Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Charges for flying with a tuba??


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Posted by Kenneth Sloan on September 17, 2003 at 09:20:41:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Charges for flying with a tuba?? posted by tubadad on September 17, 2003 at 07:37:23:

Agreed.

Except...it seems to me that the price for being the *first* tubist to discover that their airline is suddenly enforcing the L+W+H rules is a bit high.

And...the defense "but you didn't enforce the rules last time" sounds a bit to me like telling the State Trooper that you have been speeding on this section of the Interstate for the past 2 weeks, and no one has ever stopped you before.

wink, wink...nudge, nudge...is not a sound basis for a professional lifestyle.

If a blanket exemption for musical instruments is a good idea, then (in my opinion) the community should be working hard to get all airlines to make this official policy - and NOT advertising and rewarding those airlines that appear to be making exceptions to their written policies...this week. If the existing L+W+H rules are obsolete, then we should be pushing to have them repealed...not trying to game the system be discovering which airlines seem to ignore them.

I suspect that L+W+H is being enforced loosely because it's only a problem for some equipment (which may mean specific airports, or specific aircraft). I tend to read those rules in reverse. I think the rule says "if you exceed the L+W+H limit, then we MAY refuse to carry the bag...entirely at our whim, depending on the circumstances of the moment - but if you are under the limit then we guarantee that we WILL carry the bag". Viewed in this light, the experiences of other travellers, on other flights, is completely irrelevant. And again...the penalty for having your baggage rejected at the ticket counter 45 minutes before your flight leaves is extreme. The risk may be small, but the penalty is high.

Now, please understand, I don't travel with my tuba. But, if I did, and my career depended on it, I think that I would plan well in advance and get a clear statement of the airline's policy in writing. I don't think that would necessarily protect me from bad things happening...but I'd at least have a leg to stand on when I later sued for damages.

But then, I'm perverse. One of my favorite travel moments came when one major airport installed "luggage limit gates" on their security gate X-Ray machines. If your carry-on baggage didn't fit through the hole in the stainless steel plate blocking the conveyor belt, you did *not* get through security. The lines were *very* long that week, but there was lots and lots of legroom, and *plenty* of overhead storage, on all the flights.
(yes, my carry-on fit, and my checked bag made it to baggae claim before I did...)

Alas, that system was flawed, because the luggage limits were determined by the one airline that ran the security gates. Other airlines in the same terminal had different limits...so in a week or so the limiting plates were gone. A pity, in my opinion.

"Medallion Level means always finding overhead storage space for your computer, your briefcase, your two garment bags, and your euphonium"



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