Transporting uke (Vacation)

muzikengineer

muzikengineer

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Good Morning UU!!

Happy Holidays! Hope everybody is doing swell!

Got a question,

I don't have a case for my ukulele yet, I still got the original box i got with the ukulele. I am going to be going to Iowa for two weeks starting on Friday of this week. I want to bring my ukulele with me. I can't bring it on as a carry on because im bringing my ps3 also...LOL (As you can see, There isn't much to do in iowa...2 degrees with a foot of snow on the ground)

What I am thinking about doing is putting it back into its original box, wrapping it in a bunch of towels. Then packing it in the suitcase......I am flying from Dallas To Atlanta then to Moline illinois ....The fact that its gonna be taken out of one plane then put in another kinda bugs me.........

If i pack it in the suitcase pretty tightly it shouldn't have a problem....What do you guys think?
 
muzikengineer said:
Good Morning UU!!

Happy Holidays! Hope everybody is doing swell!

Got a question,

I don't have a case for my ukulele yet, I still got the original box i got with the ukulele. I am going to be going to Iowa for two weeks starting on Friday of this week. I want to bring my ukulele with me. I can't bring it on as a carry on because im bringing my ps3 also...LOL (As you can see, There isn't much to do in iowa...2 degrees with a foot of snow on the ground)

What I am thinking about doing is putting it back into its original box, wrapping it in a bunch of towels. Then packing it in the suitcase......I am flying from Dallas To Atlanta then to Moline illinois ....The fact that its gonna be taken out of one plane then put in another kinda bugs me.........

If i pack it in the suitcase pretty tightly it shouldn't have a problem....What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Hey if it's a hard case and you pack the uke in its original box then pack in soft clothing around that then I reckon it should be okay. As long as there is plenty of material in between the uke box and the outside of the case. I'd pack as much as possible as I've seen how luggage handlers treat baggage.
 
upskydowncloud said:
Hey if it's a hard case and you pack the uke in its original box then pack in soft clothing around that then I reckon it should be okay. As long as there is plenty of material in between the uke box and the outside of the case. I'd pack as much as possible as I've seen how luggage handlers treat baggage.
Click to expand...

Thats what im concerned about lol....I can see it now...If i see the luggage guy throw my bag on the plane. I'll jump threw that 5 inch glass and go all crazy on them lol :eek:

The good thing is, it survived UPS in that box lol
 
Pack it so that no part of the uke's box is touching the suitcase, and it sshould be okay.

Be sure to loosen the strings so they're real slack before packing your uke. That way you don't have to worry about the neck bowing due to the expansion and contraction of the wood due to temp and humidity changes. You don;t want any tension on that neck while it's traveling!!!

Also if your uke is a solid wood one, when you land in the place of cold and get the suitcase inside, don't unwrap and open iup the toweled uke box for 24 hours. That will give your uke a chance to acclimate itself slowly to the new temp/humidity environment, so you'll lesses the chance of cracks developing. If your uke is all laminate, you don't have to worry about cracks.
 
muzikengineer said:
Thats what im concerned about lol....I can see it now...If i see the luggage guy throw my bag on the plane. I'll jump threw that 5 inch glass and go all crazy on them lol :eek:

The good thing is, it survived UPS in that box lol
Click to expand...

i guarantee they'll be throwing your bag on the plane. not only that, they'll be throwing 50lb+ bags right on top of it, so make sure you pad that thing really well. or better yet, sling it over your shoulder in a soft bag. that could be your 1 personal item in addition to your 1 allowed carry-on(ps3).
 
I agree with russ. The baggage handlers are not careful with anyones bags. I would try to carry it on. Put your ps3 in a backpack and carry on the uke. I have traveled with a backpack and a uke as carry-ons.
 
russ_buss said:
i guarantee they'll be throwing your bag on the plane. not only that, they'll be throwing 50lb+ bags right on top of it, so make sure you pad that thing really well. or better yet, sling it over your shoulder in a soft bag. that could be your 1 personal item in addition to your 1 allowed carry-on(ps3).
Click to expand...

