Originally Posted by
fietsbob
I am Quoting a cyclist Met in My Local bike shop (starting his tour From Here ) who spent the Big Bucks for an S&S coupled Bike
and still got charged the fee By the airline , FACT.
believe what you want .. just be ready to cough up the fee when it happens to You.
Originally Posted by
Inpd
This is HUUUUGE!
Seriously, if this is correct (others please confirm) then what's the point of getting a coupled frameset?
When I have heard this story before, I always heard that it was Delta that charged the fee. I am not going to say it did not happen, but I flew Delta in June and July of this year and I did not pay a bike fee. I had to pay a second checked bag fee and that was all. If asked I would have said bike parts were in the 26X26X10 inch case. And that was true, some of my bike parts were in other luggage so I could have honestly said that it was not a complete bike in that one case. But, I was not asked. I also was wearing my bike helmet at the time, so if they were watching for bikers, I would have rang their fee alarm pretty loudly. I did not want my helmet to be crushed by baggage handlers, thus wore it onto the plane.
Originally Posted by
schnee
I've all over the world with my S&S bike. The only time I ever paid a fee was when the box was over weight. When that sort of thing happens, from my experience, I'd guess it's rare.
That said, they couplers have even helped in situations that had nothing to do with flying. I had to take a bus from Turkey to Bulgaria (long story), and the buses had a 'no bikes' policy; they only accepted it once it was inside the S&S case and looked like regular luggage. On the same trip I got caught in a snow storm in Bosnia and had to throw the bike inside a taxi van, and it was packed full of people and luggage; being able to 'split' the frame in half was the only way I made that trip.
So, if you're going to do highly structured point-to-point rides, they may not be so useful. But, they open up options in odd situations.
I always carry a luggage scale. My last tour the limit (Delta) was 50 pounds, my scale said 48.5 pounds for my two checked bags and Deltas scale said 49 pounds. I never know if the airport scale is accurate so I try to stay one to two pounds below the limit. I would not be surprised if they have their scales plugged into the fare computer to automatically tell them to add the overweight fee.
I fully agree with you on the other advantages of having a bike with couplers. I previously made the comment below:
Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
...
I also could take a taxi (and it was a Prius) to the airport, most taxis in my area can't carry a bike box. So that make getting to the airport and home again later much easier, I did not need to impose on a friend with a truck or minivan to take me both ways.
...
Also, I am traveling to see family at Christmas this year, I am considering taking a bike in the S&S case because I am flying Southwest and the second checked bag would fly for free. I have never flown Southwest before, but if I can bring a bike for an occasional ride while staying with family for a week, why not bring it?