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CB Airlines and Air Travel Review of Singapore Airlines/SilkAir
Singapore Airlines/SilkAir

Singapore Airlines/SilkAir review: hand-carry musical instrument

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10:40 pm EDT
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Re: mi 533 (mandalay-singapore) date: 04 september 18
Booking referenece: qzhol5

My wife and I checked in at mandalay airport with my handmade guitar and we were pleased that the ground staff let us check in the guitar. The idea was that if the ground staff did not allow the guitar as a hand-carry item, we would leave the guitar with our relatives at the airport.

Upon boarding the plane, the chief stewardess greeted us with "no you can't carry the guitar on board. We must put it in the cargo hold." when I replied to her that the guitar had already been checked in as a hand-carry item, she let us pass. Another stewardess help us stow the guitar in the overhead compartment. The plane was only half-full and there was plenty of space for hand-carry items.

However after settling in in our seats, two ground staff members appeared and asked that the guitar be moved to the cargo hold. I was worried that the temperature in the cargo hold might damage the guitar and that the guitar would be treated badly by luggage handlers. After arguing for a while, I relented when the ground staff assured that the guitar will be handled with care and it wouldn't be sent to the luggage carousal. She gave us the attached tag (please note my name is spelled wrong there, it should be [removed], not htet), and asked that we retrieve the guitar at the plane door at changi in singapore.

When the plane landed I showed the tag to the chief stewardess. She asked us to leave the plane and wait for the guitar in the arrival hall next to the plane. We waited for nearly half an hour but no guitar was delivered. By that time all the stewardesses had disappeared too. To our dismay and distress, a member of the singapore ground staff said that the guitar had been delivered to the luggage carousal by mistake (no apologies) and asked that we collect it at the carousal. He also added that we could complain should there be any damage. He had no idea that a musical instrument dear to a person is more of a sentimental value.

As I am on my way to berlin for a connecting flight and my wife was staying in singapore, I didn't have time for the complaint until now. I left the guitar with my wife. It is possible that the guitar is affected even though there was no visible damage.

On my collecting flight however (scoot (tr734), jointly operated by singapore airlines), I noticed a man walking in with a huge guitar on his back into the packed plane.

No apologies will do the justice to the anguish we suffered at the hands of the singapore/silkair staff. I will appreciate an explanation or compensation for our distress.

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