Taking a musical instrument as hand luggage?

We are flying from LHR to LAX on 1st Aug, for the first time ever taking the plunge and going Premium Economy.

First of all I would love to have any feedback from anyone who has flown PE on this route??

My main question though is that we want to take my son's Euphonium out to him and I wonder if there is any chance that we will be able to take it as hand luggage (even though it's larger than the 'allowed' size)? I'm just worried as it's quite valuable although obviously well insured. What's the best way to go about this? Phone customer service in advance or just hope that we get a sympathetic check in clerk on the day??

Open to any suggestions!! Thank you

quote:Originally posted by Sacal

My main question though is that we want to take my son's Euphonium out to him and I wonder if there is any chance that we will be able to take it as hand luggage (even though it's larger than the 'allowed' size)? I'm just worried as it's quite valuable although obviously well insured. What's the best way to go about this? Phone customer service in advance or just hope that we get a sympathetic check in clerk on the day??





I am sure it wont be allowed so it you DONT what to check it then you may have to consider buying an additional seat for it.

Hackneyguy

Have not done the LHR-LAX route but have a look in the TR section and there should be some reports.

On the instrument this is what the VS FAQa say:

'Can I carry musical instruments onboard?

Passengers carrying one musical instrument in its case, which is too large to fit within the cabin baggage allowance, may carry it through the airport security checkpoint subject to the relevant Airport Authority approval, where it will be taken at the departure gate for loading into the hold of the aircraft.

This item will incur excess baggage charges if it is in excess of your free baggage allowance.'

So you will be relieved of it at the gate - as with the 'wedding dress question' - there is simply not the room for it in the cabin.

You should also check with BAA - http://www.baa.com on their regulations because if you can't get it through security you will have to check it in anyway.

I don't know about Euphoniums, but I do know about Premium. To me, it's a really good idea - generally not that much more than Economy, but an awful lot more comfort - more room, and less 'cattle' treatment. It's also 'friendlier' than Upper, as the Upper 'suites' are a bit isolating - when I travel that way with my wife, it's very difficult to talk over the partition, and sitting on her little stool isn't the most comfortable

Enjoy the premium experience, and share your findings with us afterwards

Back in the day when I moved out here, I took my guitar on one of my trips out. CC were very kind, and allowed it to fly Upper Class [:)]

Technically, there might be space in the UC cupboards, but it's tough to determine. My guitar wasn't exactly on the cost scale of the instrument you were talking about, so I took a chance, and many years later still have the instrument.

I flew in PE LHR-LAX in early April 09 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Aircraft was the A340-600 fitted out with the new PE purple leather seats and the extra space of PE, together with VPORT, made the 10 1/2 hour flight seem to whizz by.

I think that the only slight downside to PE on the A340-600 (compared to PE in the bubble of the Gatwick 747's) is the fact that it is a fairly small cabin which at one end has the galley and at the other the toilets.

On the flight out CC made a point of requesting that passengers stay within their own cabin and in general they seemed to - on the way back there was no such announcement and there seemed to be a steady flow of economy passengers using PE toilets. Minor point perhaps as the only PE pax who would really notice this would be those in the back row of the PE cabin (although possibly annoying for them).

There were 6 in our party when we flew to LAX and we chose seats 19/20/21 H & K as we figured that we would be at least one row from both the galley and the toilets and this semed to work for us.

Also worth remembering - PE gets you off the aircraft before economy and this can be a real advantage in respect of imigration queues. (subject to other flights landing around the same time though!)

Summary - PE is excellent and your going to love it!

Hope this helps.