Posted by T.T. katz on July 09, 2003 at 18:47:17:
In Reply to: flying posted by Mary Ann on July 09, 2003 at 18:02:59:
I just flew quite a bit including some travel on southwest. Southwest was very willing to comply with my small requests. On the way over (out of buffalo) i had to pay 45 bucks because it was overweight (i think it was 70+ lbs). on the way home, (from phoenix) i tipped the sky cap a few bucks at the curb and it was all taken care of...no extra 45 dollar charge. I also asked if i could go with it to security in case it needed to be opened ( a tip i learned from my buddy mr. breaker) they walked me down the curb and they scanned it with a detector and said you're all set. Only snag is that when i got back to buffalo one of the locks on the case was torn off. (by the way, duct tape down the locks to the case incase they pop open) i complained to the baggage office and they said i could send it to dallas for 6-8 weeks and they'd fix it free, or i could get a $200 flight coupon. I naturally opted for the 200 bucks because the case was only a $10 fix anyways. the case was similar to a large walt johnson. I think the heavier stuff is actually safer than the lighter stuff (i.e. yamaha 621's) cause i just flew to germany and not only did they lose the horn (i got it about 9 hours later) but it came with a small crack in the bottom bow of the case and a small dent. The smaller the case, the more "tossable" it is. However, put some fragile signs on it, duct tape the locks *i actually wouldn't even bother locking them, cause if they need to inspect it they'll break the locks* and tip the skycap and you should be all set. the worst that would happen is a 45$ overweight fee and it's really not that bad.
-t.t.
aka christian carichner