Originally Posted by Bacciagalupe
Continental's official party line is, it's based on the size & weight of the luggage. If you pack a folding bike into a case that's less than 62 linear inches and 50 lbs, you should not get charged -- also
afaik you can avoid some of the fees and limits on taking your bike on trains. I'm guessing HoustonB's case is much larger than the 62" limit, so he'd have gotten hit with the $80 oversize fee regardless of its bikeness.
I just picked up a folding bike for my trip to Belgium (on Continental out of Newark) in a few weeks. I'll let y'all know how it works out....
Additionally, I think that bike has to count as one of the checked bags for the checked bags allowances. If your bike is a third piece of checked luggage, you will end up being charged extra. But this is the general rule for all international and domestic flights I've taken with my bike friday, I've never had anything questioned about it. It fits in the samsonite suitcase and is well within the linear inches specificatins, and always under 50 pounds.
Koffee