Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
There are so many different bike options and so many different fee structures for many airlines, you really have to think hard about it. But I suspect in the end, you will make an un-economic decision and do what you really want to do.
A couple airlines, I think it was Delta and American have dropped their oversize fees for bikes, and as far as I know nobody else has dropped their oversize fees for USA airlines.
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Will your mini-velo exceed the 62 inch criteria? I suspect that it will.
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I think you should try flying with your minivelo once and see how it goes, if you can avoid the oversize fee by flying one of the airlines that dropped it, go for it. Then decide what you want to do.
I did not realize that they dropped the oversize fees for bikes! I mainly fly American or Delta for the conferences, although I do fly the occasional budget airline if it means I can avoid long layovers. This certainly changes things. I can just buy a regular bike bag and fly with that.
The bag that the Mini Velo will fit in is exactly 62 inches. Although, I'm sure it'll probably a bit tight to pack in.
Looks like the smaller full bike cases like the Post Carry Transfer case will be a perfect compromise, since the packed size is small, I can still put the case in a sedan trunk without too much hassle.
Thank you for the insight, and I apologize for not reading into the oversized sports equipment policies of the airlines, I just assumed that they would charge as much as they could!