Air Travel Advice

[MedicineMan]

Awhile back I asked about case recommendations for my son’s trip to NYC this summer. We decided to just go with a gig bag and purchase a second plane ticket for the horn.

With that, I wanted to get some words of advice from those in the know regarding navigating with a tuba through airport security, onto the jet,etc. We’ve discussed the following thus far:

1) Be firm but respectful with the TSA folks. Ask for a hand check of the horn, not through the x-ray, and make sure you’re the one taking the horn in and out of the gig bag.

2) Don’t get on the plane if for whatever reason they don’t want to honor the tuba seat.

Just for a little background, my son is 17 years old, very bright, and pretty mild-mannered. This is going to be his first solo trip, and his first trip with tuba in tow. We just want to make sure we have all the bases covered, and I’m sure that those of you with tuba air travel experience can add to the list of things to consider. Thanks.

[bone-a-phone]

I just flew to Vegas last week. All the planes are packed.The airlines charge you to check bags, so people bring all that they can onboard - this means there is very little space on the plane. All the attendants are stressed out, not sure I'd set up a trip that depends on pushing them even further. Flying is a dehumanizing pain. Flying with anything bigger than a viola makes it so much worse. If you've got connections in a big airport, you're just adding frustration on top of all of the rest of it. After flying last week, I'd rather drive than fly if it's less than a day's drive.

I say take a train. The train is such a more civilized way to travel, and far more suitable to traveling with a tuba or any large instrument. You could even entertain the troops on the train.

If cost is the big issue, then arrange to rent a tuba at the other end of the trip.

Best of luck.

[bloke]

If unwilling to drive, chuck a jimbo underneath the plane, cross your fingers, and make do.
‘ too many stories of airlines not honoring instrument’s seats, to play that game.

[russiantuba]

I’m with Bloke, if you can drive it, drive.

Not tuba related, but a composer/theorist/euphonist is in the process of moving from Cincinnati to Philadelphia. He missed his original flight yesterday due to ride issues from Uber to the airport. After failing to get another flight the same day (he was not the only person effected), he finally got to Philadelphia the next day, over 30 hours later. It is a 9 hour drive.

I saw a trumpet colleague in another state forced to remove her trumpet from a gig back when flying today due to supposed lack of overhead room. I would suspect on the full flights, they could deny your tuba it’s own seat to put a person on it (I’ve heard of that happening).

I would probably say if one can’t drive, taking a greyhound bus and buying the tuba it’s own seat will not only allow you to have a window seat with no one next to you, but would be cheaper, safer, and not take as long as you might expect.

I would suggest rail travel, and I think it was more than flying last I looked , but not sure if that was some private rail car or something fancy

[donn]

Another way it can go sour is if the flight crew decides it isn't a safe thing to have in the cabin, given that they have to consider the possibility of a very rough ride. The AFM got a sort of vague ruling that they can't capriciously decide that musical instruments don't fly, but there isn't any rule that tubas are OK in the cabin, and the flight crew has the last word on that.

Likely few of them have ever even given a moment's thought to this before, I guess this is going to be a more or less snap judgement, so presentation could be a factor. Like maybe it would be more likely to fly if it looked sort of cuddly and not too monstrous. Pink would be good, ha ha. You might get a chance to explain how you're going to lash it down.

(I have no direct or even second hand experience, it's just stuff I read on the net, so I wasn't going to post, but since that's all you're getting anyway ...)

[Sousaswag]

I’ll chime in here.

I’ve put thousands of miles on my truck to purchase and sell tubas. I refuse to ship them. I agree that driving is the way to go.

Right NOW, I’m hesitant to drive anywhere due to my terrible MPG and $5/gallon gas prices.

Buy a seat for it, and do not let anybody take that horn and throw it under the plane.

Trains are good but almost never a direct route. It might be overwhelming for a 17 year old to navigate on his own. Flying is probably your easiest but also most risky option right now.

[Three Valves]

So long as the tuba has been booster jabbed, wears a mask and isn't drunk or belligerent, I don't anticipate any issues.

Good luck!!

[bloke]

So long as the tuba has been booster jabbed, wears a mask and isn't drunk or belligerent, I don't anticipate any issues.

Good luck!!

...and doesn't mind being photographed naked, removing its shoes, and being and felt up

[Mary Ann]

It is extremely likely that the bought seat for the tuba will be given to a "real person." And your son will be SOL and have to decide not to fly vs accepting that his tuba will be destroyed. Better to get in front of that scenario and find another way to go, or another way to have a tuba in NYC. Perhaps he can ship it ahead of time via the ways that tubas are shipped when purchased.

it was 25+ years ago that we were at a major horn conference in Banff and on the return my companion's suitcase-style horn case was just slightly too large for the "requirements for carry-on" and a really, really bitchy agent was waving her arm at him saying, "Give me that because it's going in baggage" and we just waited until another agent came along and wasn't such a creep (And I was saying, "That is a $10,000 French horn and it is NOT going in baggage.") We had had no problems on the trip up there, just on the way back. No problems once we got ON the plane, and I wonder what all the other horn players had to put up with after us.