Weddingbee boards

I need some advice.  I purchased a wedding gown for my wedding in Paris.  Obviously, I need to bring it with me in a garment bag of some type that will not squish it and make it ridiculously wrinkled during my travels. 

I have a Samsonite folding garment bag luggage, but that won't do because it is not long enough to fit HALF of the dress. 

Can someone offer advice on where I can get a longer garment bag suitable for a full gown for travel on an international airline?

Thanks!

Are you buying a seat for your dress (as some airlines and websites recommend)? If so, you can try a larger, cardboard box.

Unfortunately, I ordered my dress over the phone from a shop in Denver that was going out of business, so I can't get a bag from them.  (I'm in Phoenix.) 

I'm on the phone with British Airways right now.  They are saying that since I don't have a First Class ticket, my dress would have to fit in my carry-on (22x17 x 9), which is impossible.  They are suggesting I ship it or buy another seat from PHX - London to put it in. (I must be crazy.)  $275 to buy a seat for it - one way.  I would have to ship it back, which is fine with me.  $219 to ship it by Fedex to the hotel. 

I think I will buy the seat.  I got a huge discount on the dress, so I'll just budget into the initial dress cost.

Now, my dress is silk and I have only 1 day to get it pressed upon arrival.  Can I just flat iron it?  I've been told I shouldn't steam press it because it's silk. 

I love the box idea, but I think that's geared more towards destination gowns, which are usually lightweight.  My dress is not a destination dress, even though I'm having a destination wedding.  It has alot of netting under the skirt and it's 100% silk, which means it will wrinkle easily.  That wouldn't be such a big deal except for the fact that we arrive in Paris on the afternoon of the 10th, go immediately to meet with the pastor upon arrival, the 11th happens to be Armistice Day and a National Holiday (so most things are closed including, I imagine, dry cleaners) and then we get married at 2:30PM on the 12th, leaving us little (if any) time to get the dress pressed upon arrival.

By the way, taking the dress in the cabin with me, for an additional $275, is no longer an option.  When I proceeded to follow the airline's instructions, I hit a roadblock.  Since we booked our tickets months ago and did not "attach" the second seat for the dress to the original reservation at the time of booking, they say they need to "reissue" the original ticket.  To reissue, they'd have to charge us the $275 + any "change in fare" between the time we originally ticketed it and the current fare.  So, they now want an additional $507 to change the original ticket.  Sorry, I can't pay $782 for a seat for MY DRESS just because they won't put it in the First Class passenger closet like any other garment bag (because I have a "Business Class" ticket instead of a First Class ticket). 

This is soooooo frustrating!  I feel like I've been running into Walls all week!

Here's a link to my dress:

http://www.palomablanca.com/3967.html

I did call the airline and try ordering a ticket for the dress.  They said I had to buy a "seat".  To buy it through the airline, the price is $1338 one-way.  To add it to our existing ticket instead, we'd have to reissue our tickets (no reason why they have to do this.  It's an e-ticket. Just a way for them to justify charging a fee because it doesn't involve any extra work but a few keystrokes) for an additional cost of $782. 

I could ask the flight attendant when I board to store it in the First Class cabin but if she refuses, then I'm standing there with a dress that is too big to carry on and no where to put it but in with checked baggage and since we'll be boarding by that time, if they insist I check the bag, they will send it to be loaded (not using normal check-in processing) and by then most of the checked baggage will already have been loaded and we risk the change of the dress getting lost because it's too late to process before take off.  I can't assume I will get an agreeable flight attendant.  I need to know before I get to the airport that I can take this gown on the flight on my person. 

(For the record, I work within the airline industry.  I know all too well what can happen if you don't get confirmation beforehand insuring that the dress can be brought on the flight with me.)

The good news is that my travel agent, with whom I book First Class tickets on BA for my executives at work very regularly, sent a message to the Phoenix BA desk manager to see if he can authorize ahead of time for me to take this gown on my flight and have it put in the First Class closet.  My agent says there is a good chance he will agree since I book hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of corporate travel under a contract with British Airway.  Let's cross our fingers.

Provided my agent cannot get the local desk agent to offer me the allowance, I will look into upgrading, but a standard First Class ticket on this flight costs my bosses around $8500!  I can't imagine an upgrade would cost as little at $199.  Did you use miles to upgrade and pay taxes of $199?

Sorry, that link didn't work.  (It didn't need the html at the end.)  Here is the correct link to my dress:

http://www.palomablanca.com/3967