Tips for taking a guitar on a plane

I recently took a flight from Santa Barbara, California to Chicago, Illinois. I was visiting my family  for a month and was not about to leave my guitar behind. I was concerned at first because I thought that bringing an instrument aboard would come at a price. I was wrong! I called customer service at United and they said that musical  instruments can count as your free carry on.

The first part of my trip, from Santa Barbara to LAX, was on an express plane with no more than 15 rows of seats. While I was in the waiting area, I was informed that my guitar would not fit in an overhead compartment and need to be checked. I was a little worried when they put the pink tag on my case that read ‘fragile.’ I paid a lot for my Alvarez acoustic electric guitar and I didn’t want to see it  tossed around with other luggage. Before walking up the steps to the plane, I handed my guitar to a man who put it on a cart with the other luggage that was going to be stowed under the plane during the short flight.

I was uneasy in my window seat as I watched my guitar get gently flopped onto the belt going  up towards the plane. When we landed at LAX, my guitar was handed to me as I stepped off the plane; I was pleasantly surprised.

The next United Airlines flight (LAX to ORD) was a bigger plane and I brought my guitar on easily with no apprehension. I fit it into the overhead compartment by my seat and took it out as we landed. No worries there :)

Tips for taking a guitar on a plane:

• Make sure it fits snugly in the case. No matter how careful you are, it will inevitably move around a bit.
• Loosen the strings- air pressure can probably do weird things,  and you don’t want them to break.
• Call the airline beforehand. United was great...but I’d be nervous to take my guitar on a Spirit flight.
• Walking around the airport with a guitar on your back and a backpack on your front feels awkward. Make sure neither are too heavy.