FYI: BA and guitars (again)
Feb 24, 2018, 12:27 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Programs: UA, BA, AA
Posts: 26
Hello. This is somewhat of a specialist subject for me now. the BA customer services line on this is that they have not changed their policy, though their customer services team were quoted by a national newspaper as saying that the policy has changed. The reason for the change-not-change is that new BA aircraft have slimmer seats in Y to increase the number of seats, and current BA aircraft are being refurbished for the same reason. This means overheard locker space will be at more of a premium on some planes, and of course, it's all of the guitars that all of us musicians are stuffing up there on every flight causing a problem.
Check in staff will look at you as if you're bringing munitions on board if you arrive at the desk with a guitar. They'll tell you that hard cases must be checked, and that soft cases must have a seat. Save yourself the trouble by keeping it out of their eyeline. They don't want to have the conversation either, as the know the new rules are stupid. BA cabin crew have all been great, and have always found somewhere to put the guitar if there's no room in the overhead. Even on 'completely full' flights in E170s out of LCY, there's room in the overhead compartments. On a widebody plane, there's enough closest space to accommodate a mariachi band or three.
I flew BKK-KUL-LHR-AMS/AMS-LHR-PHX-SJO at Christmas in F. At AMS the check in agents tried to deny me boarding because I had a guitar in a soft case. They suggested I buy a seat for the guitar, in First, for £4,000, despite the fact that I'd literally just flown halfway around the world with it. That's the state of play with this ridiculous policy. Another musician I know recently was ordered to buy a seat next to her in Y for her instrument, but after an hour at the ticket desk, nobody could figure out to charge for it, so she was allowed to carry it on with her in the end. It's ludicrous.
From experience, EasyJet, Bangkok Air, American, and most others will allow you to carry your guitar on board as your hand luggage, without booking it a seat. American, too. Swiss insist that you book it a seat, this can be done over the phone relatively easily. Cathay and Singapore will insist that you check it (at the gate if you plead with them). LATAM domestic will make you wait until literally everyone else has boarded, then you can try to find somewhere in the overhead to stow it.
Check in staff will look at you as if you're bringing munitions on board if you arrive at the desk with a guitar. They'll tell you that hard cases must be checked, and that soft cases must have a seat. Save yourself the trouble by keeping it out of their eyeline. They don't want to have the conversation either, as the know the new rules are stupid. BA cabin crew have all been great, and have always found somewhere to put the guitar if there's no room in the overhead. Even on 'completely full' flights in E170s out of LCY, there's room in the overhead compartments. On a widebody plane, there's enough closest space to accommodate a mariachi band or three.
I flew BKK-KUL-LHR-AMS/AMS-LHR-PHX-SJO at Christmas in F. At AMS the check in agents tried to deny me boarding because I had a guitar in a soft case. They suggested I buy a seat for the guitar, in First, for £4,000, despite the fact that I'd literally just flown halfway around the world with it. That's the state of play with this ridiculous policy. Another musician I know recently was ordered to buy a seat next to her in Y for her instrument, but after an hour at the ticket desk, nobody could figure out to charge for it, so she was allowed to carry it on with her in the end. It's ludicrous.
From experience, EasyJet, Bangkok Air, American, and most others will allow you to carry your guitar on board as your hand luggage, without booking it a seat. American, too. Swiss insist that you book it a seat, this can be done over the phone relatively easily. Cathay and Singapore will insist that you check it (at the gate if you plead with them). LATAM domestic will make you wait until literally everyone else has boarded, then you can try to find somewhere in the overhead to stow it.
Sounds like a nightmare.
I am not sure when the policy supposedly changed. Do you happen to know?
You are right, I have always kept the guitar out of sight under a raincoat and just taken onboard. Once past the check-in people, I have found some gate agents give me a hard time, but others will even let me board first to find a spot. Cabin staff are never a problem.
I'd have tried this approach again if I hadn't been warned by Little Girl (on this site) that BA's policy had changed and that I should watch out.
Traveling with a guitar is always horribly stressful, and you can never be sure where you stand. What to do?
