I'm flying to the States next week and want to take a guitar with me. It's a fairly large semi-hollow body in a hard case, but not a flight case. The catches on the case can be a bit loose, so I'm worried about the guitar escaping mid way through the journey.

I'm flying BA and the guitar is bigger than hand baggage size but their website says they'll consider bigger instruments if you phone them. Unfortunately, the person on the phone did not understand me when I asked the question, nor when I asked if it was ok to lock the case shut with tape. So before I call them back in the hope of getting someone more helpful, does anyone have experience of travelling with guitars. Am I resigned to checking it into the hold and hoping for the best? I've heard about plastic wrap you can put on stuff like this to seal it shut - how does that work?

Also - I'd love to hear any horror stories of guitars turned to sawdust, photos of that guy's 'priceless' guitar that was destroyed by United, or stories of the weirdest things you've seen people take on planes.