Carrying on a guitar
 

So, later today I'll be checking a bag on a Republic-branded F9 flight. Why? Because I've got to bring a guitar home to family (DEN-SAT), and I trust my carry-on skills more than the skills of F9 baggage handlers to get the instrument safely from point A to point B.

At least I hope I'll be able to carry on...

For those of you wondering what all the other pax will do with an instrument potentially taking over the entire overhead bin, I'm sitting in 3A, on an E9B configured aircraft. So I'm on the single-seat side of 1x2 seating. 38" seat pitch might even allow me to squeeze the instrument in under my feet.

This actually isn't the first time that I've travelled with this instrument, but the last time it happened was in May 2008, when I and two other people brought 90% of my stuff from college back to TX on an A319. This included two instruments (the guitar was in the overhead that time) and lots of checked bags (which were free at the time).

Any bets on where I'll have to end up putting the instrument? I'm a bit leery of checking because its case is *barely* a hard case.

I am fairly certain an acoustic guitar will not in the overhead of an E190. These bins are only about 15" deep by 12" tall. The fits a carry on rollerboard turned sideways and nothing any bigger. The bins are even smaller for rows 1-4 on the aircraft with the 2 x 1 stretch configuration.

The maximum allowable carry-on size for E90 is 24 x 16 x 10 in.

If this will not work, you might ask if they will check the case at the end of the jetway, and handle it like they handle strollers.

I saw that you tweeted @FronterCare and the reply only indicated a max wt of 35#; did not really address size considerations.

I wonder if they flight attendant could put it in their closet? (Do they have FA closets on the E90?)

If my memory serves me correctly, the 190 has no closets

They actually do but I cannot confirm whether all the aircraft do. I was able to put my camera bag in it in July when I was in a bulkhead row and no overhead space was remained.

I recently saw someone carry on a guitar without a case at all, I assume so that they would not be forced to gate check the item. I guess there is risk as with anything being checked, but in my experience instruments are treated with utmost care and I have never seen one damaged.

If you're on an E190 with the 1x2 section, the 1-side is barely deep enough to hold a six-pack (hey...there's an idea) but the bins over the 2-side are larger than the normal E190 bins. My roller bag easily fits straight-in like it does on the Airbus, while it only fits cross-wise in all other E190 bins A guitar *may* fit, although it might take up just about all the space. In my mind a guitar is huge and wouldn't fit in any bin on any aircraft, but that's perhaps not an accurate mental image.

There are three different versions of the 190. Each version is configured differently.

Ended up gate checking the guitar, which arrived safely in San Antonio (bag belt is flat, unlike in Denver), after looking above my seat at the rather pitiful amount of overhead bin space available there (and before I noticed that the other side of the plane had bins at least as deep as those on a 319).

If I had paid attention to the other side of the plane, I probably could have bin-hogged and placed my guitar there (the instrument fits into the overhead on a 319). However I had checked a bag already so the convenience advantage of keeping the guitar in the passenger compartment was slim to none.

In somewhat related news, people from the airport to the plane were all quite polite/helpful Thursday evening. Also, I'll take a 38" pitch, 20" wide window-and-aisle seat as a $20 upgrade any day of the week :)