Cheers,
BIrksworks
Feb 24, 2018, 1:01 pm
#17
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 1,578
BA claim to have (not) changed the policy in October 2017. No announcement was made, and even holders of existing tickets were subject to the (not) new 'rules' from then. A slight change of working was made on BA's baggage policy page, that was it. Nothing on social or email. It's almost as if they were ashamed of it, or something...
Feb 24, 2018, 2:03 pm
#18
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,771
Thanks for your reply.
Indeed, I was first told to use method (2) ( call sales, book both at the same time). Then when I called back to do that, the 'change ticket' expert insisted that this was completely wrong and that I had to do method (1) (web booking, add instrument). He also said that he was able to add the guitar and charge me. I asked him to wait whil eI did he booking and he said I should ring him back-- giving me his name an extension number. He said I could speak directly to him again.
Naturally, when I rang back, person three said there was no way to speak to person two and that person two was wrong in any case. He then decided he should call bakc in 20 minutes , once he figured out what to so (he had no idea, although he knew person two was wrong). Person three phoned back and said, well, he could not do it, but some back office could do it and that it would be done in 24 hours. Call 24 hours later, person four says: no one can speak to this team, we just need to wait until they get around to it. Also, we have no idea what they will charge.
Shambolic?
Indeed, I was first told to use method (2) ( call sales, book both at the same time). Then when I called back to do that, the 'change ticket' expert insisted that this was completely wrong and that I had to do method (1) (web booking, add instrument). He also said that he was able to add the guitar and charge me. I asked him to wait whil eI did he booking and he said I should ring him back-- giving me his name an extension number. He said I could speak directly to him again.
Naturally, when I rang back, person three said there was no way to speak to person two and that person two was wrong in any case. He then decided he should call bakc in 20 minutes , once he figured out what to so (he had no idea, although he knew person two was wrong). Person three phoned back and said, well, he could not do it, but some back office could do it and that it would be done in 24 hours. Call 24 hours later, person four says: no one can speak to this team, we just need to wait until they get around to it. Also, we have no idea what they will charge.
Shambolic?
Feb 24, 2018, 2:30 pm
#19
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: MME (midway between NCL and LBA)
Programs: BA Gold, AF/KL Gold, Hilton Gold, Nordic Choice Gold
Posts: 743
BA will be reluctant to amend their website to allow instruments to be booked online. This is a niche market and it could be abused by passengers who don't fancy paying APD.
Surely the simplest process would be for the passenger to book 2 tickets plus seat reservations, then call the call centre to put the instrument details in the ticket notes/flag the seat as a non pax, and then for the passenger put a claim in to BA to get the APD (and any other taxes) back?
Surely the simplest process would be for the passenger to book 2 tickets plus seat reservations, then call the call centre to put the instrument details in the ticket notes/flag the seat as a non pax, and then for the passenger put a claim in to BA to get the APD (and any other taxes) back?
Feb 24, 2018, 4:46 pm
#20
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 1,578
Surely the simplest process would be for the passenger to book 2 tickets plus seat reservations, then call the call centre to put the instrument details in the ticket notes/flag the seat as a non pax, and then for the passenger put a claim in to BA to get the APD (and any other taxes) back?
Feb 25, 2018, 1:17 am
#21
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: UK. BAEC AAdvantage
Programs: Mucci Des Oeufs Brouilles et des Canards
Posts: 3,671
BA will be reluctant to amend their website to allow instruments to be booked online. This is a niche market and it could be abused by passengers who don't fancy paying APD.
Surely the simplest process would be for the passenger to book 2 tickets plus seat reservations, then call the call centre to put the instrument details in the ticket notes/flag the seat as a non pax, and then for the passenger put a claim in to BA to get the APD (and any other taxes) back?
Surely the simplest process would be for the passenger to book 2 tickets plus seat reservations, then call the call centre to put the instrument details in the ticket notes/flag the seat as a non pax, and then for the passenger put a claim in to BA to get the APD (and any other taxes) back?
