Dream Cyclery

I haven't had a chance to travel on domestic airlines with my coupled bike. Oversea airlines are much generous than domestic ones and none of the Asian airlines charged me even when I travel with a full-size bike case.

BigAura

They did not charge me a fee.

In fact, I was flying Southwest (continental US) and they allow two regulation-bags even on my cheapo-discount-ticket, so no bag fees. I have no idea whether I would have had to pay a bicycle fee if I said "bicycle", but I'd read that online somewhere (probably here on BikeForums) so I said "bicycle parts".

DropBarFan

Flew 2 R/T's domestically in USA with S&S bike, IIRC once was on JetBlue & the other maybe Delta or United. Didn't get charged a bike fee. AA & United policy seems pretty clear about not charging bike fee for S&S luggage, Delta is weirdly ambiguous. I'd avoid Delta if it wasn't too much expense or trouble but I'd reckon the check-in staff are more usually more concerned with moving the line along than hassling over dubious S&S fees.

Impressive to read how Asian airlines treat bikers nicer than US or Euro. IMO airports & airlines should have a co-op reasonably-priced rental system for sturdy bike crates. Eliminates waste of cardboard disposable boxes & allows bikers to ride in/out of airports.

Tourist in MSN

I have always flown Delta, largely because at my small community airport Delta has a near monopoly. But this coming Christmas I am flying Southwest (after driving or taking a bus 100 miles to a different airport) and am considering taking my bike along.

Southwest luggage policy is very clear that a case that meets the 62 inch criteria will not have an extra fee, even if it contains a bicycle (non-motorized). Bikes are listed under sports equipment at this link:
https://www.southwest.com/html/custo...ggage-pol.html

Inpd

Were you drinking when you posted this?

The link points to (in my browser) the policy for carrying alcohol in checked luggage

Seriously, it would be great if people could point to the online rules they refer to. I'm having a tough time finding all the policies people are referring to.

BigAura

Cool. Thanks for the info. I was never really worried when checking anyway but it's good to know.

In my two boxes I mixed gear and bike parts. The soft gear made for nice padding.

My one-way ticket Washington DC to Milwaukee, WS was $104 including the two check boxes. I only carried-on a few personal items.

The only minor issue was that TSA mussed my already messy looking packing

pdlamb

I don't put any gear in with my bike for two reasons. First, bike + case + tools is usually 47.5-48 pounds, perilously close to the 50 pound overweight bogey.


Second, TSA makes a mess of my nicely-packed bike and never repacks it right, leading to damage when some ape sits on the case to re-close it. So far the worst has been scratches and a bashed-in barcon that had to be replaced. Now I dismount the front tire and stuff it in the lid so they can see everything without screwing it all up.

Tourist in MSN

The reason I specifically said in my posting that "Bikes are listed under sports equipment ..." is because although that page comes up with the first of many items (alcohol), you have to click on Sports Equipment yourself.

BigAura

Yea, I'm not sure why the TSA would worry about a box full of pipes & wires*

*aka frame-tubing & cables

fietsbob

As I said, the people paid by the Airline have motivations to get that "It's a Bike" Fee $, they can and have

required the Case be opened, and won't let you board if you refuse.




'/,

DropBarFan

OK, but I wonder how much safety info the TSA can glean from taking stuff out for visual inspection. They can't see thru frame tubes that way vs looking at packed case with x-ray. At least they should ask customer to help; one would think that would actually be safer since they have guidelines to supposedly help spot troublemakers.

Most thorough bag inspection I've seen was when stashing a suitcase at Amsterdam train station lockers, 2 attendants scrutinized the suitcase in x-ray machine for 5 minutes, discussing little things that could be a concern. They never opened the suitcase though. IMO TSA opening coupler-bike cases is CYA nonsense.

alan s 

I took Southwest earlier this year, and no one asked what was in my bags. They just checked it in like any other luggage. The TSA didn't mess anything up, and didn't appear to have even opened the bike case.

pdlamb

Speaking of CYA nonsense...


True story: At one job, building management was nervous about letting me park my bike inside because of the bike bomb a while back where the bad guys stuffed explosives into the bike frame. The compromise we worked out was they let me park the bike in a stair well, and inspected my panniers every day when I brought them by the security office.

njkayaker

The TSA isn't the "Airlines". The TSA has nothing to do with the "It's a bike" fee.

fietsbob

But the counter people can And Have demanded to see 'what is in the Case'... , Or No Boarding Pass.

You dont Leave ,,, It Is in their Power . this is ahead of the TSA inspection Scan.

saddlesores

long, long ago, finished up a tour in west germany, arrived in
small town to catch the british duty train back to the unit. checked
in at the rto; hadda show id card, passport, berth reservation and
flag orders signed by the general's own rubber stamp. was allowed
to leave my saddlebags in the rto storage room while heading
back into town for lunch. upon return was told my bags were
removed by the mp's as a potential bomb threat. hadda then
locate the mp station on the edge of town, retrieve bags....
resting dangerously under the desk sergeant's desk...barely
made it back before the train left. crazy brits then wouldn't
let me in the dining car. no shorts. not even presentable
khakis. nearly died of starvation (but not hypothermia).

njkayaker

This is mostly BS.

The counter people look at weight and size. It is unusual that they would look inside.

The TSA scans stuff with x-rays and will look inside if things look odd.

Doug64

Every time I have shipped my bike by air, TSA has opened the box and inspected and collected samples at various places inside the box. They hardly ever lifted anything out of the box, especially if they could easily reach inside.

From TSA blog site:
"ETD tests are used in checkpoint, checked baggage, and cargo environments. We swab things such as laptops, shoes, film, cell phones, bags, wheelchairs, hands, casts - you name it. Certain procedures call for an ETD test.

Basically, our officers run the white swab over the area in question to collect a trace sample. They then place the swab in the ETD machinery which analyzes the sample for extremely small traces of explosives. The test takes a matter of seconds."
The TSA Blog: Explosive Trace Detection Usage Expanded: Give Us A Hand

I've always had good experiences with our local TSA folks, PDX. I just talk to them and am polite. I also pack our bikes so they are easy to inspect. I have never shipped my wife's bike uncoupled. It is more hassle than it is worth. I also only use minimal tape where I want the TSA folks to open the box. They always do a much better job of retaping than I do.

They have even let me take photos of them at work, which is unusual.

saddlesores

here in china (at the airports i've been thru), there are big honkin' xray machines
co-located with the check-in desks. counter agents will send all your bags thru xray
before handing back passport and boarding pass. anything questionable is questioned
there in your presents, passenger opens luggage and removes non-check baggage
items like power-banks. less worry of things going missing.....

larger packages must be wheeled to the end of the row for scanning, then return to
pickup boarding pass.

other asian countries have bulky/oversize counters where you handover your box
for scanning and getting of baggage ticket, after you get your boarding pass.

njkayaker

Things could be different in China/Asia.

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.

Inpd

This is HUUUUGE!

Seriously, if this is correct (others please confirm) then what's the point of getting a coupled frameset?

MassiveD

It doesn't happen every time. But it depends on your mindset, if you are the kind of person who worries for a month before whether you are going to pay that fee, well that sucks too.

I think someone needs to push back on the airlines. They are massive global polluters. The idea they are biasing transportation so people will be less likely to travel by bike is insane at every level.

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.

Tourist in MSN

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.

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:

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?