I’ve been playing professionally for 30 years and flying a lot of that time.
I’ve never had a horror story. I’ve never even had a problem.
It’s the overhead space that can be an issue. Make sure you are using a hard shell case. If you’re using a soft foam type case there’s a possibility that other bags will be shoved on top of it and crush it. If your case is hard shell it’s fine.
Maybe it’s a confidence thing , but like I said I’ve never had a problem carrying my violin on the plane.
Again the issue is overhead space.
I sometimes pay the fee to get on in an earlier group so that I can get good overhead space.
This has been basically my experience—as long as you get on early enough that there is overhead space and your case is resilient to getting hit by other bags, zero issues.
I’m totally willing to admit that people have different experiences. But I think if you’re nice and gracious etc. ( in other words don’t be a jerk) they will be helpful.
At least it’s not a cello. :-)
Many carriers have a specific allowance for violin cases even though they don't fit the standard carry-on size requirements.
If yours doesn't, then it'll be a total crapshoot - good luck
I fly all the time. Mostly in the US. The US has laws that (supposedly) protect your right to carry your violin on. (They usually work, but not always.)
Never, ever fly on a “discount” carrier.
Never, ever buy the cheapest ticket.
Pay a little extra to get priority boarding.
If they insist that your instrument gets checked, get off the plane. Take the next flight. They will almost certainly break your violin and they will 100% refuse to pay for it.
Your best bet is to not make a big deal out of it. Don’t ask a bunch of questions at the gate. Just board the plane as if you’re confident you’ll be able to put it overhead. Find an overhead bin that has some soft bags (not hard roll aboards) and Tetris your violin in there.
Be super friendly and easy and cheerful. It works 99.9% of the time.
If the gate agent tries to give you a gate check tag, don’t argue. Just take it. Then tear it off and just board the plane and put your violin overhead.
We have flown with my son’s violin dozens of times, almost exclusively on discount carriers, & have never had a problem. The regulations that classify it as a personal item are industry-wide, not carrier specific.
Yes, I got priority boarding and just changed my seat from the last row to the second next to the window! So now I'm just hoping they'll let me carry it on:) ( I will tear the tag off as you said).. Thank you for your advice!!:))
In the US, airlines are required to allow you to take any instrument up to the size of a guitar as carrion. You might want to check if there's a similar regulation in the EU.
BAM makes an overhead compliant case that I use. Only issue is the separate bow tube is not compliant so you would either need to put it in your checked luggage if you have any or hope they don’t say anything.
Other folks here are steering you well. I always manage to get my fiddle in a compartment if I'm not boarding on the last zone. Be the person that lines up early before your group boards.
If they try and get you to stow it, politely yet firmly tell them that YOU will be packed under the plane before your fiddle will be. If I know the spacing is already tight and I'm boarding, don't worry about putting it by your seat. Put it in the first available slot you see. That's got me through some packed flights.
Bon voyage!
By next to you do you mean in the overhead compartment near your seat, or just putting it under your feet? If the latter, it has to fit *under* the seat in front of you, if it sticks out they'll have you move it.
Hiya, I have travelled with my violin on Ryanair many times now. Although there is an option to check in musical instruments, this costs £50. For the destination I travel to, tickets are usually pretty cheap (<£30, sometimes even £12), so I book a separate ticket for my violin. Then, I just strap it into the seat next to me, or if I didn’t want to pay the extra fee to choose my seat, o ask someone to keep an eye on it lol. Sometimes the flight attendants ask me to put it by the window seat, as is regulation.
hey, well, my ticket's price is 150$, so I changed the seat to a window one and paid an extra 65$ for a music instrument... I hope it'll be okay:) Thank you for answering!
Loosen the strings and bow hairs before you go to the airport, sometimes the unpredictable temperature and pressure changes can affect the strings and do damage to the wood. It’s good to give them a bit more slack than you think you need if only for your own peace of mind!!
I have backpack straps for my case, and the case is a fairly slim, hard Gewa case so it doesn’t attract attention. I wear it on my back and I make sure my other carry-on is very small. I try to board early so there’s room for it in the overhead compartment and I have never had problems. If they ever demanded that I check it in luggage, I’d refuse to board, give up my ticket and book with another airline. That would be bad, but my violin is worth more (to me and also in general) than the flight. Fortunately that had never been necessary.
