Travel advice

[vegas]

My wife and I are planning a trip this Summer involving air travel. We will definitely be taking our ukuleles to play with family members and I may also take a mandolin. Given the problems with TSA since 9/11 and the cost reduction measures of airlines in general around luggage restrictions and charges, I'm wondering what is the best way to reduce expenses with extra baggage created by taking three instruments between two fliers as well as means of transporting them safely.

Has anyone tried packing several stringed instruments in their cases inside a larger suitcase packed with clothing in order to reduce impact/damage when the luggage handlers toss these things around? I'm willing to pay for an extra suitcase if that would protect the instruments adequately and free up our hands as well as overhead storage during travel.

Any and all suggested solutions are welcome.

[jazzjune18]

I typically just take the instruments as carry on. They fit in the overhead compartments. I once somehow managed to bring a guitar in a hard case on the flight. They aren't supposed to but put it in the front closet. Good luck

[Jim]

Finding a hard sided suitcase large enough for a Mandolin was harder than I thought it would be. Uke might fit.

[vegas]

I typically just take the instruments as carry on. They fit in the overhead compartments. I once somehow managed to bring a guitar in a hard case on the flight. They aren't supposed to but put it in the front closet. Good luck

I used to do this prior to 9/11 and the flight attendants always accommodated me. Of course, air travel became a lot less friendly since then. On one of my recent flights I saw a young guy in his twenties pleading with a flight attendant to take his guitar inside the plane while she told him stone faced, he would have to check it through baggage. I doubt they'd even let me take my Baby Taylor as carry on these days.

[Astro]

Tell the wife its just not safe to risk it.

You'll have to buy a new one when you get there !

[jmp]

Should not be a problem, because you can take one carry-on plus one personal item per passenger as long as they fit in an overhead bin. Therefore your mando can be your carry-on and one of the uke's is your personal item. Your wife can take the other uke as her personal item.



Section 403 of the legislation, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, provides:

“An air carrier providing air transportation shall permit a passenger to carry a violin, guitar, or other musical instrument in the aircraft cabin, without charging the passenger a fee in addition to any standard fee that carrier may require for comparable carry-on baggage ….”

[JeffD]

Ship them FedEx or UPs. Take the tension off the strings and get them adequately wrapped and safely packaged and ship them to your location.

[Sid Simpson]

I have used a rolling duffel bag to carry a mandolin in a padded gig bag. It worked fine, but I don't think I would take a really good mandolin along that way unless it were in a big duffel bag and a hardshell case.

I have seen people carrying on all sorts of instruments on flights, including guitars, without any problems. The potential is always there, though, for problems. I think violins are just within the technical size measurements for a carryon and mandolins are just outside the limit. I suspect ukeleles are within the measurements, which vary from carrier to carrier. One piece of advice I read was to put your mandolin in a case that looked like a violin (e.g. a Travelite). Airlines have a clue how much violins cost and tend not to ask you to check them as gate baggage.

I can suggest that you pay a little extra for early boarding. The last flight I was on was full, and the last 20 or so passengers had to check all of their carryon bags, as there was no room in the overheads. You would have been checking your mandolin and probably at least one uke.

Good luck. Lots of folks have "beaters" for things like this.

[mandroid]

I have a Back Pack Frame that takes Duffle Bags. I checked it in a short flight PDX to SFO

I packed my A4, in OHSC, in the clothing that I brought along , including my Black Suit,
I had it as a companion to keep away the empty house ghosts , when I went down to my Father's Funeral.

in the 00's, pre 'that thing that was allowed to happen' ..

[acousticphd]

I have never encountered problems carrying mandolins, nor in most cases guitars, through security or as carry-on items.
But I also would not risk traveling with my best and most valuable instruments, either.

Putting a case inside other luggage is an option, but not what I would do. For one thing, it just reduces your luggage space, but the main reason is that there's just no way you are not going to be able to carry on a mandolin each, whether in a case or gigbag. But to ensure this, you need to think about the rest of the luggage, and be willing/able to travel without other personal bags, laptops, etc. Or at least one of you does. The biggest difficulty to people who want to travel with instruments, and my biggest gripe, is the silly number of travelers who refuse to check their luggage, and insist on lugging the maximum size allowable pieces onboard.

Obviously everyone's luck can vary on a particular trip. But my position would be that you are entitled to a little room for your small instruments. Do your best to carefully pack and stack your instruments in the overhead, and let a few other people check some of their baggage.

[vegas]

Tell the wife its just not safe to risk it.

You'll have to buy a new one when you get there !

You are a true Mandolin Cafe bro!

I will explain to her I sought expert advice on this topic and we will have to purchase new ukuleles, a mandolin and a guitar shortly after arriving in Chicago.

How can you argue with an expert?

[vegas]

Should not be a problem, because you can take one carry-on plus one personal item per passenger as long as they fit in an overhead bin. Therefore your mando can be your carry-on and one of the uke's is your personal item. Your wife can take the other uke as her personal item.



Section 403 of the legislation, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, provides:

“An air carrier providing air transportation shall permit a passenger to carry a violin, guitar, or other musical instrument in the aircraft cabin, without charging the passenger a fee in addition to any standard fee that carrier may require for comparable carry-on baggage ….”

Thank you. I will be downloading this federal statute and printing copies to include in all my instrument cases for future reference. I suggest everyone at Mandolin Café do the same if you travel with your instruments. This is what you need when you have to deal with the idiots who work for TSA or the airlines. I've transported musical instruments and firearms on air flights for decades and it is an adventure whenever you do.

[Jim Garber]

I don't know what the rules are like these days but a few years ago we flew cross country and I took my double tennis bag as a carry-on. My mandolin in a shaped hard case fit nicely into one of the compartments and i used the rest for other items I wanted with me on board.

[DPrager]

I make 2 - 3 trips per month totaling 8 - 12 individual flights and have never had a problem walking on with a mandolin.

[jmp]

I just did a round trip to Boston on JetBlue and had no problem getting my octave mandolin in a hard case through security and into the overhead bin.

[Raggle Taggle]

I just did a cross Canada flight on Air Canada and noticed some changes. Since Air Canada (and perhaps some major US carriers) now have a "one free checked bag" limit, almost everyone has an extra small travel suitcase that can fit into overheads. This is probably bad news for extra "grey area" carry ons like mandolins.