I'm flying long haul in the new year and considering packing my cheaper ukulele into a large suitcase well padded. Just wondering has anyone got any experience of doing this. It's possible I may be able to get on as hand luggage but not sure yet.
My soprano, in a padded gig bag may have fit under the seat, but just barely. I didn't want to try that, so it went in the overhead. It's been many years since I've flown, and I was amazed at the behemoth "carry on" things people were dragging down the isle of the plane. I was just flying over & back for the day, so I had no checked luggage & my goal was to move quickly with just the items I needed for a day at the uke festival. If I was flying farther & staying longer, I still think I'd feel better carrying my uke on the plane with me.I just flew from Tampa to St. Louis this morning on Southwest with a beautiful new LoPrinzi concert, picked up from Donna on Wednesday.
The case was to long to fit under the seat, so it went into the overhead bin. The flight was completely full, so there were other things in the bin to keep it from moving around. I had an Oasis humidifier in the case, so the dry air in the plane wasn’t a problem (I hope - it looks fine).
The case was a few inches longer than what they say is the maximum, but nobody said anything. If they had, I would be in the airport Marriott waiting to send it FedEx tomorrow.
Anyone ever put one under seat in front of them? Are they too long?
Southwest jams bags in so tight I think they'd mess up even a hard foam case in the overhead.
Be very VERY careful taking online advice on flying with a uke. Getting refused it in the cabin ain’t gonna get fixed when you are at the gate by saying “I read it on UU”... the fact of the matter is, not only are all carriers different, they also all have a safety net in terms and conditions that if they gave no cabin room it goes in the hold. And no amount of arguments will change that when they are trying to depart. I’ve seen it myself with camera equipment...
The answer is always - check with your carrier and don’t rely on the word of others, even if they were successful in what you want to do.
This goes into more detail, from a UK perspective, but it applies anywhere. And I still had people arguing the point..
https://www.gotaukulele.com/2017/09/please-be-careful-with-your-airline.html