Flying with bicycles
 

Does anyone know the best/cheapest airline to fly (domestic to NYC) with bicycles (boxed)?

Anyone have any good/bad experiences with Delta?

Thanks!

I have no experience with Delta and bicycles. But here is a general list of prices and regulations.

http://www.ibike.org/encouragement/travel/bagregs.htm

Continental claims to charge $95 now each way for bikes, this is up from $80 last year iirc.

If you're flying frequently with wheels (as in, more than twice a year) I highly recommend you get a travel / folding bike. You can pack a folding bike into a large suitcase, and as long as you keep it under 50 lbs you'll avoid the fees.

None of the airlines, even KLM, are any better than any other in regards to the treatment of your bike. It is all going to depend on the handler. As long as you pray to the gods hard enough, everything should come out okay. And I refuse to fly domestic with my bike due to the charge. If you fly int'l, it's free.

Frontier is pretty bike friendly. However, yu ahve to fly through denver, which doesn't make it convenent if you leave from east of there.
Oh and if you fly a lot, get a trico iron case. My case now looks liek beat up pos (works perfect still), my bike? Immaculate.

Flying with Bikes
 

Delta doesn't even know their own rules. I have made six round trips to Europe with a bicycle boxed, and was not charged for any of the trips. But on the last trip, I left RDU on Aug. 17 for Lyon France and Delta charged me $100 for the bike, even though I only had one other bag to check. On the return trip from Madrid, there was no charge by Delta. Figure that one out?

I have never been charged by USAir, Iceland Air, Continental, or American. American has the best attitude (for a US carrier), Delta the worst. The bike has never been damaged in any of the trips. Go with Air France if you can; they like cyclists and their bike boxes are 1/3 the price of the US carriers.

www.peregrino.crazyguyonabike.com
Bruce Northcutt
Who is currently really upset with Delta Airlines.