Flying internationally with steel and gear...

[Ford Boswell]

I will fly to Germany for a tour in the fall and have been researching my options for gear. I have never flown with my steel before but I plan to take a GFI Ultra SD 10 steel, six-string electric, and a pack seat with all the cables and pedals needed inside and carry it on.

I will check my electric guitar and steel in a converted SKB flight case to get weight sub 50 lbs, but am wondering if I can fly with the pack seat. I have the smaller Steeler's Choice that's well within carry-on specs. I am considering carrying it on with a personal bag. Checking the steel, guitar, and suitcase.

I would hate to have to last minute check it with all that in it, plus pay the extra $$$

Searched the forum and found some great tips but wanted some thoughts and more recent experiences.

Any advice is appreciated.

[Tom Heyman]

I toured Europe with Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express with my GFI SD-10 Ultra in 2005 and 2006. I also had an ES-335 and all of my effects. I skipped the pack-a-seat and got all of my steel stuff and guitar pedal board, cables etc in one case, and had an adjustable drum throne as part of our requested backline. It all made it unscathed. I was able to get the 335 into the overhead bin. All told a 5 piece band put 7 guitars (couple of double gig bags) in the overheads. Our fellow passengers were not psyched about us bogarting so much space...Things have changed with airlines since then, and everything seems to be a series of moving targets.

[Dylan Ritter]

One thing to keep in mind is that once you get off the main big plane to cross Atlantic, any subsequent flights will be smaller and under Europe rules which do not accommodate instruments on board, so steel would definitely have to go checked and could encounter any series of resistance from agents and crews with anything not normal baggage wise.

One precaution is to always include a piece of paper with verbal and visual instructions inside, on top of, the packed steel so anyone who decides to check it out without you being there does not attempt to lift it by the rods. Apparently that has happened.