Posted by Andy Miller on January 20, 2000 at 12:28:26:
In Reply to: Airline Tuba Transportation Costs posted by Steve on January 20, 2000 at 03:57:34:
I've traveled by air many times with my quintet. My biggest horn, PT-6 (5/4), never cost me anything to fly. The best thing to do is check it out front with a Skycap... they are usually in a hurry, don't care about the size and weight restrictions, and they want your tip! It's very important to tip the Skycap; I usually gave about $10 (in addition to the quintet tip) and asked them to take vary good care of my baby... about 70% of the time, they'd slap a new sticker on the case that read "Priority" or something to that extent.
However, I have had to take the horn inside on a few occasions because 1)the airport was too small to utilize Skycaps, or 2)the Skycap didn't care for an extra tip and refused to check it out front. In these cases, I only had a manager come measure the thing ONCE. My 5/4 always weighed in a little under 80lbs, which I think is the limit before they start charging, and the size was under the limit as well... and PT-6's are kinda tall. If someone at the front desk told me that they were gonna have to charge me extra, I told them to weigh it and measure it first because I've never had to pay for it yet. Most of them took my word, except for the one... and I still haven't paid for the thing. Good thing I wasn't packin' extra underpants inside the bell!
These were also suggestions givin to me by my teacher, Gene Pokorny, before I took my first tuba/plane trip. Just stick to your guns and make sure that, if they want to charge you, they weigh it and measure it first... so don't be late to the airport! Oh, and always check for damage as soon as it comes off the belt or through the "over-sized baggage" doors... I haven't had an incident yet, but make sure you open the case inside the airport, not when you get to your hotel or whatever. That's another story altogether.
Good luck!