I have to fly with my euphonium...

[pgym]

Pack your clothes, toiletries AND VALVE OIL in your Yammy hard case, your horn in your gig bag, and GATE CHECK your luggage. That way, you'll have your hard case handy if they don't let you carry your horn onboard. Simply swap the contents, strap the hard case shut (you DID remember to pack a luggage strap in your gig bag, didn't you?), and hand the hard case to the flight attendant at the bottom of the ramp. And don't forget to pick your horn on the tarmac once you land.

If you DO have to check your horn, DO NOT put ANYTHING—mpc, valve oil, slide cream, metronome, etc. besides the horn in the hard case: IF TSA decides to open it up to check the contents, there's no guarantee they will put the accessories away properly. You DO NOT want your mpc or other accessories banging around loose inside the case during the flight.

Also, check out these recommendations. Although they deal specifically with trombones, the strategy is the same:

http://hornguys.com/cases.htm" target="_blank

http://yeodoug.com/resources/faq/faq_text/travel.html" target="_blank

[sloan]

Here's a strategy my son has used several times:

Pack your clothes, etc. in your gig bag.

Pack your euph, by itself, in the hard case. The Yamaha hard cases are just wrappers around a nice
thick blob of styrofoam. They do an excellent job of protecting the horn (but you probably want to push in the 4th valve and lock it down).

When you check both bags, ASK POLITELY if you can lock the case after it is inspected. Almost always, you can do this. Sometimes they will open up the case and admire the horn, sometimes they will run a swab test, sometimes they'll just X-ray it. I've had them tell me to lock it, run it through the X-ray, and then send me on my way. I've NEVER seen TSA refuse to let you lock the case on a musical instrument.

Get there EARLY.

when you arrive, unpack the gig bag and use it for local travel.

Both the Yamaha euph case and a gig bag are just a bit too large to qualify officially as cabin baggage - I don't think it's worth the hassle to try. If the gig bag is not STUFFED with clothes, etc. it can usually be brought on board and will fit overhead. I wouldn't risk it with the horn in the gig bag.

EXPECT damage to the outside of any checked bag. That's its job - to give itself up to protect the contents. Chalk it up to normal wear & tear. My son's euph case (Yamaha 621) has never gotten more than a scuff mark. My Yamaha tuba case has been cracked - but that's more a comment on the structure of that particular case than an indictment of the airline. In all cases, the horns have gone through without any damage whatsoever (knock on wood).

Nothing you do will *completely* remove all risk of damage - and eventually some damage *will* occur. I think checking a euph in a Yamaha case is a reasonable thing to do, and I wouldn't bother with anything more complicated.

In 40 years of flying, I've probably had a baggage-related issue once every 100 flights. I've never had a bag lost (for more than 2 days...) and I've never had the contents of a bag damaged. I *have* had damage to a tuba case (easily repaired if you don't mind ugly), lost a few handles and straps on ordinary bags (not-too-expensive repairs at the local luggage shop), and once had a fabric bag returned to me with the bottom almost completely destroyed (Delta bought me a replacement bag). All in all, I think it adds up to about $200 out of pocket for me - not bad when you amortize it over 40 years.

[mceuph]

Do you have a friend that might have a Besson, York, or Sterling zip-up hard case (like the ones that come with the new prestiges) you can borrow? I've found these work very well when flying, or at least much better than the yamaha cases. One of my students flew recently and put his 842 in my Sterling case with no problems.

[Lauronie]

I've always carried mine on with no problems. It might help if you have a smaller gig bag. I used Altieri for a long time and it was a tighter fit but still made it. I use a Glenn Cronkhite now and it works even better. I've seen some people with huge gig bags that I would be concerned about trying to carry on.

Airtran seems to have very spacious overhead bins. I've only been on one flight, (US Airways very short flight), where it wouldn't fit in the overhead and I was able to do just as one of the previous posters said- put the small end under the seat and leave part of the bell sticking out under my feet.

Good luck!