Here's the dilemma: My guitar must come with me. After asking the airline I'm flying if I can carry it on, they told me that it was "too big" and that I would have to "buy a seat for it" ... Right.<BR><BR>So, do any of you know any loopholes? Some sort of... musician status one could claim? Or whether it might be feasible to say... have them hold it up front, as I've sometimes seen done with strollers?<BR><BR>The problem with checking my guitar is that, well, I'm really nervous about how it would be handled. I've already been told a couple of horror stories...

Have you got a nun's outfit? It always works for me.

I hope that YOU are not sitting next to me trying to carry that thing

Mira - I've never tried to take any of my instruments on a flight, so can't help you directly, but here are some links to guitarists' BBs where you can repost your question and, I suspect, get better advice than you've gotten from the couple of jerks who've posted so far:<BR><BR>The 13th Fret: http://web1.netnation.com/~coredata/wwwboard/wwwboard.html<BR><BR>Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop: www.guitarvideos.com<BR><BR>The Taylor Forum: www.taylorforum.com<BR><BR>They're good places for a musician to know about anyway. Good Luck.

In the past some airlines would let you carry on a guitar, but I doubt that's true now. Give it a try, but don't ask if it's OK when you check in (one more chance for them to say "no".<BR><BR>You should get a really strong 'road case' for it (loosen your strings before packing the guitar). Another idea is the Martin Backpacker, a small and lightweight travel guitar. It's small enough that you should be able to carry it on and they sound surprising good considering their size & shape.

Ok, Mira, I hope the guitar is for "business" and not just to play, while sitting cross legged on the floor waiting in the train station for the next train. If it is the latter, I'm thinking a Belushi-esque smashing of the guitar is appropriate! Anyway, I'm not serious; your post just reminded me of Animal House.

When my son was traveling with a band, he carried his bass in its metal case, they kept it in the coat closet up front near the cockpit.<BR>He always carried it with him,too valuable and too much was riding on his having a bass when he arrived in another country...no time to shop for a new one~

Funny how movies give us an idea of how to deal with life's challenges creatively. Did you see "The Wedding Singer?" Offer to entertain the passengers in flight.<BR>

I would prepare for the worse case, since I really don't think they are going to allow you to bring it aboard. And you don't want to get to the airport and not have a plan. Get a good case or a box.. maybe something that doesn't give away what it is. Pack it well and mark it with red or florescent tape. If it's irreplaceable, don't take it.