How to bring back guitars from overseas on flight

[whyuforcemetosignup]

Hi folks, it's me with the SOS sign once again!
sorry if this is the wrong forum... just thot this might be useful to a bassist/drummer/musician too...

I am going HK and am wondering how one would bring back guitars from overseas on planes... Would they definitely let us on the plane with something like a guitar as hand luggage? where do we store it then? Hope I dun necessarily have to buy a hard case... haha

Thanks for reading!

 

[Vocalistman]

If you really treasure your guitar, I recommend you to get a hard case for it. and if you are in the economy seat, request for a fragile sticker from the flight attendant so that it can be kept with other baggage

If you are in the first class, i'd still recommend you to get the hard case and the fragile stickers, but its better as (some) the flight attendant will allow you to keep it safe in their cabin area, which means you are still allowed to hand carry it to the plane

 

[kerplunk182]

I brought back my bass from Japan in a well padded softcase that sat in the business class closet for 7 hours.
How long is your flight?
Do note that the closet is pretty small (at least for JAL) so you might have to put your guitar in an awkward slanted position. Which may or may not affect your guitar depending on how long your flight it. But if your guitar bag is well padded then i doubt it'll be much of a problem.

One more thing, remember to look at the screen when they scan your guitar. Super cool. Hahaha.

 

[index7]

Generally it's up to the airlines if they want to allow you to hand carry your guitar. Usually if you have it on a softcase - it can be handcarried. I have yet to see any guitars that are denied. However if you have a hardcase (especially rectangled shaped) then there is a chance you might have to check it in. Even with a hardcase - certain guitars like Gibsons are very fragile at the headstock. My opinion is to try to get a well padded softcase or a guitar shaped hardcase.

 

[Cheez]

I've travelled many times on the plane with my guitar - good hardcase, fragile tag, check-in. Also depends on which country you are flying to/from. In China, fragile tags are useless. They make you sign a disclaimer which states that if there are any damage to your fragile luggage, they are in no way responsible. Which makes me wonder if the fragile tag actually makes any difference.

But flying from Hong Kong should be fine.

 

[theunknown]

lol i work in the baggage section of the airport and i can say that if u check in ur guitars,

- u MUST have your guitar in a hardcase, i have seen guitars in softcases before, damn i pity the owners... the guitars are in with bags of 10 20kg stacked up, if youre lucky, your guitar is at the top of the pile.

- checked in items are literally thrown, fragile items get some sympathy. guitars get full sympathy from me.

- fragile stickers...are well...quite useless if u ask me.

 

[ash_88]

well when i went to japan i bought a guitar but it did not come with a hardcase onli a padded softcase so what i did was take off the strings and seperated the neck and the body and padded the case with some t shirts that i didnt use on the trip. i hand carried it. i was sitting economy so the full length couldn't fit entirely in the overhead compartment so thats the reason why i seperated it. mine was a 6 hour flight but if you can get a hardcase and jus dump it with the front desk and ask them to stick a fragile sticker on. should be alright

 

[re_unknown]

Hand carry.

If you checked in your guitar, be prepared for the worst

 

[mockingbird]

Ok, so it IS possible to hand-carry guitars onto planes, i suppose, yeah? That's nice to know.

However, just to be sure, maybe can call them, or write an email to double confirm cos different airlines may have different regulations?

You can provide them with the weight, dimensions and so on. Would be useful in determining if they would allow it to be hand-carried or you have to check it in.

 

[Lifehouse]

Ok. Tried and proven on SIA.

I hand carried my PRS in a gig bag during my flight to round trip to Vancouver and back to SG on economy class (18 hours flight). Just request for it to be put in the coat hangar. The cabin crew would probably let you know that they are not liable for damage but the coat hangar is probably the safest place for your guitar. If it is a long distance flight, you'll need to take your guitar during stopover.

Do note that at the check in counter if they spot your guitar, they'll likely ask you to check in.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

I've been hand carrying my guitar most of the time and never got a problem. Twice with a hardcase and countless times with softcase together with my pedalcase.

 

[khaos11]

my cousin brought in a guitar.... it really isn't a prob... he did told me that he got stopped at customs... and he just opened it up to show them after they scanned it thru the xray machine... leave it with the cabin crew and DUN forget it when u leave... hahaha

 

[Alice9]

oh gosh... i tried to fly in an epiphone lp from shanghai recently and the customs told me i need to purchase this 7000 RMB ticket for it to be carried on to the plane or i have to check it in. wtf. i feel so cheated. i should have just carried it on board without asking. =/

 

[rimuel]

best thing to do,is always handcarry with a padded softcase.NEVER EVER check it in.trust me,have seen what they do with the baggages.the "fragile" sticker is just a silly hoax to trick passengers to think that their supposedly fragile items would be taken care of gently.
"GENTLE"indeed.

 

[EngelFaeuste]

Hand carry.

If you checked in your guitar, be prepared for the worst

Nein.

It's ok to check in if it's in a hardcase. That's how my guitar got here from the UK anyway.

 

[EngelFaeuste]

oh gosh... i tried to fly in an epiphone lp from shanghai recently and the customs told me i need to purchase this 7000 RMB ticket for it to be carried on to the plane or i have to check it in. wtf. i feel so cheated. i should have just carried it on board without asking. =/

I do not believe that this ought to have happened. What day and date did this happen, I will check with a friend of mine working for the chinese government whether such a law exists or not. I'll get back you on that, PM me.

 

[rottenramone]

i've travelled on budget before, and its a no go for carry-on. get a hardcase and check it in please. u can also ask to carry it personally to the aerobridge during departure, and pray the handlers on arrival will treat it nicely.

 

[visa]

anyone ever contemplated dismantling your guitar and re-assembling it (assuming it's not a through body)

 

[visa]

I do not believe that this ought to have happened. What day and date did this happen, I will check with a friend of mine working for the chinese government whether such a law exists or not. I'll get back you on that, PM me.

you don't need to check with the government. I can assure you it does not exist. it's called corruption

 

[tonefart]

Yes, taking the strings off is very important.


You don't want tension on the neck because just in case your hardcase fall, even though there's no direct impact on the headstock, the 'shock' will affect the atoms/molecule structure of the wood and cause the string tension to potentially snap off the headstock.