Tenor in Overhead Compartment?

[Balladeer]

I have the opportunity to travel to Europe with a small group of musicians. Though my tenor case is a nice, shaped SKB case. I will not allow my tenor to leave my possession or travel in the cargo hold. Can anyone tell me whether the shaped, SKB tenor cases will fit in the overhead compartment of the aircraft?

[Zoot Horn]

It depends on the plane. I have a case like yours, and it would fit sometimes, if the plane is big enough and if I got there first - the bins fill up fast.

Talk to the airline -- call the 800 number for tickets and reservations -- and ask their policies. My sense is that their policies are more lenient than we normally assume.

[Bootman]

The SKB should fit, I know the Hiscox fits effortlessly.

[tledjazz]

I have carried my SKB onto airliners with no problem. If you ever try to get it in the the overhead of a Greyhound bus though, you may be SOL! 8)

[Lomar Manx]

The question is not whether your horn will fit in the overhead but whether it will fit in the box at the boarding gate. They can bend the rules and allow you to carry it on, but they are under absolutely no obligation to do so. Get an Anvil.

[Sal Sax]

My SKB fit in the overhead just fine on an Alitalia MD-80, only the flight attendant was'nt pleased... too bad for her. My horn never gets stowed in baggage.

[SmartGuy02]

I have the SKB tenor case and it will fit in the overhead compartment of most large planes, but on a smaller plane, definitely not. Fortunately, when I traveled with it, the flight attendants were nice enough to put it in the closet at the front of the plane (pilot and flight attendant's luggage storage, i guess). So if you ask them really nice you might get away with it. hehe Good Luck!

[Lyle]

I have also wondered upon this problem. I once put my tenor in cargo hold. I put plenty of foam pad in the case but it got damaged anyway. It was my second, throw around sax but that did not diminish the injury. My thoughts were on putting it in the closet for pilots, as suggested. My fear, is that someone getting off the plane ahead of me might see the nice case, and garb it as they exit.

[gary]

In the last month I made four flights in and out of Germany and Italy. In no case did I have a problem carrying my tenor on board, nor was I asked to put it into that little container to size-up carry-on baggage. And all flight attendants were friendly. However, I did see a stewardess just give a guitar-totin' passenger absolute hell for presuming that he could put it in the flight attendants' area.

My tenor fit fine in the overhead of two larger planes and just barely fit into the compartment of two smaller ones. My case is a Berkley and I've found no cases any smaller, so I can't speak of larger cases.

I would definitely recommend checking in early enough to get the seat request you want. Ask the agent to put you in the first group that boards (usually the aft section of the airplane). That gives you more opportunities for overhead space. My fear is not whether or not the horn will fit but rather if all the other passengers have put just enough stuff in the overheads that there's not additional room for my sax; hence I board in the first group.

In the case of the smaller planes, all passengers boarded at the same time, so I just had to make an a** of myself and make sure I was among the first on board.

[Gregg W. Jackson]

I just returned from a round trip between San Francisco and Philadelphia on United Airlines. The ticket counter personnel in both SFO and PHL not only allowed me, they urged me, to carry my tenor on the plane. My horn was in an SKB contoured case and it fit in the overhead compartments on two capacity flights.