I have brought guitars for the past 10 years. Then I leave them with local musicians. If you have them in a gig bag you can take them on board and put them in the over head. Delta addresses this on their web site. I pack our wraps and towels around the body and neck to give more protection. I jam on the beach with the beach musicians
and then pass it on. Many of the guitars that walk the beach came in with me....for a hundred bucks you can have a nice guitar to play and really help these guys out at the end of your trip...Only time a didn't leave it was a couple of years ago I brought my Strat and played with the band at 3 Dives....It came home with me...The gig bag is the answer and not a hard shell case....