Originally Posted by
aacharya
To be fair, one doesn't go and do that at the gate when told there's no overhead space left.
And by that time, the price of a seat is 3x the replacement cost of the guitar. If there's even a seat available for purchase, that is.
Originally Posted by
blueman2
To quote my favorite parent's saying: "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part". This guy should have never expected to be able to get a large item like that on a plane. He should have planned for this issue. Either by buying a seat for it, or making sure it was stored in a very solid case (that one apparently was not).
Why not? I'm sure it's not his first time flying and he's likely boarded with his bass many times before. I several times have and it's never been an issue. In fact, a guitar (or bass) lies very flat and neatly stacks on top of bags in the overhead bin taking little to no valuable space from others.