How To Fly With Instruments. Properly
For me, the biggest joy of being a professional musician has to be the travelling. Like I’ve mentioned in a previous post, it has for now only been around Europe but it’s still great to experience places I may not have thought to visit otherwise. The one obvious downside to working abroad however is the worry that your instrument might not make the trip in one piece, if at all. Though it’s fortunately not too common it does happen. So based on my own experiences, here are five ways to give yourself the best opportunity of arriving at work with your instrument intact and not having to find a local music shop to replace your guitar with Stagg’s finest, or your cymbals with ZBT’s.
I should point out that what follows is more for popular music performers and not so much classical. For the classical musicians out there can be less options and success, like this person found out.
Buy A Flight Case. A Real One.
Yes I realise this sounds obvious but the majority of flight related instrument damage seems to be caused by musicians packing their precious instruments in something that clearly wasn’t made for the job of withstanding ground staff. A hard shell case, like the kind that that your Fender guitar or bass comes in from the shop, will not take any kind of medium to hard impact. The point in these cases is to keep the instrument safe in the back of a car or van if it needs to be stacked on or under something of medium weight. Whilst shitfaced at University I remember swing my Musicman Stingray around me. I have no idea why. The case grazed a wall and one corner of the included with purchase shell case promptly disintegrated. This for me was a good reason alone to never travel by air with one of these things. It pains me now whenever I see somebody at the oversized baggage queue with a shell case, which is still far too common of a sight. I know of a bass player that travelled with his Fender Jazz bass in one of these for quite a while. It was covered in that fragile, handle with care tape. Although it survived a few trips, the inevitable eventually happened.
When I say buy a flight case, it’s important to stress that I mean a real flight case. The panels should be made from a rugged, multi-ply wood, and should be held firmly together by metal and rivets. Ideally with no plastic insight.
No plastic in sight! And they’ve lasted years. Click here to go through to Swan Flights. Whilst the above isn’t one of their models, they make very good ones at a decent price.
I mention this because a lot of case manufacturers boast of their super strength and ability to take immense weight whilst remaining light. I made the mistake of buying and travelling with a Hiscox case when I first started performing in Europe. On the promotional material, it bragged of its immense strength and had a photo of an entire family standing on it. Even though it was plastic, it was very effective and comfortable for a time and survived a few flights. However it took only one heavy impact to crack the lid. The latches were forced away from the body and the bass had clearly fallen out. Fortunately it didn’t take any terminal damage. After that experience, I only buy actual flight cases. They’re a little more expensive, way too heavy and massive in size but they do the job like nothing else.
After the Hiscox case fail, I bought a real flight case. Fortunately, all damage on my 20th Anniversary Stingray 5 was cosmetic, like the chip here on the headstock.
Where Possible, Do Not Take Instruments As Hand Luggage
A lot of people might disagree with this but in my opinion it is the single most risky thing any musician can do. If you try to board the plane with a guitar or NORD in a soft gig bag, or cymbals in a soft carry bag, you are playing with fire! It’s sickening when someone’s gear gets wrecked but I find it hard to have sympathy for anyone willing to risk taking an instrument on-board as hand luggage. I know that in the US, it’s the law for airlines to allow musicians to take an instrument in the cabin, but in Europe it’s still at the discretion of the airline. Their terms are usually stated on their websites so obviously check there first. But don’t assume that just because a friend you know was allowed to take an instrument on-board a previous flight with the same airline, or that you’ve been allowed to take one on the previous 10 flights, that you’re going to be allowed again. If the particular staff working at your particular gate decide that your instrument is too big for the overhead compartments, it’s going in the hold and it’s going to be 50/50 as to whether it gets fucked or totally fucked.
I’m not siding with the airlines on this. You should be allowed to take larger valuables on-board, whether musical instruments or something else appropriately sized. But as it’s not guaranteed, invest in a quality flight case. Then pay for extra baggage as you can put the cost through as an expense on your accounts to take the sting off of it.
