I've Had It! $100.00 for 70+ lbs on American Airlines

[Ginger Dellenbaugh]

I travel quite a bit overseas, and as a new PSG player, I was a bit nervous about taking the instrument with me, so I called the airlines ahead of time.
Austrian Air had little problem with it, and I managed to bluff my way onto the American flight without a problem. It helped that I had them write on to my ticket information that I was bringing an instrument (I called Customer Service and insisted), and this kept me from paying a fee. That's a trick I learned from an cello player friend of mine....
However, it must be said that I have a rather lightweight Excel single neck, so it even fit in the overhead compartment!

Hope you have better luck next time! And yes, I agree, airline travel has gone to the dogs...