I really do not want to pay for an extra seat just for my cello, nor do I want it in the baggage area. WHat do I do? (I have a fibreglass case)

Get a coach

You can't really on a flight, although you could try and speak to the airline, or be really really nice to the cabin crew since they usually are willing to look after some smaller fragile baggages (a silver tongue and some puppy eyes might be handy here).

thanks.

It depends on who you're flying with, to be honest. In most cases though you will have to purchase an extra seat to carry a cello - it's only fair if you want to bring such a large item and don't want it in the baggage hold.

Alternatively take a coach as someone has already suggested, much less hassle there!

Allan

as I'm travelling with the cello back from china to the uk, I don't think I'll be able to take a coach. I'm flying with emirates, and I don't know much about them. What do you think about shipping it, and would it be too expensive?

Go to repututable courier firm like DHL, Fedex etc.. nad get a quote for shipping back to the UK. Use their website or ring them up.

Understatment !

Don't even think about taking it on the plane if you are flying from Heathrow Terminal 5 !!!
I would ask your teacher what they think, and not take it unless it's very necessary. Temperature change etc. might not be good for it and I know baggage handlers aren't always very gentle with stuff (although I know they work very hard)
Aside from this topic, what Grade 5 cello pieces are you doing? I'm doing it in June (very nervous, it's my first AB cello exam as we do school exams up till G4 and I've only played for 2 years) and I'm playing Sabre Dance, Wie Melodien..., and the Minuet and Variation.
Good luck

adoring I suffer by handel
borodin's noturne or tchaikvosky's sleeping beauty
gadfly by shostakovich or the elegy.

Look on their website, e-mail and/or call their customer service centre and get help straight from them. That should be more useful than us speculating on what we can't really comment on.

My former viola teacher took her precious violin on the plane in the hold and it was OK. She wrapped it very thoroughly in bubble wrap, put 'fragile' labels all over the case and put it through the special baggage handling. It worked for her, but I wouldn't like to say that it will be OK for everyone. Someone on the flight I just took from the Far East had a guitar in her hands! Dunno what she did with it as it was a massive plane and I didn't see her after that, but it was there, no case etc. Get in touch with the airline direct, much better.

BTW all, I get the impression that s/he bought the cello in China and is wanting to bring it back, not that they are going and want to take their cello with them for a short while.

Hi Trammie

I'm having the same problem as you are regarding the cello. Other alternative you can try is to rent a cello prior/when you get to UK. Look at the thread "Looking to rent a cello" in the teacher section to see if it's suitable for your situation.

I've had to put my violin in the hold, without bubble wrap . Luckily I had a decent case and it was ok, but I was not happy . I wasn't allowed to take my violin in the cabin because even without the case, it didn't fit within the little box they had at check-in (of course, when I got on to the plane there was plenty of excess space in the overhead compartments!). Incidentally, the staff on the return flight let me take both violin and another piece of hand luggage into the cabin.

As elisabeth_rb says, emailing the airline is a very good idea (and something I'll definitely be doing when/if I fly with an instrument again!). If you get a positive response, remember to keep a printout of the email with your instrument too.

thanks for all the advice.

trammie.x

If you're going to purchase from Yita, they will handle the postage for you back to the UK - they use large shipment firms and are very used to shipping all over the world, it'll be fine.

loads of helpful advice.

much appreciated, trammie x

UK airports are the toughest on this one. You're strictly allowed one piece of hand luggage here to get throug security, but I've never had that enforced on the way home.

I think it depends on who's on duty, though - I recently flew to the UK for a short stay and had no problems on the way out (as usual, you usually get special treatment from French airline staff if you have a musical instrument - which is odd) and was thoroughly expecting trouble on the way back when leaving the UK (I always get questions like 'what's in the case sir' after it's just gone through the X-ray machine - or they try to tell me at the plane door that I can't take it on etc) - but this time no one said anything at all - I had my usual piece of hand luggage and also my fiddle in its normal case and it was fine both ways.