSA website about flying with stringed instruments. I just always take it on board now with a gigbag. Checked luggage in general with connecting flights, particulary through frankfurt, or milan is always dicey. Who wants to show up to a gig with no ax, or worse still you bass chasing you city to city.
Do check the tools, and anything resembling a tool. It's been like that for years with canada and israel...
Do check the tools, and anything resembling a tool. It's been like that for years with canada and israel...
Historically, I have carried my bass onboard in a gig bag. However, as many have noted, airlines are changing their policies. I flew America West earlier this year and they were *strictly* enforcing their no instrument policy. They even had signs of a guitar with a big slash through them.
If I have any belieft the flight will be full or is a smaller airplane, I put my gigbag in an SKB Golf Club case. Golf club bags always seem to go on the plane last and come of first. I have yet to be charged any oversize fee and no one has ever given me a second glance.
Link Removed
It only cost about $125 plus another $10 or so in extra foam and adhesive. An old Levy double gigbag fits in it just fine.
If I have any belieft the flight will be full or is a smaller airplane, I put my gigbag in an SKB Golf Club case. Golf club bags always seem to go on the plane last and come of first. I have yet to be charged any oversize fee and no one has ever given me a second glance.
Link Removed
It only cost about $125 plus another $10 or so in extra foam and adhesive. An old Levy double gigbag fits in it just fine.
DGbass70 said:Not yelling ,just being reallistic.
Yes is true that there's a few individuals(airline employees)
that are careless.However for those few careless ones there's a lot more airline employees that care,that includes of course the ones that are musicians.
SEE THE POINT!
Point taken, already. STOP THE CAPS! IT MEANS OF EXPRESSION THAT SAYS Y0U'RE UPSET OR YELLING AT THE PEOPLE YOU'RE WRITING TO!
Well it sounds like some of you aren't to crazy about the SKB case I bought. How bad of a product is it? What are your experiences with it?
The reason I got it is because of the ability of tossing your bass + gig bag in it. Are there any other companies that make flight cases that have the same feature or would I have to have it custom made.
The reason I got it is because of the ability of tossing your bass + gig bag in it. Are there any other companies that make flight cases that have the same feature or would I have to have it custom made.
Wyliee, not only are America West the worst about allowing guitars in gigbags as carryon, their people are absolute jerks about it. I even reported the flight attendant on one flight because he was such a jerk about it. I hope now that they've merged with US Airways that they adopt US Airways fairly liberal policy about guitars.
I wish we could sticky a thread about which airlines and airports are jerks about allowing guitars as carryon. Unfortunately, it seems like it's becoming all of them. Never had much of a problem with Delta, though, for all its other faults. I refuse to buy a flight case, though. That's a sure-fire recipe for not only them losing your bass (at least if you gatecheck it, you can be sure that it will be on the plane), but it's guaranteed to cost you money and make you exhausted in the process.
I wish we could sticky a thread about which airlines and airports are jerks about allowing guitars as carryon. Unfortunately, it seems like it's becoming all of them. Never had much of a problem with Delta, though, for all its other faults. I refuse to buy a flight case, though. That's a sure-fire recipe for not only them losing your bass (at least if you gatecheck it, you can be sure that it will be on the plane), but it's guaranteed to cost you money and make you exhausted in the process.
