How to get an airplane seat for the horn

[Trevor Bjorklund]

I'm getting the runaround here - anyone have any success with this?
Flying from SFO to ORD in June with the tuba in its own seat is not much more expensive than shipping it and would make my life better... just gotta get the airline to let me.

What is the secret to making this work - should I just tell them it's a cello?

[ASTuba]

I just did this flying from Greensboro to Denver for the GPRTEC. Let me give you my thoughts on this.

1) Try as hard as you can to make sure your flight is with a major airline. No codeshare, no Shuttle, Connection, etc. The flights I picked were specifically both Delta flights operated by Delta.

2) Book the second seat in your party at TUBA COSB (Carry On Seat Baggage). I was told this by several ticketing agents, as it allows the ticketing people to know that you have a seat bag.

3) When you arrive at the gate for your flights, walk up to the ticketing agent, and tell them you have a seat bag, and ask to board the plane early.

4) When you board the plane, talk to the flight attendants. Inform them of the seat bag. They will tell you to put it in a window seat.

Make sure that you have copies of the TSA agreement with the AFM for the rules of seat bags. I had no problem at all with any portion of my flights to Denver and back. Good luck!

[bort]

Book the second seat in your party at TUBA COSB (Carry On Seat Baggage)

Not sure I understand this part... does this mean that's the name to use for the ticket? First name "Tuba," and last name "Cosb"?

[Trevor Bjorklund]

Andy - thanks for the great tips!

I decided to skip the online booking because the TSA requirements part (gender and date of birth) looked like potential red flags for me. So, although it ended up costing me an extra $25 in booking fees, I went with the telephone and booked a direct flight on AA.

The booking agent took some convincing that "non-cello" instruments should be allowed in the cabin. She had to talk to her manager twice but it looks like it went through. American, by the way, uses "Exst" (extra seat) for the first name and my last name. I had to specifically request a window seat for the horn. So it'll be me and the 188 (in Cronkhite gig bag).

I'll try to remember to update this post in June after the flight to report how it went.

[Dan Schultz]

I had to buy a 2nd seat on a train to Milwaukee for my instrument. That seat is registered to 'Alphorn' Schultz! At first, I thought the agent was joking. But she explained to me that each occupied seat has to be registered to a passenger and obviously, I can't be in two seats at the same time. I'm guessing that airlines operate in the same manner.

[ASTuba]

Book the second seat in your party at TUBA COSB (Carry On Seat Baggage)

Not sure I understand this part... does this mean that's the name to use for the ticket? First name "Tuba," and last name "Cosb"?

That's correct. TUBA COSB. Sounds awful, I know.

[royjohn]

TUBA COSB sounds a lot better to me than "tuba mangled in transit," though. Is the tuba now related to BILL COSB?

Good luck with the trip!

[Trevor Bjorklund]

I successfully got the tuba from San Francisco International to O'Hare in Chicago!

Here's how it went:
1) Was not able to completely check in online prior to airport arrival - the computer wouldn't let "EXST Bjorklund" print her boarding pass.

2) Everyone and his mother has an opinion: the shuttle bus driver warned me that "it is too big." I took the horn onto the bus with me and laid it out on a pair of seats rather than let the driver put it under the bus. May have been okay if I was the last one to get on by my stop was literally the bus's starting point and I didn't want to run the risk of someone tossing a suitcase at or on it.

3) Arrived on time - not early, not late: was able to immediately and without hassle print out a pair of boarding passes at the automated machine next to the American Airlines desks.

4) Security: this was actually kind of funny - at first the peons at the very beginning of the process were wigging out even though I explained that I had purchased an extra seat. They finally understood and let me get into line… partially a language thing. The ticket/ID checker was cool; jokingly asked me if the tuba had its own ID. TSA at the scanners took the tuba (still in gig bag) through and waited for me to get screened. Next time I will put a "THIS END UP" sticker or something as the guy kept trying to put the bag down valves down! When I got over there, I took the horn out myself to let TSA-guy swab it with bomb-sniffing tissue (!) "Is there anything else in the bag?" "No." I waited with the naked horn as they put the empty bag itself through the x-ray. My sense is that if I had tried to stuff some clothing in the bell or used the case for transporting anything other than the tuba, it would have made extra problems. They brought the bag back and I was on my way.

[Note: The TSA guys (mostly Latino) were pretty excited about the tuba and were asking all sorts of questions: "how old is it?" "are you on tour" "does it have a name" etc. Slightly bummed that they didn't ask me to play it to make sure it wasn't packed with drugs or some kind of contraband. Too bad as I had prepared something in the banda style that would have totally been a crowd pleaser. Also, would have packed the horn full of drugs or some kind of contraband.]

Total time in security = roughly 5 minutes extra.

5) At the gate: first real stumbling block. The ticket checker expressed concern that, even though the tuba had its own seat, people wouldn't be able to see past it to see EXIT signs. But let me board anyway. Once I was seated (next to a very attractive co-ed, by the way, who seemed pretty friendly), put the tuba on the seat by the window and it definitely was going to be blocking some views. Oddly, this never came up when I booked my ticket on the phone with a human being, who was supposed to be taking things like this into account when selecting my seats. Also, the seatbelt wasn't long enough to go around the bag. Eventually the flight attendants came over and offered me an entire row to myself at the back of the plane (luckily this was available - see tip #2 below). Tuba has to be in the window seat, but seemed to sit fairly well bell down, valves pointed toward the right side of the plane, with a seatbelt extender clicked loosely around it. The 188 has a 18.75" (bell plus bag) and takes up the entire seat, dripping over a little bit. Only downside to this arrangement is that I hate sitting near the bathroom - people lined up over you, bumping into you constantly with their poor balance, constant din of toilets flushing, etc. BUT… somehow American Airlines' last row seats does, in fact, recline (bonus). Also, alas, no longer sitting near the hot co-ed.

Tips to keep in mind for next time:
1) Choose to fly at non-busy times. My flight was at 6:00 AM so I was going through security early. Fewer people and beginning of shift contribute to general good will among TSA people.
2) When choosing seats at booking, try to get the back row to avoid any irritating seat changes after you are settled.
3) Travel super light - bringing only a backpack and tuba means that having to change seats is no big hassle. Also means that if I had had to hustle to get to my gate, it wouldn't have been much of a problem.
4) Lots of patience with questions and answer all of them with friendly smiles. This was especially challenging this trip because I had not had time for a cup of coffee.
5) General: having the Glenn Cronkhite gigbag was the right choice when I bought it and remains the right choice. I had to walk a lot further than usual with the tuba on my back and this bag made it no problem. Had I still been saddled with my old ProTec case, I would have been much, much more uncomfortable, probably a bit surlier (which may have damaged my cool under fire/questioning), etc.