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Thread: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

  1. #1

    Question Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    I am traveling to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Slippery Strings West mandolin workshop in late January from Seattle flying Canada Air. I have traveled to warm climates checking in My precious Weber Fern after packing her cased in the center of the largest fiber glass suit case allowed, well cushioned. Case just fits inside largest Suitcase. Would that work with strings slack? Or, should I pack it in a carry on without case.? Or, Carry on in its case talking air line into allowing multiple carry one. CPAP, iPad etc.? Experienced winter travelers please help.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    Having been a travel consultant when I acquired my user name, I can tell you we had 3 rules of checked luggage...1. don't check valuables, 2. don't check valuables, and 3. don't check valuables. Regardless of any shiny advertisements, there will always be less than honest and/or way too aggressive airline luggage handlers.

    But even more so, remember that airline cargo holds are not pressurized or temperature controlled as the passenger compartments are. You don't have any control over the case that sits on top of yours with the six packs of Canadian beer that burst and leak while in the cargo hold. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.
    Joyce

    All facts are important, it's just the context that changes - Mr. Vincent Nigel-Murray

    Guitar, brown with six strings.

    Not really, it's a 1976 Alvarez, model 5059

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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    I have carried my mandolin on and put it in the overhead in it's shaped hardshell case,A model, several times with no problems. I would not check it unless it was absolutely necessary. Many years ago they made us check on a charter flight and said they would hand carry, we watched them carry the instruments last, of course they were the first things off and not hand carried and at the bottom of the luggage wagon. Fortunately all turned out well. Good luck.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

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  6. #4
    Confused... or?
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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    Also carried mine in the overhead in it's hardshell case six or eight times with no problem, including one to Mexico. For extra security, I put it inside a 3-racquet tennis bag: anonymity + scuff resistance + insulation all in one!

    This is the same 3-racquet model name & approx. price as my older one, the Head Elite Pro. It fits my A case well, but current details are different so I can't be sure it will fit yours.
    http://www.amazon.com/HEAD-Elite-Pro.../dp/B00IKJJHM0

    Fortunately, a friendly local shop let me try mine in a number of bags, the issue being that the zippers are short on some, allowing racquets in but not a thicker mandolin case.

    Not sure, but folks have commented here on a recent (year or two old) rule saying that musical instruments are not counted as carry-ons, at least for some flights, but I haven't had to test that one.
    - Ed

    "Then one day we weren't as young as before
    Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
    But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
    I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
    - Ian Tyson

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    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    & Get an early Boarding so You are claiming OHC space first..
    writing about music
    is like dancing,
    about architecture

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    AKA Billgrass
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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    I always pay for early boarding, and have never had a problem on the domestic or international flights. I use a case which if they make me check it, my mandolin has a chance of surviving. I'm glad I don't have to fly with a vintage guitar.

  9. #7

    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    You also may find that it fits under your seat. Although, this space is best utilized if your in a window seat (so people aren't stepping over it) and it 's in a hard case.

    In the old days, we had a client who was a professional cellist. We would book a seat in her name and a seat for her instrument under the name "Ima Cello."
    Joyce

    All facts are important, it's just the context that changes - Mr. Vincent Nigel-Murray

    Guitar, brown with six strings.

    Not really, it's a 1976 Alvarez, model 5059

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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    Always overhead!
    If airline gives you trouble, tell them your CPAP bag (with whatever else is in it) is a medical device and is exempt from charges or exclusions. Tell them your mandolin is your carry on. And you also get a personal item like a small backpack or purse, etc.
    I never let anyone check my mandolin as luggage.
    Have fun at the workshop!

