I had a conversation with a friend last night, who when coming to the UK said he had to leave one bag at home in order to bring his guitar. Although they do not advertise it – most airlines will allow you to take you full baggage allowance and then give you one instrument or piece of sporting equipment for free (i.e. golf clubs, snowboards etc…).

This is a relief for a lot of people, but it definately makes sense for the airline to do it, because firstly most passengers are not going to have an extra piece and secondly they would get a lot of hassle from customers who wanted to take these things as extra.

Just remember if you are travelling by air with a guitar to loosen the strings so that you dont have a damaged guitar on arrival!