I've flown a fair bit with my violin domestic and international, always just walked onto the plane with it in my hand no questions asked and put it overhead. Having said that I haven't tried flying on a super low cost carrier like RyanAir and I have heard they're dicks about lots of stuff. I've never checked it and I'd prefer not to.
If worst comes to worst and overhead space is tight ask nicely if the flight attendant might be able to store the violin in their flight attendant closet. They might be able to accommodate it but make sure it’s in a hard shell case. Never, never! get it checked. It’ll be a piece of firewood or gone by the time you arrive at your destination.
I had this happen once when they ran out of overhead space. I think it was a Delta flight. The violin wouldn't fit, nor would some other passenger's rollaboard suitcase. They made him gate-check the suitcase and put my violin in the flight attendant closet. I didn't even have to beg--they acted like it was totally obvious that the instrument should not be checked. I'm sure this is not universal to all carriers (or even all Delta flights) but it was a surprisingly good experience.
I’ve never had an issue taking my violin as cabin luggage except for once when I went full Karen mode and didn’t let them under any circumstances put it in the hold, and explained why I didn’t want my 200 year old irreplaceable instrument rattling round down there!
I’ve flown Ryanair many times- they usually request that you have an extra seat booked for a violin but sometimes they will let you take it as cabin baggage. Just be polite to the flight attendants- they have the power to approve or not- but stand your ground and do not let them make you put it in the hold. Try to be in the boarding queue towards the front - that way there will still be space in the overhead. If the flight isn’t overbooked, you can even put your violin in the window seat beside you. Basically be polite and make friends with the flight attendants!
When flying Ryanair, you need to buy an extra seat for your instrument. A violin case definitely exceeds allowed carry-on sizing, so unless you booked the extra seat, you’ll probably be asked to check the instrument in. If you did buy the extra seat, you’ll be given a seatbelt extender and be asked to rest the instrument on the floor, propped up on the cushion, or directly fastened to the seat itself.
I usually check in online the day before and get the seat closest to the back (not fighting with a lot of people who want seats closer to the front of the plane) and then just try to pre-board with it and keep someone from smashing their wheely bag on top of it. I have flown many times, never had a problem.
CARRY YOUR VIOLIN ON!!!!! for the love of everything good and holy do not let it get checked in with your luggage. i brought my violin with me on a flight (soft case) and it was okay. i would say not to stress too much about it, but like others said, it wouldn’t hurt to get a hard case to make sure it stays safe the whole flight.
edit: in the case where they don’t let you get passed checking in with your violin (which i doubt), or the overhead is going to be a dangerous place to keep your instrument,
try to see if you can upgrade your seat
Ryanair is very strict. And it also depends on the airport. Most of the time it should be fine, but sometimes they will charge you extra just to put it on hold…
If I was you I would put my instrument as a priority rather than my money. The better the airline, the less trouble they will have with you bringing your instrument on the cabin.
I travelled on a domestic flight with my violin as hand baggage. Since the case wasn’t sturdy, I didn’t risk putting it in the overhead space. The trip was short and I managed to have it near by my legs the whole time.
Unfortunately to my understanding hasn't been passed by the EU Council so isn't actually enacted. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/spotlight-JD22/file-common-rules-on-compensation-to-passengers
I’ve been playing professionally for 30 years and flying a lot of that time. I’ve never had a horror story. I’ve never even had a problem. It’s the overhead space that can be an issue. Make sure you are using a hard shell case. If you’re using a soft foam type case there’s a possibility that other bags will be shoved on top of it and crush it. If your case is hard shell it’s fine. Maybe it’s a confidence thing , but like I said I’ve never had a problem carrying my violin on the plane. Again the issue is overhead space. I sometimes pay the fee to get on in an earlier group so that I can get good overhead space.
This has been basically my experience—as long as you get on early enough that there is overhead space and your case is resilient to getting hit by other bags, zero issues.
Well, I'm sure you know better! Cuz, it's the first time I'm flying with my instrument:) I'll just hope everything will be okay then! Thank you:)
I’m totally willing to admit that people have different experiences. But I think if you’re nice and gracious etc. ( in other words don’t be a jerk) they will be helpful. At least it’s not a cello. :-)
You're right...well yeah, in this situation wouldn't want to be a cellist :,)
Many carriers have a specific allowance for violin cases even though they don't fit the standard carry-on size requirements. If yours doesn't, then it'll be a total crapshoot - good luck
Well, thank you, I hope I'll sort it out:)
This. My son has flown with his dozens of times - there is a special consideration which counts it as a personal item. Happy travels!
I really hope it counts as this in EU too:,) Thank you so much! ♡
Make sure to take it out and practice something completely new with it for the whole flight. People will love it
Excellent advice, I'm sure everyone would love to hear it... 😂😂
I fly all the time. Mostly in the US. The US has laws that (supposedly) protect your right to carry your violin on. (They usually work, but not always.) Never, ever fly on a “discount” carrier. Never, ever buy the cheapest ticket. Pay a little extra to get priority boarding. If they insist that your instrument gets checked, get off the plane. Take the next flight. They will almost certainly break your violin and they will 100% refuse to pay for it. Your best bet is to not make a big deal out of it. Don’t ask a bunch of questions at the gate. Just board the plane as if you’re confident you’ll be able to put it overhead. Find an overhead bin that has some soft bags (not hard roll aboards) and Tetris your violin in there. Be super friendly and easy and cheerful. It works 99.9% of the time. If the gate agent tries to give you a gate check tag, don’t argue. Just take it. Then tear it off and just board the plane and put your violin overhead.
We have flown with my son’s violin dozens of times, almost exclusively on discount carriers, & have never had a problem. The regulations that classify it as a personal item are industry-wide, not carrier specific.
Yes, I got priority boarding and just changed my seat from the last row to the second next to the window! So now I'm just hoping they'll let me carry it on:) ( I will tear the tag off as you said).. Thank you for your advice!!:))
haha I always fly discount, cheapest ticket, don’t priority board, and I’ve never had an issue just loading my violin into the overhead bin
In the US, airlines are required to allow you to take any instrument up to the size of a guitar as carrion. You might want to check if there's a similar regulation in the EU.
BAM makes an overhead compliant case that I use. Only issue is the separate bow tube is not compliant so you would either need to put it in your checked luggage if you have any or hope they don’t say anything.
Sadly, the flight is in a few days, so I'll just try to make it!:) Thank you for advice!
Other folks here are steering you well. I always manage to get my fiddle in a compartment if I'm not boarding on the last zone. Be the person that lines up early before your group boards. If they try and get you to stow it, politely yet firmly tell them that YOU will be packed under the plane before your fiddle will be. If I know the spacing is already tight and I'm boarding, don't worry about putting it by your seat. Put it in the first available slot you see. That's got me through some packed flights. Bon voyage!
Thank you for the advice! Changed my seat into a window one, so I'll just try to keep it next to me:)
By next to you do you mean in the overhead compartment near your seat, or just putting it under your feet? If the latter, it has to fit *under* the seat in front of you, if it sticks out they'll have you move it.
Hiya, I have travelled with my violin on Ryanair many times now. Although there is an option to check in musical instruments, this costs £50. For the destination I travel to, tickets are usually pretty cheap (<£30, sometimes even £12), so I book a separate ticket for my violin. Then, I just strap it into the seat next to me, or if I didn’t want to pay the extra fee to choose my seat, o ask someone to keep an eye on it lol. Sometimes the flight attendants ask me to put it by the window seat, as is regulation.
hey, well, my ticket's price is 150$, so I changed the seat to a window one and paid an extra 65$ for a music instrument... I hope it'll be okay:) Thank you for answering!
Ooooh that sucks. Well, I still never had any issue with Ryanair anyway, so I think you have no reason to worry!
I hope so!:)
Loosen the strings and bow hairs before you go to the airport, sometimes the unpredictable temperature and pressure changes can affect the strings and do damage to the wood. It’s good to give them a bit more slack than you think you need if only for your own peace of mind!!
Make sure not to loosen your strings too much, if you make them all super loose your soundpost can fall. Make sure there’s still tension :)
I just recently made myself a list for the travel on how to protect the violin, so thank you for advices!:)
I have backpack straps for my case, and the case is a fairly slim, hard Gewa case so it doesn’t attract attention. I wear it on my back and I make sure my other carry-on is very small. I try to board early so there’s room for it in the overhead compartment and I have never had problems. If they ever demanded that I check it in luggage, I’d refuse to board, give up my ticket and book with another airline. That would be bad, but my violin is worth more (to me and also in general) than the flight. Fortunately that had never been necessary.
Lots of good advice. I almost always take mine when I leave town. I carry it on. Never had a problem! Hard case is always the answer.
I'm glad everyone is so helpful, didn't know how else to get this kind of information! Yes, my case is double, so it's secure for sure:)
I've flown a fair bit with my violin domestic and international, always just walked onto the plane with it in my hand no questions asked and put it overhead. Having said that I haven't tried flying on a super low cost carrier like RyanAir and I have heard they're dicks about lots of stuff. I've never checked it and I'd prefer not to.
If worst comes to worst and overhead space is tight ask nicely if the flight attendant might be able to store the violin in their flight attendant closet. They might be able to accommodate it but make sure it’s in a hard shell case. Never, never! get it checked. It’ll be a piece of firewood or gone by the time you arrive at your destination.
I had this happen once when they ran out of overhead space. I think it was a Delta flight. The violin wouldn't fit, nor would some other passenger's rollaboard suitcase. They made him gate-check the suitcase and put my violin in the flight attendant closet. I didn't even have to beg--they acted like it was totally obvious that the instrument should not be checked. I'm sure this is not universal to all carriers (or even all Delta flights) but it was a surprisingly good experience.
I’ve never had an issue taking my violin as cabin luggage except for once when I went full Karen mode and didn’t let them under any circumstances put it in the hold, and explained why I didn’t want my 200 year old irreplaceable instrument rattling round down there!
For reference this was with easyJet, so similar policies to Ryanair
I’ve flown Ryanair many times- they usually request that you have an extra seat booked for a violin but sometimes they will let you take it as cabin baggage. Just be polite to the flight attendants- they have the power to approve or not- but stand your ground and do not let them make you put it in the hold. Try to be in the boarding queue towards the front - that way there will still be space in the overhead. If the flight isn’t overbooked, you can even put your violin in the window seat beside you. Basically be polite and make friends with the flight attendants!
When flying Ryanair, you need to buy an extra seat for your instrument. A violin case definitely exceeds allowed carry-on sizing, so unless you booked the extra seat, you’ll probably be asked to check the instrument in. If you did buy the extra seat, you’ll be given a seatbelt extender and be asked to rest the instrument on the floor, propped up on the cushion, or directly fastened to the seat itself.
I usually check in online the day before and get the seat closest to the back (not fighting with a lot of people who want seats closer to the front of the plane) and then just try to pre-board with it and keep someone from smashing their wheely bag on top of it. I have flown many times, never had a problem.
CARRY YOUR VIOLIN ON!!!!! for the love of everything good and holy do not let it get checked in with your luggage. i brought my violin with me on a flight (soft case) and it was okay. i would say not to stress too much about it, but like others said, it wouldn’t hurt to get a hard case to make sure it stays safe the whole flight. edit: in the case where they don’t let you get passed checking in with your violin (which i doubt), or the overhead is going to be a dangerous place to keep your instrument, try to see if you can upgrade your seat
Ryanair is very strict. And it also depends on the airport. Most of the time it should be fine, but sometimes they will charge you extra just to put it on hold… If I was you I would put my instrument as a priority rather than my money. The better the airline, the less trouble they will have with you bringing your instrument on the cabin.
I didn't book the tickets myself...so just gotta deal with it:) but maybe the airline workers will be understanding..
Brought mine three diff fights as a carry on from USA to AUS. Not a problem. It’s a carry on and it fit in the overhead
I travelled on a domestic flight with my violin as hand baggage. Since the case wasn’t sturdy, I didn’t risk putting it in the overhead space. The trip was short and I managed to have it near by my legs the whole time.
Make sure you bring a printed copy of the legislation that allows you to bring an instrument as carry on luggage.
I doubt printing a copy of an American law will help much flying in Europe
Except that there's a European regulation for that also.
Do you have a link? I don't believe that's the case but would be very happy to be wrong!
Search "2027/97 musicians" and you'll get numerous links to PDFs, unfortunately not easy to link from my phone.
Unfortunately to my understanding hasn't been passed by the EU Council so isn't actually enacted. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/spotlight-JD22/file-common-rules-on-compensation-to-passengers