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Has anyone been successful in taking their euphonium on a plane as a carry-on item? on American Airlines? I'm flying coast-to-coast. If I can't bring it as a carry-on I probably won't take it.

Thanks


Will Divers

I have been successful taking my horn on every time. The first few times, I took it with the hard case. I ran into some trouble at the gate, but as soon as I went on board, I asked the pilot politely, and he had it put in the first class coat closet. After a while, I got brave and brought it on with my gig bag. I met much less resistance, and I found that it just barely fits in the overhead. That's with my 2900, which the bell is 11 3/4 inches (I believe). I don't think a 2950 fits, from what I've heard.

Either way, if you politely suggest that if they will pay every cent for a new instrument if it gets damaged underneath, you may consider it, then they will usually think twice before asking you again.

Nick

Bloke's point is interesting, however, when I lived in Germany an airline lost a bag filled with stuff I needed (i.e. black clothes, tuners,etc) on a DIRECT flight from NY to Dusseldorf. This was mid november and the bag was located and returned to me in March. And, politely suggesting that an airline will pay every cent for a damaged instrument, while it may give one a good feeling, is absolutely useless if they do damage it. I was surprise to find out when I read the sheet of what they will pay to replace when I had my claim. It pretty much comes down to clothes, not the family heirloom watch, (worth more than any euphonium), not the tuners, music videos, not the bass strings, not the anything. If I played that instrument I'd put it in a bag with extra padding, and watch it like a hawk, put the case underneath and hope for the best. As always, my opinion is only my own. Peace. ASG

There has been much discussion of this in trombone land as trombonists also have an instrument which falls in the grey zone - too big to insure carry on and too small to mandate checking.
Basically both ways are flawed. If you carry on, you may not need an expensive case, but you cannot guarantee that they allow you on board. I fly frequently, and have talked to musicians (bass and guitar players) who fly very frequently, and there is no guarantee. No letter from the union, assurance over the phone, research into the plane, or smooth talk will prevent you from eventually running into the overzealous airplane employee who simply insists that you may not board the plane with the instrument. This has happened to me twice.
Consequently, there is no guarantee with any case that your instrument will escape damage, nor is there a way to prevent it from being lost (homing devices, maybe?). My frequent flying bass friend says his instrument is dependably lost once a year. For him, this aggravation is less than that of arguing with unsympathetic flight attendants and not knowing until the last minute whether he will make the gig.
Choose your poison.

You could always check the rental situation and prearrange a rental, depending on where you are going and the size of the city you are landing/performing in.