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    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    From some items i've read recently,it still seems that what's allowed onto aircraft,despite US government rulings,is still pretty much down to the person at the check in desk. Only last week we had a guy forced to hand over his banjo to the check in guys & had the headstock broken while it was in their custody.
    Some Cafe members have been lucky enough to be allowed onto aircraft with their instruments & others haven't. The only rule that seems applicable is take nothing for granted,
    Ivan
    Weber F-5 'Fern'.
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  12. #10

    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    This has been my first post and very helpful. Each of you have encouraged me that my travel into the freezing North with my best mandolin is possible. FYI while cruising blogs on Mandolin Cafe I found excellent piece on Air Canada that has lead the field with published policy regarding musical instruments. 50% fair to book seat, overhead policy etc. the event is Shivering Strings West 2016. First year to include mandolin workshop. Old Time

  13. #11
    Confused... or?
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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    Quote Originally Posted by Leoricknee View Post
    ... the event is Shivering Strings West 2016.
    What a great name!
    - Ed

    "Then one day we weren't as young as before
    Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
    But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
    I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
    - Ian Tyson

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    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    Do you have enough time to FedEx, UPS, or DHL it to where you are staying. That would be my solution.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

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    Registered User Miked's Avatar
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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    I like the Travelite case and have never had a problem using the overhead compartment. You get some pretty decent protection with the Travelite although I always keep a close eye on anyone trying to cram their stuff near my mandolin. I would also use a case humidifier since the cabin humidity is pretty low. I've never flown Air Canada, so I'm not sure if you can pay a little extra for early boarding.
    Mike Bloder
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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    I just saw this in the newsletter from the Saskatoon Musician's Association:

    Just this September, Air Canada announced that musicians
    will now be able to check their instruments in the cabin as a
    direct result of lobbying done by the 17,000-member strong
    Canadian Federation of Musicians. In a Sept. 30 press release,
    International Vice President for the A.F.M. Alan
    Willaert stated, "Musicians have long had difficulty transporting
    the tools of their trade, which are often very expensive
    and irreplaceable. Over the years, we've seen far too many
    news reports of numerous instruments being broken or
    destroyed due to air travel. This acknowledgement by Air
    Canada is welcomed as a first step in ensuring those
    instruments arrive safely. We hope other airlines will follow
    suit."
    Under the new policy, musicians traveling with their
    instruments can now receive a 50% discount on fares when
    one purchases a seat to accommodate their musical instrument
    and will be invited to pre-board the plane in advance of
    general boarding to have more time to store their instruments
    in overhead bins. The full policy can be found at Air
    Canada's web site: www.aircanada.com/en/news/150925

  17. #15
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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    I've never had a problem taking my A-style in a shaped case on board. However, I make certain I'm boarding ASAP so I can claim an overhead near my seat. You do need to watch what your fellow passengers might try to put into the same overhead, but I'm not shy about letting them know the issue. I don't push the issue at check-in by ALSO trying to bring carry-on, and I always live in dread that some individual at the counter will insist that it must be checked -- I've heard of that happening, but it has never happened to me. I try to do everything to avoid giving the agent a reason to be "rule bound." I'm not about to pay (even half-price) for a seat for my mandolin when others bring on mountains of bulging carry-on! I've flown with American, West Jet, and Air Canada mostly. Good luck! And keep your instrument humidified AFTER you get to Saskatoon. Cold air is dry air.

  18. #16
    its a very very long song Jim's Avatar
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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    Overhead!
    Jim Richmond

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    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Winter Travel in Canada. Check in or overhead?

    Quote Originally Posted by colorado_al View Post
    Tell them your mandolin is your carry on. And you also get a personal item like a small backpack or purse, etc.
    Not always possible. I often have to travel with a personal item, and a lap top computer, which is not a good idea to check.
    I never let anyone check my mandolin as luggage.
    I never volunteer it, but on a couple occasions I had no choice. Well... I suppose I had a choice, not to bring the mandolin, or to check the lap top, or to not go at all, but I didn't have a reasonable choice.

    I am looking for a bag that incorporates both the personal carry on and the lap top, so that its only one, and the mandolin can be number two, so that until they reduce the number of carry ons to one I will be good.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

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