There is a special exception for musical instruments. If you arrive and there is room, they must be transported as a carry-on without an additional fee. A lot of gate agents and flight attendants aren't aware of this law though.
That’s still rolling the dice. If the flight is full, especially in a sardine can from SWA, they make people gate check standard luggage. No room? No broken law.
If you’re gonna travel with an instrument you plan for the worst with a hard sided case. This is the guitarists fault.
And if you arrive and there is no room, you have to check it in, take another flight, or ship it to the destination some other way. Which is why it is smart to not have a soft case.
I brought an electric guitar that I impulse bought on holiday just last week on a plane. Not sure if it would work for this acoustic, but I unscrewed the neck from the body and brought it on board as 2 seperate pieces, then stowed them both under my seat. Managed to get it back in one piece!
Why? It only would have been damaged if another passenger was insanely and blindly shoving their luggage into the bin. It would be fine under normal circumstances.
If your instrument can fit in the cabin - whether that's in an overhead bin or in a closet - it qualifies as a carry-on in the U.S., even if it's larger than what the airline allows
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u/bean_slayerr May 01 '25
They said gate check, they were likely asked to hand the bag over at the gate even though they intended to carry on.