TromboneChat

I'm travelling in a few weeks with my marching band and our instruments are going on the plane. I was curious about what I should do about protecting my tenor trombone. I have a form-fitting case and I'm putting a Styrofoam cone wrapped in cloth inside the bell, but is there anything else I could do? I have insurance but I'm still worried about it being damaged. I can post a picture of the case if anyone needs it.

There are a couple of threads about this.

Couple of quick suggestions:

1.  Fill all free space in the case with underwear or bubble wrap.  Make sure the mouthpiece can't rattle around.
2.  Get a strap to put around the case so even if the latches open it will still stay closed.

3.  Have someone from your organization supervise loading and unloading of the instruments if possible.

Hi Chris,

Where are you traveling to/from? If you're using a U.S affiliated carrier, you can bring your trombone onboard . I've been doing this for a year now and I've never had a problem (although Virgin America did need a bit of persuading). Even a large-bore case fits nicely in the overhead. And you don't have to pay for the checked bag. By law (FAA), they have to do this.

I've also travelled in Europe too without problems, but I've heard from some people that it can be an issue.

-Pete

Quote from: peteriley on Mar 14, 2017, 06:43AMHi Chris,

Where are you traveling to/from? If you're using a U.S affiliated carrier, you can bring your trombone onboard . I've been doing this for a year now and I've never had a problem (although Virgin America did need a bit of persuading). Even a large-bore case fits nicely in the overhead. And you don't have to pay for the checked bag. By law (FAA), they have to do this.

I've also travelled in Europe too without problems, but I've heard from some people that it can be an issue.

-Pete

We're travelling from New York to Orlando by Jet Blue. I've traveled to Europe before with my instrument but the organization was supervising the loading and the instruments were put in boxes that said "Fragile" on them so I didn't worry too much. This time they're just being loaded as regular checked bags which is why I'm worried. We're not bringing our instruments on board because the band director wants them kept all in one place. The only exception is small instruments that can fit in carry-ons (flutes, piccolos, clarinets, etc).

I understand traveling with a group with a bunch of instruments can be challenging, but the band director needs to realize that some instruments WILL be damaged in transit, that's not a "maybe." Especially saxophones.

You can't control what TSA will do when they open every case and don't put it back the way you did.  At the very least, take your mouthpiece in your carry-on so they can't put it in the wrong place or leave it loose in the case.

Trombone cases DO fit in the overhead bins and most players carry them on.

When my daughter flew back to school on Jet Blue, "musical instrument" was like a magic word.  Originally they said that the trombone was bigger then their carry on specs, but once they know it was a "musical instrument" she was allowed to carry it on.

When my daughter flew back to school on Jet Blue, "musical instrument" was like a magic word.  Originally they said that the trombone was bigger then their carry on specs, but once they know it was a "musical instrument" she was allowed to carry it on.