Hi all -
I’m getting on an airplane soon, and I was wondering what people’s experience is with traveling with whistles. Do you put them in the bag that you check or carry them on? Do the security folks give you a hard time about them if you try to carry a metal whistle on?
Thanks.
Micah
Sorry, but I have no idea if the airlines have any kind of policy. Your best bet for reliable info would probably be to call the airline you will be flying and ask them. 
:roll: 
Sorry, I just had to try 'em all.
This is one of those things we had a discussion on a couple of months ago. Someone was traveling, and asked the same question. I think the concensus was: It varies (probably not only from airline to airline, but probably from airport to airport, as security procedures can vary considerably).
I’d call the airline, but I think I’d also settle on a rule of thumb, since you don’t always get straight info, even from the airline. I’d say, if it’s a cheapie that you can easily replace if your luggage gets lost, pack it. If it’s a nice one that you can’t afford to lose (or have broken), carry it…but carry it in a case or gig bag, and be prepared to play it to prove that it’s really an instrument and not some kind of weird weapon. You might also want to have someone come with you to the airport who ISN’T traveling, who can take the whistle home if they won’t let you bring it on the plane.
Redwolf
Carry it and be prepared to play a tune. I can´t imagine it would be a problem. I got some major suspicous looks on the screen when my hand luggage passed thru security check at Heathrow last summer, the bag contained one Copeland LowD and high D. I bet they thought it was a barrel of a gun… lol. I put the low D together and played a couple of notes to the staffs delight " oh. it´s a flute… please play some more …"
One of the security guys started to wave with his arms like a orchestra-conductor (dirigent) and wanted me to play on, at the same time as maaany faces from the passengers turned in my direction, he he kind of funny experience actually.
/Peter
Thanks folks.
Hmmmm… I think I’ll be trying the carry on method…
Micah
if you’re really worried about them hassling you, just mail it to wherever you’re staying, skip the idiot security all the way around
I fly twice a week every week and I carry my Uilleann pipes practice set and 2 whistles in my carry-on bag and so far have had no problem. I’ve been carrying the pipes for 2 months now but the whistles for years.
The new (as of November) federal screeners are required to be very nice and polite, and will sometimes want to take the whistles out and look at them. Be sure not to try and reach into your bag while they are examining it. Let them take them out and you answer any questions, if any, they might have.
Just don’t carry any tools in your bag. Xacto knives etc.
Happy whistlin’ and travelin’
Tim
yeah i wouldn’t see why they would give you any hassle, especially if you played a tune for them. they have to let musicians travel with their instruments, sometimes their lives depend on it, hehe.
but yeah, if all else fails you could always ship it to your destination
Just got back from Florida, traveling with my Sweetone. I’ve never had any problems taking whistles on planes. Of course I’ve never tried it with a heavy duty low whistle like my Overton, though. Wonder what they would think about that…
Steve
I came back from Ireland last November with three tinwhistles in my carry-on luggage, passing through security in both Cork and Heathrow.
I was a bit apprehensive, but even though Heathrow security flagged me as high-risk (single male carrying lots of gear?) and hand-examined all my luggage, the tinwhistles didn’t even get a raised eyebrow.
Of course, they sell tinwhistles in the Duty-Free Shop in Cork.
Dana
Micah, I travelled from the U.K. to the U.S.A. (and back) in December, carrying several large aluminium whistles in my check-in luggage and several smaller whistles of different types in my carry-on luggage. These didn’t cause anyone to raise an eye-brow. I was chosen to be thoroughly searched at one of the gates in Washington Dulles airport before flying on to Denver, and the whistles in my bag only elicited one remark from the security guard who said, “I see you’re a musician”. No one wanted to hear me play. I’m guessing that the guard wasn’t a member of this forum…
Mick
Well, I should report what happened to me. I had a tweaked Clarke with me, played it at the airport, and got a smile and a wave. Whole hand, by the way.
BUT a couple of days later I got hassled entering our Parliament buildings…they refused to let me take it in. I offered to play, but the security folks said that the thing was sharp (physically) enough for them to require me to leave it at the desk.
And so, I wonder, what if these same guys were at the airport and I had my aluminum Burke with me? Nightmarish thought.
Jef
“I see you’re a musician”. No one wanted to hear me play. I’m guessing that the guard wasn’t a member of this forum… "
Their loss, your playing is niiiiice Mick
I will soon get my Rose and Goldie Low D, simply must have those whistles after hearing the clips on your site, again thanks for great inspiration.
/Peter
I had to take off my bleeding shoes, forBleep’sSake, but no-one seemed to notice or care about my whistles. Strange, really, since I usually cause much more harm with my whistles than with my shoes. :roll:
I, too, fly every week, and I always have at least one whistle, sometimes 4 to 6, in my laptop bag. I’ve never had any problems with them, whether metal or plastic, although the transportation safety folks sometimes do ask to look in the bag if they’re not sure what they’re seeing. Just to save time, I’ve started pulling them out and running them in the tub with my coat and cap; that way they don’t have to toss the whole bag if they want to look at the whistles. (Sometimes they just ask “What is that?” “Whistles.” “Oh, like a recorder.” “Yes, only better.”)
The transportation safety people are a big improvement over the private security that used to handle airport security. Treatment is much more polite, and it’s pretty uniform. Plus, they don’t like they’re on work release.
If they ask to search your bag, and they’ve just finished running their fingers through someone else’s underwear, it is well within your prerogative to insist they put on a fresh pair of rubber gloves before they finger your whistles. TSA people are better about this than the private security driods.
To minimize the likelihood of problems with shoes, get some without metal shanks in the sole. I always fly in a pair that I know won’t cause the metal detector to go off.
I rarely fly… maybe a few times a year, but this is fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunny.
Went to Fremont, OH to see a relative and stop into a festival going on up there. Took a full set of whistles in a case and a few loose High Ds. Everything went fine, had a good time.
Got ready to come back, all packed up and ready to go, dropped my luggage off and proceeded on with my case and duffle bag. I was immediately taken aside… not pulled aside and asked a question… taken aside to this little room they have right off to the side of the x-ray, sat me down, gave me a dirty look, and proceeded with the following…
A bunch of mumbo jumbo about a weapon being in my bag, I’m getting freaked out, they have me open my bag with an armed guard standing over me… I started busting up laughing when I opened my duffle. I coulnd’t hardly breathe I was crying I was laughing so hard…
I purchased a small set of Tarot cards for my friends neice who is really into it, and they came in a little metal box. It was cute, so I bought it right? It just so happened that when I dumped everything in my bag, everything fell in there perfectly so that a whistle looked like a barrel and the combination of the fipple and tarrot card box looked sort of like a hammer on top of a pistol grip!!!
LOL
Master say - “If it do not go together, do not put together”
Take care,
John
Bloomfield,
more harm with whistles than with shoes, how about TAKING OFF the shoes.
Maybe that´s what they were checking. Shoes off, can be really unpleasant and close to deadly in som cases
/Peter
Just returned from Dallas/Fort Worth - London Gatwick - London Heathrow - Belfast International - Belfast City - London Gatwick - Dallas on British Airways, American Airlines, British Midland, Lufthansa and Air France and NEVER ONCE had the whistles (a dozen or so high whistles and an Overton low D) that I had in my carry-on even mentioned.
Ian
I fly pretty often- I had some difficulty with my concert flute- but not my high whistles, usually they just look at them, ask what they are and send me through. My low D did arouse suspicion last Christmas though, but they eventually let me through after I offered to play them a song- just be polite and easy going