I purchased a Mahogany Baby Taylor travel guitar for our first trip abroad. I already own a full-size Taylor, so I knew that the quality would be good. Aside from being one of the best values for the money, the reviews also indicated it was fairly easy to get onto flights. Anyone who has traveled with an instrument knows it is largely hit or miss these days. Some carriers are very difficult, and others are more lenient. There are no guarantees, and each trip is different with changing regulations.
I am happy to report that despite all of my anxiety, I ran into absolutely no problems with my Baby Taylor while traveling on US Airways and Meridiana (small carrier to/from Sardinia). I lucked out on the random security checks, but each flight I was able to bring it into the cabin and stow it overhead. I had one humorous encounter with a security person who wondered what my capo was, but that was easily explained (thankfully because I bought it in Rome and it was expensive compared to at home).
It’s probably best to keep tuners and capos in your checked luggage (I did except for that one time). I had extra strings, but kept them in my checked luggage as well for fear that someone would accuse me of carrying a weapon. No guitar tools of course. Also, remember to detune before flights. And pack a copy of “Rise Up Singing” just in case.
