travel with instruments Archives

Amtrak Charging for Cellos? – by Paul Katz

Amtrak Charging for Cellos? - by Paul Katz The joys of a musical touring career continue! An Amtrak official recently stopped me from boarding a train to Boston in New York's Penn Station, telling me that I must buy a seat for my cello!" I've been traveling Amtrak for 50 years and never once have I had to pay for the cello," I protested. "I don't make the rules, and I don't know what trains you've been riding, but it's on our website, so there is no way you can get on until you get a ticket." The train was leaving in 15 minutes, so what the hell - furious and furiously, I ran to the ticket window and bought a second seat! But later I checked Amtrak's website and [...]

By Paul Katz|2024-06-24T18:09:25-04:00February 17th, 2013|Categories: Cello Travel|Tags: cabins, special items, rules, cabins of aircraft, tickets, Travel, customer service, touring careers, baggage, documents, cello, train travel, purchasing extra seats, extra charges, cellobello, travel officials, travel with instruments, having the proper documents, Katz, aircraft, international customs, Paul, airport customs, Medium-Sized Musical Instrument, air travel, Amtrack Regulation, musical tours, Amtrak, passport, FAA, buying a second seat, service, regulations|

A New Year’s Goal-Setting Session — by Mark Summer

As the New Year dawns bright and full of possibilities, (the financial cliff not withstanding), this is a useful time to contemplate where we stand on our path of development as musicians, and to think thoughtfully about where we’d like to be in the coming year. My wife and I make it a priority to take turns, voicing our goals, and writing down each other’s dreams and aspirations for the coming year. It gives us a supportive place to dream big and to begin to put into practice what we are imagining for ourselves. Even if you don’t put much credence in books like “The Secret”, which posits that positive thinking brings us what we think about, I think that we can all agree that it’s useful to know what [...]

By Mark Summer|2024-01-07T22:40:36-05:00February 6th, 2013|Categories: Beyond the Traditional, Performance, Self Discovery|Tags: cello, mentors, Development, Turtle Island String Quartet, Berklee School of Music, cellobello, mindfulness meditation, possibility, Utah, contemplate, goals, musical hero, respect, Zion National Park, decisive action, musical journey, dreams, educator, musicians, New Year, Summer, embarrassment, practicing, New Year's Goals, string quartets, gauge progress, recording artists, aspirations, gifts, adventures, sessions, trips, hero, specific dreams, travel with instruments, improvising, recording, taking advantage of opportunities, Mark, meditation, jazz, The Secret, action|

Cello Is My Co-Pilot (Part 2) — by Jeffrey Zeigler

I am, of course, a cellist writing to other cellists. So discussing the torment that we all have to go through when we travel with our instruments is, naturally, preaching to the choir. In fact, I wrote a blog post here on CelloBello a few years ago on the topic hoping to give some helpful tips to cellists (Cello Is My Co-Pilot). And in addition to my post, there are quite a few individuals that have written many extremely helpful articles and blogs geared at helping cellists all over the world deal with the hassles of travel. The information is definitely out there to know the basic guidelines that should be followed in order to handle pretty much 99% of the situations that one will face during air travel. So [...]

By Jeffrey Zeigler|2017-10-30T05:19:02-04:00November 1st, 2012|Categories: Cello Travel|Tags: FAA, Jeffrey, Travel, TSA, Zeigler, WestJet, travel with instruments, airline regulations, policies, security|

Best Public Response Letters to WestJet Bumping the Cello — by Paul Katz

I want to thank the 200 or so people who have emailed me in support of my dispute with WestJet Airlines and I apologize if your comments were not used below. Don't want this blog to be too, too long! Only 1 email was critical of me and I include it below. The responses are worth reading...illuminating, useful...and a couple are hilarious! —Paul Katz ------------------------------ Dear Paul, I felt absolutely sick when I read your story. I am a flight attendant for XXX Airlines and my husband a Captain of 32 years. I am dumbstruck by the stupidity of airline staff and ultimately airline management when it comes to the handling of priceless instruments on flights. Our twins, a cellist and violinist, experienced similar treatment at the Canadian National Music Competition in [...]

By Paul Katz|2019-05-29T01:23:44-04:00September 5th, 2012|Categories: Cello Travel|Tags: airlines, news, stowage, FAA, WestJet, FAA passenger bill of rights, restrictions, regulations, size, rules, passenger rights, weight, safety, height restrictions, cello, Travel, American Airlines, cellobello, musicians, travel with instruments, Katz, space, traveling with a cello, Paul, media|