Yea im gonna see if i can try and do that...Not sure how big if a bag i can carry on though.......

I thought about putting my ps3 within the luggage, and take the Hard drive out of the ps3 and bringing the HD with me on the carry on......But i am sure one of the airport employees kids wants a ps3 for xmas lol.......

I am gonna investigate into bringing them both with me........I wonder if i get a soft case and tie it to the carry on, if they'll allow that as 1 bag.....lol
 
For carry-on baggage, all customers traveling on AirTran Airways will be restricted to one carry-on item and one personal item. Personal items include handbags, umbrellas, walking sticks, coats, cameras, reading matter, infant food, briefcases, and laptop computers.

Hmmm i wonder if they'll allow an 8 string Tenor uke as a personal item :confused:

Hey, I could do a 3 airport ukulele tour and make some money...Could make the ticket fee back....150 bucks is a pretty cheap plane ticket though lol
 
I know others have said this already, but I'd be reeeeeally nervous to put that uke in the bag you're checking. Those things sustain a lot of tossing around, and the luggage handlers show no mercy. If you can carry it on, my vote is to do that. :)
 
When we flew to the States this summer, Rich had his tenor for a carry-on and a backpack as his personal item. My concert was my personal item and our cat was my carry-on.

Last summer we were taking more instruments (4 ukes and a mandolin). We put them each in a gig bag. Then we used inflatable pool mats to pad the whole bag with clothes for filler.
 
I just traveled with my uke and xbox360. I carried both on the plane. My xbox was placed in my backpack (7 day hiking pack) and I carried my uke on as a personal item. It didn't even fit underneath the seat but the flight attendant was cool with it. Stop worrying you'll be fine just don't check it. I did that with my telecaster when I got out of the Marines and had to buy a new case. The guitar survived but the case didn't.
 
Thanks guys :music:

Last year i took my ps3 on a flight and had no problems...The flight attendant actually took it and put it in with her personal cabinet.....

I'd go crazy without my uke for 2 weeks lol.....
 
Sticking it in a suitcase should be okay, as long as it doesn't rattle around. I've had success bringing ukes home this way. And my Kamaka soprano has traveled halfway around the world several times in a gig bag stuffed under the seat in front of me. I stuffed the gig bag with a couple new t-shirts for extra padding, and used the pocket in front to store anything else I'd need on the flight.
 
we just came back from a diving trip to bonaire and the uke was one of our carry-on items. Hubby had the backpack with laptop and the uke, I had the underwater camera in its case and a backpack. 9 hours on a plane and nothing happened. No worries.

Our trip to Hawaii was much the same with ukes and guitars as carry-on items. The staff was fantastic about making sure they got "safe" space in the overhead bins and even made for special room for my guitar.

So far the flight crews have been very accomodating and a much better choice than checking.

On a side note, security in Bonaire (on arrival) made hubby open the case so they could see as they had never seen one before. In that great Caribbean accent you could hear one guy say "Dats amazin, neb seen dat afore"
 
Well, everyone else said what I would say, but I'll say it anyway.

Since you have the original box, put your ukulele in the box just have it completely surrounded by some kind of soft material so that it can't, in any way, touch the box. Then put that box in a suitcase with some other (or same) kind of soft material surrounding the box. And when I say surrounded, I mean SURROUNDED. So much that it wouldn't even move inside if you threw it around a lot. That way you can just about sure nothing bad will happen to it.

Oh and, have fun on your vacation!
 
Carry it on....remember besides throwing 50 lb bags on it, it is possible your bag gets inspected. Do you really want some guy checking out your uke and not packing it back the way you did?
 
I'd carry it with me. And when the fasten seatbelt light comes on, CAPTIVE AUDIENCE:music:!
 
I'd carry it on. Here in Hawaii, when I travel interisland, the uke is considered a personal item. When my parents travel to the mainland, their Flukes are considered a personal item. I don't trust baggage handlers for beans.
 
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