As I mentioned earlier, if you are a classical musician and play something too small and delicate to go in the hold but slightly too large for hand luggage, you can easily get screwed over like the violist example above. Hopefully though, the third point can help, which is…
Be Proactive Whilst Booking Your Flight
If you have any doubts as to what is or is not allowed in terms of baggage on your chosen airline, make as much of an effort as possible to avoid a nasty surprise at the gate. The first obvious step is doing your own research. Check the airlines website and find out anything else you can from other people’s experiences with similar luggage to you online. If you are still not sure, call the airlines customer services and get confirmation of what you are and are not allowed to take on-board, along with baggage fees. Then after booking the ticket, call them back up again to discuss your situation. Now that you have been given a booking reference, ask them to leave a note on your account saying that you have spoken to someone and have had your baggage allowances confirmed. Now, if when you turn up to the check in desk you are given a hard time, you’ll be able to refer the staff member to the note on your account. At this point, they are less likely to risk getting a complaint over something that has already been given the go ahead by someone else in the company. At the very least, you’ll probably get to speak with and get more sympathy from a manager than if you had just turned up and started demanding things. If you get more hassle at the gate, you now have the note on your account and the backing of check in to give you a much better chance of getting your instrument into the plane.
If all of the above fails, at least you actually tried. Getting to the front of the boarding queue first, with a guitar on your back, in the hope that you’ll be let on the plane as its overhead storage is still relatively empty, does not constitute as trying.
Get A Credit Card
So many younger people today seem to be scared shitless of credit cards and I find it really odd. Do so many people have so little self-control? It’s as if they think that the second they receive one they’re going to uncontrollably spend all the credit on Amazon in a week. In the band I currently work in the most, there are five of us, and I am the only one with a credit card. They’re incredibly useful for many reasons but to stay on topic, imagine this. You’ve come to the end of a six week contract and still haven’t been paid yet. You arrive at the airport in the middle of the night to find out at check in that your agent hasn’t booked your extra bags. You have no money and can’t contact anyone else. This has happened to me on three occasions. Fortunately I had enough money to pay for them myself anyway. But if you are the stereotypical struggling artist, this could be a massive problem. If you can’t pay, you can’t fly. Then imagine trying to book a hotel for the night. It’s not going to happen.
If you are too afraid of the apparent evil that is credit, then look at getting a cash card that you can preload for emergency use. Then you just need to have the self-control to not spend it on drinks after work.
Make Sure You Have Instrument Insurance
Pretty obvious this one. Or at least you would think so but still enough people don’t have it that I feel it’s worth mentioning. It’s boring and it’s another expense so I guess some musicians just put it off.
For some reason, whenever I fly from Stockholm to Manchester, via London Heathrow, my bass never shows up at the other side. Apparently it’s a security thing. Musical instrument and fishing rod cases are favourites for being kept behind at Heathrow for extra security checks. Still, the first time it happened, knowing that my bass was insured stopped me having a bowl movement next to the baggage carousel. I think that’s a good enough reason alone to have it, never mind the thousands it will save you when something goes wrong. Which for sure, if you travel enough, it eventually will.
So those are my five tips. Hopefully they help musicians that are new to venturing further afield not make a complete hash of it before they even get to sound check. It really is important to take responsibility of your gear and not just leave it all to the airlines and ground staff. Yes, when you book a ticket, you should be able to expect your expensive gear to make it unscathed to your destination. But shit happens. Not all baggage handlers are evil instrument destroyers. Waiting for anything with a fragile sticker to come into sight so they can throw it under a baggage truck. Accidents happen and too many musicians don’t take enough care to protect their instruments against the inevitable mishaps that, for sure, will occur if you become a regular flier. Unless you were really screwed over, don’t end up being one of those people that takes to social media to go on a rant about the damage to their instrument. Prepare well and then enjoy your travels.
If any of the above was helpful in anyway, feel free to repay me by visiting my Clickasnap page here! Look at as many of my photos as possible as I get a very, very small cut of the ad revenue per view that’s longer than 5 seconds. I could do with a new case as since posting this, one of them has started to come apart. Not bad for near ten years use though!
