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Travelling by air with a rather large instrument (2) |
3. Go to gate - boarding
Continued from "Travelling by air with a rather large instrument (1) "
If you've gotten this far with your instrument, you have drastically
diminished the risks of damage caused by conveyor belts and rough
handling. Here you could decide to just let the instrument be carried
down to the cargo along with things such as baby car seats and buggies.
Alternatively you can try to get the instrument with you aboard the
plane.
Earlier we suggested you'd ask at the check-in desk if the flight was
full. That can be valuable information because if it isn't you could
try the following:
Be among the last people boarding the plane. Tell the person
checking the boarding passes that you know that the flight isn't full
and in those cases the stewardesses of this airline have often been
kind enough to allow you to take the instrument aboard the plane. Then
ask if it isn't OK if you talk to the stewardesses real quick before
the instrument is taken down to cargo.
This quite often works although it depends greatly on what type of
person is taking the boarding passes. The trick here is to make him/her
feel that they don't have to take any decisions on the matter. Many
people are very happy passing the responsibility on to the next person
in these kind of cases. As always, being polite and confident is very
important.
If you are allowed to talk to the stewardesses about the instrument, go
to item number 4. If they insist the instrument will be taken down to
cargo from the gate, please read on.
Even if you are told that the instrument will be picked up soon and you should board the plane, you should insist on talking to the person who will take the instrument.
Don't worry, the plane isn't allowed to leave until all persons who
have checked in bags are aboard the plane. Politely explain to the
person who takes the instrument to cargo that this is a very fragile
instrument and if he (or she) would be so kind as to find it a good
spot (where nothing can fall on it or where it can be thrown around) in the pressurized and heated section of the cargo.
This is the area where pets are kept. The temperature outside the
airplane is -50°C and that is not good for precious instruments (or
pets, for that matter). The people MusMap spoke to have quite often
heard this section referred to as “cabin 1” or “cargo 1” but this
probably varies from airplane to airplane.
4. Gate closed - aboard the plane
If you have got the permission to talk to the stewardesses you
should tell them that the person taking the boarding passes had told
you that the flight wasn't full and the kind stewardesses of this
airlines have in those cases often allowed you take the instrument
aboard the plane. As you were among the last people boarding, they will
have good overview of what seats are available. If they aren't
convinced they can find an appropriate seat, then tell them that you had the foresight of booking a window seat which isn't by an emergency exit
and you are willing to sit wherever if the instrument can take that
seat (for security reasons, instruments have to be in a window seat and
not by an emergency exit). This makes it difficult for them to say no,
but there is no guarantee that they won't. But if they do accept this,
you are more or less home and dry with the instrument aboard without
having it weighed and without buying an extra seat.
They may still try to say that the instrument won't fit in the seat and
the seat belt isn't long enough to strap it down. Almost all cello and
viola da gamba cases do fit if you turn them upside down in the seat. The seat belt can be secured around the shoulder straps or you can use a seat belt for infants as an extension
(it's not the way they are used for babies, but the buckles are the
same as on the regular seat belts so there is no problem using them in
this way. You can even "daisy-chain" more than one extension if needed).
Finally, if the instrument has been taken at the gate down to cargo
there is one more thing to do after you board the plane. Tell a
stewardess (or preferably the purser) that you have an instrument in
the heated and pressurized cargo section. Ask her (or him) if she can ask the pilot to make sure to turn on the heat in that section.
If there is no pet on board, they may not switch it on. The stewardess
probably doesn't know what the hell you are talking about, but just
explain this and ask her to talk to the pilot.
Read on here
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