The Last Bass Outpost
Main Forums => The Bass Zone => Topic started by: ilan on January 12, 2015, 10:55:46 PM
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http://www.bassplayer.com/basses/1165/the-department-of-transportation-issues-instrument-carry-on-ruling/50086
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That's good news, if everyone down the line gets the message.
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I'm not sure a bass (electric even) qualifies as a small instrument. I know at least some of my hard cases won't fit in the overhead bin. Even some guitars might not fit. And if it don't fit it's not safe (legal) unless you buy an additional seat or gate check.
Mostly, this is good news for larger brass, ukelele and violin players. .... though I wouldn't mind a few dozen more ukes getting smashed per year.
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I've flown with a Jazz Bass in a gig bag in the overhead just FYI.
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You have balls, I wouldn't risk being forced to cabin check with a gigbag.
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The ongoing problem with carry-on has been that every airline, and every gate attendant, interpreted the rules differently. You were really at the mercy of the people at the gate, and any of them could require checking the instrument.
If the definition of a "small instrument" is not well stated, I'm not sure this will be much of an improvement.
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She-it... no prob with the private jet... :mrgreen:
Never gigged anywhere I couldn't drive to... don't intend to start now...
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You have balls, I wouldn't risk being forced to cabin check with a gigbag.
That's why I brought the Fender. :P
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That's why I brought the Fender. :P
It's times like this that I wish we had that smilley where the head rolls back and forth.
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I unbolted the neck of a tele once to fit it in my carry on. No case.
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The ongoing problem with carry-on has been that every airline, and every gate attendant, interpreted the rules differently. You were really at the mercy of the people at the gate, and any of them could require checking the instrument.
If the definition of a "small instrument" is not well stated, I'm not sure this will be much of an improvement.
Here's the DOT statement: http://www.dot.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportation-issues-final-rule-regarding-air-travel-musical
It's not 100% cut and dried but it does include guitar as a small instrument. And they're now required to allow it if there's space.
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That's good. it definitely names a guitar specifically as included! Encouraging.
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Beware that if it won't fit in the overhead locker, and the vertical cabin closets are full, your bass will still have to fly as checked in baggage.
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They have vertical cabin closets?
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They have vertical cabin closets?
Yes - for hanging suit jackets etc - the vertical closets are usually located at the front of business class
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They have vertical cabin closets?
Tsk, tsk, tsk, not much of a Business Class traveller, huh? Gotta do something about your Air Cannuck Aeroplan Miles
http://www.aircanada.com/en/aeroplan/
for that coming upgrade, Jake. There are alternatives too:
http://www.miles-and-more.com/online/portal/mam/hr/program/partner/detail?nodeid=2497401&l=en
PS: For the avoidance of doubt: I only travel Business Class - whether professionally or private - from 4 hours flight time on upwards. And only for one thing: leg room, I could care less about the amenities. Give me a bottle of water and some legroom and I'm fine.
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Never traveled anything but "Economy seat on the wing," and not likely to. Too expensive. But I'm happy that you can afford to do so...someone has to keep the airlines in business.
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They have vertical cabin closets?
Yep. That's where they hung my daughter's wedding dress when she flew from Wichita to Rochester, NY last year. She wasn't going to check that!
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I understand!
A nice flight attendant will put your guitar or bass in a vertical closet even if you are travelling economy, I have had that happen to me when I was travelling with a bass in a gig bag - economy.
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This topic got me interested in seeing what airfares are now. I had assumed that since the price of oil had gone down, airfares would be going down, too. But it appears that for the most part the airlines are simply pocketing their unexpected profits from cheap oil. An article I just read had this to say:
airlines are "doing good things" with the extra money, but they're doing them "for everyone except the consumer."
airlines really don't have to listen to customers anymore, and they're not. They're listening to their bottom line." (Because mergers have decreased competition.)
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Seems to me that most airlines create "customer service" policies as little more than window dressing. Meanwhile they're charging for everything but the air you breathe. Book through their site or use their credit card and they throw you a couple of bones in terms of baggage charges or seating priority.
Southwest Airlines seems to be the most aware of how people respond to their policy changes.
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"Meanwhile they're charging for everything but the air you breathe."
Not true. Even that is a cost factor - they intentionally cut back on the oxygen percentage in the cabin air supply. That is why you tend to drowse off and why alcohol hits you twice as hard up in the air. Or some people have headaches. Flying is like mountain climbing.
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The alternative is that the fuselage pops... then everyone falls out of the sky... too late for the oxy masks then... :vader:
No "oxygen" is used, just pressurisation of air cycled in from the outside world... I used to get the dubious pleasure of cleaning 747 pressure-relief valves, and scraping off 1/4" thick nicotine/tar deposits... :puke: