Budget airline gives green light to violins and violas
mainThe Icelandic budget airline Wow has been won over by musicians.
After sweet persuasion by Judith Ingolfsson, professor of violin at Stuttgart, Wow have posted the following message on their website:
Can I travel with musical instruments?
Of course you can. We love music!
There are three options available:
Carry-on luggage
If the instrument is small enough to pass as carry-on luggage you can take it into the cabin. Guests traveling with violins or violas can bring them instead of the small carry-on bag included in the ticket price….
No other budget airline has given such a guarantee, except AirBerlin which last week changed its status.
Could this be a trend?
Norwegian also does this but unlike domestic carriers they will sometimes give you a hard time about taking the instrument and a carry on meaning you have to pay atleast 50£ per trip so it might be better to do a non budget anyway unless you’re saving more than the cost of a checked bag.
NL: “Could this be a trend?”
Technically it already is, given the wording…
You may take your instrument in the cabin, “If the instrument is small enough to pass as carry-on luggage…” in its case.
According to WOWair, to pass as carry-on an item must not exceed “a maximum of 42x32x25cm / 17x13x10in (10kg/22 lbs) including handles and wheels.”
If the item does exceed those dimensions, “You can purchase allowance for a large carry-on bag, up to a maximum of 56x45x25cm / 22x18x10in including handles and wheels and no more than 12 kg (26 lbs)”.
The “large carry-on” fee according to WOWair ranges from €15.99 (paid online)/ €38 (paid at check-in) for short flights under 4 hours to €46.99 (online)/€62 (at check-in) for longer connecting flights between Canada/USA and Europe. These fees are “per flight leg”.
easyJet have been pretty great recently. Their new policy is realty reasonable:
“Musical instruments are allowed on-board as cabin baggage providing the instrument, including its case, doesn’t exceed 30 x 120 x 38cm. Instruments that fall in this size range include:
Violins
Violas
Piccolos
Flutes
Clarinets
Bugles
Mandolin
Trumpets.
Taking these as cabin baggage is subject to available space in the overhead lockers. Please note the instrument will be classed as one piece of cabin baggage.
When it’s not practical to combine the instrument with another item into a single piece of cabin baggage, you may carry one small, essential, additional piece of baggage (e.g. ladies handbag, laptop bag).
Worth keeping their baggage policy page link handy on your phone: http://www.easyjet.com/en/help/preparing-to-fly/baggage
Eurowings is apparently another low-cost carrier that allows instruments in the cabin at no additional fee:
Can I carry musical instruments in the cabin as hand luggage?
– Yes, musical instruments may be carried on board as hand luggage as long as they are no larger than a guitar and are packed in a soft case.
https://www.eurowings.com/en/information/services/help/questions/can-i-carry-musical-instruments-in-the-cabin-as-hand-luggage.html