Originally Posted by
jefnvk
And, in the category of "lessons learned":
Even if you know what the bike shipping requirements are when you book, make sure you know what they are when you leave. With a month to go, I went back to check on some things (since one of our tickets read bikes were a max of 23kg and the other two read 27kg), turns out policies have changed so that boxes are not allowed, and the airport stopped selling bags this spring....
Boxes are no longer allowed, which airline?
If they are USA based airlines, I believe they have to honor the specified criteria when the ticket was sold. Several years ago, I do not recall the details but an airline told me that they would not put me up overnight or provide anything else other than a long delay. I pulled out my netbook, pulled up the criteria from when I originally bought my ticket and they gave me a motel room and food.
Contacting them to clarify may help and if you contact them, document the time and date you called and ask the person you called if they have an employee number or some other identifier you can cite later if you are given different information. If you do it in electronic format, keep a PDF copy on your phone.
I carry a luggage scale when I travel, some airlines have limits that are 50 pounds, some are 23 kg, some are 20 kg. I have never heard of a 27 kg limit before, interesting. Last summer on one flight I was told a carryon limit of 10 kg, but usually no limit is cited for carryon.
I have also given luggage scales to several relatives as gifts.