AA_EXP09

There unfortunately do appear to be a lot of the former as well...

drvannostren

Not blaming the musician here, it sounds like this was a total cluster F, but why wouldn't you just book it with AC? Unless booking a really complex itinerary (which this wasn't) why bother going to a travel agency? Call AC, tell them you want whatever flight, you've got a cello and to pay for the seat then reserve them. Then if they screw up, it's 100% on them.

AA_EXP09

commissionable/net fares were available/requirement from a company/travel arranged by a company?
Sometimes AC's web site/agents will not give you all the flight options either (especially on international routings that are very simple.)
The web site also has a tendency to minimise segments, which is not always desired if trying to get the lowest price.
(i.e. I have seen a UA fare SFO-IAH-EWR-PAR-FRA-DEL (destination)-FRA-LON-CHI-EWR-SFO that had availability in K class on all UA/LH sectors. It did not show up on UA.com where the cheapest available fare was a L fare SFO-FRA-DEL v.v.)

drvannostren

I've had to buy stuff via our corporate travel agent, and MAYBE that's the case here, but then I sure hope she's complained to them as well.

ken98230

They really did...unreal.

drvannostren

I was amazed at that one too ken98230, my follow up question, was what do "people of size" get? If they book 2 tickets, that's technically still just 1 person, do they get double miles?

The DL policy on that makes no sense, also, I didn't read where they contacted him and told him to stop, or that it wasn't ok, so instead they just wipe out his account? Bogus.

jlisi984

I'm always shocked that those VFR or summer travellers get away with carrying on their guitars without paying for an extra seat.

I remember speaking with a cellist once who said "I don't like the 767 because my cello doesn't fit in the overhead bin" (he was buying a separate seat anyways but wanted it to be free then?! )

I understand if Bryan Adams has 4-5 guitars he can't buy seats for all of them. But if he's traveling with that many instruments it's probably a tour in which case there's a tour truck, bus, or RV. Otherwise I don't see why he'd travel with more than 2 guitars really...

In the classical world, people rarely (read: never) check their instruments except when on tour with major orchestras which have cargo shipping crates set up. Complicates things for cellists the most, double basses too (though they don't really travel so much alone and their instruments are both less delicate and less valuable). While I have other challenges as a pianist (finding a piano, playing on bad pianos and adjusting to them chief among them) I'm happy I don't have to deal with the headache of taking my instrument with me.

I don't understand why they opened his guitar (and why the case wasn't locked!) but certainly any marker or grease pencil can be washed off without any damage. Stupid? Yes! But huge problem? He should take it as a lesson.

YOWgary

Well before you hit Adams' level, you end up with a lot of "fly dates". For example, you might play a show in Vancouver on Friday night, then fly early to make your 4PM slot at a festival in Saskatoon the next day. Or, also very common, you're not on tour but you've got to fly the whole band and crew to Montreal to play two shows and then come home.

In this kind of situation, there's no way of getting a tour bus or a truck from one show to the next in time, so the artists and crew fly with only the gear that can't be rented locally. For rock bands, this is usually guitars, laptops and not a lot else; you can rent the same Rhodes stage piano anywhere, but guitars are generally a pretty personal thing.

As for flying with 4-5 guitars, you'll have two or three electrics, an acoustic or two and maybe a twelve-string, and that's if you're just a middle-of-the-road guitarist. Next time you see a bigger show, watch as the roadies hand the guitarist a new instrument after each song; that's so they can check over and re-tune one while the other is being played, which is why you rarely hear a (good) band stop in the middle a show while they try to find B flat.

1Newflyer

Think about that.

I don't think my post or yours will go You-Tube but Adam's tweet did.

1Newflyer

Ultimately its the employees, right. The question remains who's?

KenHamer

You must be new to flying.

TSA.

They are called "permanent markers" for a reason.

why fly

for some people who love AC this seems to be acceptable.

jlisi984

TSA doesn't open baggage from YYZ to Detroit without connections.

And trust me no marker is permanent on a solid surface. (on fabric that's a different story!)

YEG_SE4Life

Perhaps that balances out those who immediately jump all over one of the groups who have handled the item, without reviewing the facts.

mkjr

anyone know what the notations mean?