Pimientito -> RE: Flying w guitar (Dec. 11 2012 10:50:22)
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Well the trip went well with easy jet and they are much better than Ryan air for taking an instrument. Easyjet are now including taxes in their prices and this immediately makes them a much more attractive airline than ryan air for booking a flight. The easy jet rules updated on 06/12/12 state "Anything too large to be carried on the cabin as hand luggage has to be checked in as hold baggage." The easyjet terms of travel for musical instruments are now as follows. "Musical instruments are permitted for carriage as Hand Baggage provided that the instrument, including its case, does not exceed 30cm x 120cm x 38cm. Violins, violas, piccolos, flutes, clarinets, bugles and trumpets all fall within these dimensions. Carriage as Hand Baggage is subject to available space in the overhead lockers and strictly at the Captain's discretion. Please note the instrument will be classed as Your one allowed piece of Hand Baggage. Larger instruments (with the exception of cellos) must be checked in as Hold Baggage, subject to payment of the baggage fee, and cannot weigh more than 32kg. When it is not practical to combine the instrument with another item of Hand Baggage into a single piece in accordance with Our hand baggage policy, You can carry one small additional piece (e.g. ladies handbag or laptop) if it is not practical to check this item as Hold Baggage. Cellos may be taken into the cabin provided an additional seat is purchased for the item. Due to the size of the cello, it fits well into the seat and the seat belt can fit around it, making it secure. A smaller instrument (e.g. violin, guitar etc) could slip out of the seat belt restraint and fall onto the floor of the cabin, which could be hazardous in the event of an emergency. For instruments larger than a cello (e.g. double bass, harp, etc) there is no option to purchase a seat as these instruments are too large and heavy." The way that I did it is as follows. Go to the Easyjet site and find your flight dates. The fares shown will be standard fares. If you add 2 pieces of luggage (your guitar and suitcase)- 40 euros, seat allocation - 4 euros, then boarding, credit card fee - 2.50 etc. the final bill for the flight gets quite large. The way round it is to get a flexi fare. This allows you to take your guitar and a suitcase together as long as the total weight does not exceed your limit. The final price is all included, there are no extra fees or taxes at the end. I put a big label on the guitar case ( see below) The guitar and hiscox case( with some score, nail files, capos, glue, strings etc.) in the case came to just under 5.5KG. my luggage was just under 15 KG so it worked out well. The guitar is checked as a fragile piece of luggage. Make sure you put fragile stickers on your case!! I checked in the suitcase and insisted that the guitar be taken to the door of the plane to be put on with the baby carraiges and wheelchairs. This means the guitar is with you all the way to the airplane door. Make sure you have no nail scissors or bottles of liquid in the case at security or they will remove them. The guitar case fits through the xray machine with no problem. I carried the guitar to the airplane door. A loader put the guitar in the hold by hand. When I arrived in England, the guitar came through the luggage carousel but when i did the same proceedure coming back to Spain again, they gave me the guitar at the plane door avoiding the baggage handlers. British airways charge an extra 40 pounds to take a guitar with you but sometimes the flights are cheap and its worthwhile as they are a hassle free airline. Food and drinks are included in the ticket price. Ryan air seem to be the worst budget airline for travelling with an instrument...or luggage for that matter. A malaga to london flight starts at 54.99 then you add luggage and boarding - 20 euros plus another 50 for the guitar, plus credit card fee 127.49. Its actually cheaper to fly British Airways with a guitar than Ryan air!!
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