TubeNet

Just got done flying round-trip from Baltimore to San Francisco this weekend. My F tuba (Yamaha 621) made it there and back without incident or damage. The check-in procedure was new, though; I checked myself in with a touch-screen computer at the counter. There were a half-dozen of these terminals in use at the United counter, and were in place at many other airlines' counters. The final step in the self check-in was to indicate how many bags I was checking. After that, the computer printed out my boarding pass and the tags/stickers for my baggage, and told me on-screen to give my baggage to the attendant behind the counter.

On both flights, I was checked in, with boarding pass in hand, before the attendant even saw the tuba case. I signed no waivers, paid no oversize fees, and answered no questions about the horn. Granted, the 621's case is not the most imposing hard case on the planet, but it's still oversize, and plainly an instrument case. If you have to fly with a horn, using the self check-in seems to be the best way to avoid as much human intervention as possible.

Anyone else done this recently?

I wonder how many tuba players will get through without paying fees, before they change the system. Obviously, after you are already checked in is a bad time to try to go backwards and un-check your bag and then re-check it with a fee! Congrats on beating the system by using the system.
MA

I've flown with a tuba at least a dozen times this past year, and as far as the fee was concerned, it varied. A couple of the airlines were similar to Tom's experience with no fee for the oversize. One was Northwest, the other American. Others charged as much as $80. This seems to be industry standard. (FWIW, United has always charged me.) However, Southwest only charged $45 when I flew with them. In my experience, it still seems to be the decision of person behind the counter.

The last time I flew (from San Diego to Providence in mid-August) the case was swabbed by TSA, but not opened. On other trips TSA was always attentive in terms of opening and closing the case. They would even lock the case for me after I asked them to do so.

Steve Lamb

The TSA was much more concerned with my laptop than the tuba. The computer got swabbed before both flights, the tuba received little notice. The last time the TSA inspected a bag of mine, it was checked there at the inspection point, and then put in a pile of checked baggage to be taken to the plane, as opposed to going back to the ticket counter to be checked. I suspect that if baggage handler Smith sees a big ol' tuba case that he/she would rather not deal with, it's easier for him/her to point to the inspection point and say, "The TSA needs to clear that."

As for the aforementioned Delta policy of not charging for musical instruments, if that's true, then that's great news. What a relief that would be for a great many of us. I'd like some confirmation before I go booking flights, however.

It's hard to imagine that we're discussing how hard it is to fly horns around, when the airline industry as a whole is having such a difficult time, and several airlines are sort of teetering on the brink. If they're relying on tuba players to stay solvent, they really need some help. If they want to make some money, they should charge people extra who bring their enormous carryons into the seating area that don't have a prayer of fitting into the overhead bins. No lie, one guy on the flight back from SF had a wheeled suitcase that was almost big enough for my 621. Took him five minutes to put it away. What a goon.

I flew Delta twice this summer and was not charged extra because they have a specific, generous musical instrument allowance policy. Call and ask if you want to know specifics.

Also this summer, ATA charged me $25 extra, and American charged me $120. Mexicana wanted to charge me $300 for one direction, but eventually lowered it to $75. On the return trip, they did not charge me at all.

I've never worked at an airport, so I cannot confirm this, but the trend appears to be that overcharge policies are governed by chaos and whimsy--not by written, standardized, company policy. A conspiracy theorist might even propose that ticketing personnel earn commission on these charges. Perhaps using the automated check-in reduces or eliminates the chances of being charged extra fees.

One time, I checked in with two tubas (a BAT and YFB822). The person at the counter accepted both my tubas as checked baggage and did not charge me anything. I was psyched as I made my way toward the boarding gate because I had not been charged oversize/overweight. Just as I was getting in the security line my name was called over the loudspeaker, telling me to return to the ticket counter immediately. When I arrived at the ticket counter, I was told that the person who had checked me in had made a mistake and that I was now to be charged $150 for the two tubas.

joebob wrote:Just as I was getting in the security line my name was called over the loudspeaker, telling me to return to the ticket counter immediately.

Yeah, chaos and whimsy, indeed. Doh!!

According to Delta Airlines' website:

Delta Airlines wrote:Delta accepts musical instruments or musical equipment as checked baggage when the instrument's outside linear dimensions (length + width + height) do not exceed 120 inches (305cm) and provided the weight, including the case, does not exceed 100 lbs. (32kgs).

Items between 70 and 100 lbs. (32 and 45kgs) will be subject to a baggage charge of $80 for excess weight or pieces. This charge applies to travel in the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Canada. For charges to other desinations, contact Delta Reservation Sales at 800-221-1212.

Well, you can always check them at the curb and tip heavily. The 120 inches is a big help for the BAT cases, although with a weight limit of 100 lbs., any Anvil-type trunk cases are almost sure to be overweight. Ugh. Anybody get a tuba trunk on the plane recently?

In my experience, it seemed that the TSA, guy/girl at the counter, and check in guy at the corner all are relatively seperate units. I tipped the guy on the curb, and he rolled it right to security. Security is only concerned with security, and after that, they just put on the line to be loaded. The person you buy your ticket from, the person who would charge you, assumes that, if your stuff got to security, then the fees are taken care of.

Dan

The curbside baggage route does not always work. I have used them in the past and with a generous tip have often been on my way with no additional charges. One time, though, I gave the guy a nice big tip. He then brought it inside where ticket counter people looked at it and charged me oversize fees (I should have asked for my tip back but I didn't).

One tip for those with BAT cases. When wheeling your Walt Johnson case to the ticket counter, set it down horizontally as opposed to on its bell end. In my experience, having the case not look so tall increases the chances of not being charged.

carolyn catton wrote:...Then they weigh it, then they measure it. Then they look at me and say "we can't take this." ... My tuba arrives 3 days and $250 later. And that was just the way there...
I was stunningly impressed.

That's exactly the situation I didn't want on this last trip, so I took the tiny F tuba. Absolutely my last choice of horn for walking bass lines, but the only choice for the trip, given the circumstances. I may have to head up to Baltimore Brass and buy another horn so I have something I can take on the plane that's more suited to the task at hand. My little Yamaha is nicely in tune and even-blowing down low, but balancing a 7-piece dixie band playing 4-beat is a lot of work on the peashooter.

Damned frustrating.

Tom Holtz wrote:If they want to make some money, they should charge people extra who bring their enormous carryons into the seating area that don't have a prayer of fitting into the overhead bins. No lie, one guy on the flight back from SF had a wheeled suitcase that was almost big enough for my 621. Took him five minutes to put it away. What a goon.

On my last few flights I've ended up on a puddle jumper instead of a big plane, despite the description and seat choosing of a big plane on the internet. So my carryon bag that would have fit in the overhead did not, and I had to gate check it. Even if I know ahead of time that I'll have to gate check my bag, I'll choose that option because I get to retrieve it after the flight instead of having the baggage goons lose it. My biggest worry is that this will happen when I am carrying my horn or violin on board, in which case I'd have to just not go because there is simply no way that I will check either of these in any fashion. It isn't possible to protect them via any luggage I know of or am willing to pay for.

MA

Here's an article from The Independent on Sunday [London] - 19 September 2004:

Strapped In a Window Seat, Upside Down -- Tales of Traveling with Large Instruments By David Orkin