Feb 25, 2018, 2:48 am
#22
Join Date: May 2006
Location: 5 miles from EMA
Programs: BD, BAEC Pleb, VS Pleb, Accor Pleb, HHonors Gold, Big White Season Pass
Posts: 5,904
Just been looking at Secret Flying which had a self build RTW fare that included Ryanair flights. Clicking through the booking process to see how much the initial £9 leg increased when you added the extras I saw that you can indeed book in up to 2 musical instruments online - at £54 each!! If a company like Ryanair can do this online and avoid the expense of having a call centre operative work out what to amend and refund, then surely BA could do the same and ensure that there is no abuse. If their business analysts can't think of all the edge cases open for abuse and how to avoid them, they need to get some new people on board.
Feb 25, 2018, 9:57 am
#24
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: SW London
Programs: BAEC Silver; Hilton Diamond;a miscellany of other hotel non-statuses
Posts: 3,607
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Feb 25, 2018, 11:40 am
#25
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Relocated to YYJ in 2017, got bored and moved to YVR
Programs: AC - Elite 50K, BA - down to Bronze, SQ - down to Silver, IHG - Platinum, Hilton - Diamond
Posts: 47
The Slipped Disc classical music website is running a story on similar lines. The Kronos quartet were refused loading in Abu Dhabi, and say they will never use BA again. The comments below reflect a lot of anger from musicians struggling to book their instruments on flight. Kronos Quartet: ?We will not fly British Airways again? ? Slipped Disc
It's a niche market, but it seems as though it is too much trouble for BA to address
It's a niche market, but it seems as though it is too much trouble for BA to address
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Feb 25, 2018, 12:44 pm
#28
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 1,578
Feb 25, 2018, 1:26 pm
#29
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: LON, ACK, BOS..... (Not necessarily in that order)
Programs: **Mucci Diamond Hairbrush** - compared to that nothing else matters (+BA Bronze)
Posts: 15,132
This is what JAXBA said about this the last time I remember it coming up on here.
I saw that about guitars, and while I'm not entirely sure, I don't think the policy is too different. BA.com currently says:
If anything has changed, it'll be that an EXST is now required for guitars as CBBG - before it may have been optional.
Originally Posted by subject load
…an apparent change of rule - for the worse, it seems - affecting pax wishing to transport their musical instruments.
https://www.britishairways.com/en-us...al-instruments
You can take your guitar with you on our aircraft as baggage checked into the hold. It will be counted as one item of baggage so please check your allowance.
All guitars carried on our aircraft must be packed in a hard case to prevent damage. We cannot accept a guitar in a soft case for travel. You will be asked to package it appropriately before it can be checked into the hold.
Guitars are not allowed in the cabin as hand baggage as they are too long for the available stowage space. You will need to check your guitar into the hold or you can buy an extra seat for it, subject to availability.
You can purchase an extra seat next to you to secure your guitar in the cabin, depending on availability. It's not possible to do this online so you will need to contact us or your travel agent at least 24 hours before your flight departs.
If you arrive at the airport and haven't booked an extra seat in advance, please speak to a British Airways representative. If there are appropriate seats available in your cabin of travel, you may be able to buy an extra seat. Otherwise you will need to check your instrument into the hold.
You can take your guitar with you on our aircraft as baggage checked into the hold. It will be counted as one item of baggage so please check your allowance.
All guitars carried on our aircraft must be packed in a hard case to prevent damage. We cannot accept a guitar in a soft case for travel. You will be asked to package it appropriately before it can be checked into the hold.
Guitars are not allowed in the cabin as hand baggage as they are too long for the available stowage space. You will need to check your guitar into the hold or you can buy an extra seat for it, subject to availability.
You can purchase an extra seat next to you to secure your guitar in the cabin, depending on availability. It's not possible to do this online so you will need to contact us or your travel agent at least 24 hours before your flight departs.
If you arrive at the airport and haven't booked an extra seat in advance, please speak to a British Airways representative. If there are appropriate seats available in your cabin of travel, you may be able to buy an extra seat. Otherwise you will need to check your instrument into the hold.
Feb 26, 2018, 3:50 am
#30
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Programs: UA, BA, AA
Posts: 26
Correct. My guitar fits in nearly all overheads, with the exception of 767's, where the overheads seem designed to hold one rolling carry-on