imi

If you can fit it inside a 62" LxWxH case you'll be ok...


I've done a bit of thinking can anyone PLEASE improve on this?

Checked baggage
62" Cardboard box with:
S&S bike + tools + sharp objects + tent poles and pegs + as much other **** as you can cram in there and stay under 23 kg (or 20kg depending on airline)

Wear ALL your clothes (every last sock!) and helmet.
Camera in one pocket, phone in another

Hand baggage, (volume is the problem here, not keeping under 7kg or 5kg depending on airline):
Tent walls + Sleeping bag + Pad + Stove (+? ymmv)

...which leaves the problem of Racks and Fenders (at the very least)...

staehpj1

I agree. They do not ask and don't care when it is in a regular suitcase. My Samsonite Oyster has been checked quite a few times with my Dahon Helios in it and it never raises an eyebrow.

That said I would not be too thrilled with it for a tour with long mileage days or if I needed to carry much. It is great for short rides around town, but it comes up way short when compared to a real touring bike. A more serious touring folder like one of the Bike Friday models is probably much more suitable though. I can't really say since I haven't ridden one.

Also as you said there is the problem of what to do with the case. Yeah you can use it as a trailer, but personally I find even regular trailers like the BoB to be less than optimum. I would expect the suitcase ones to be a notch or two worse. That is speculation on my part as I have never tried the BF trailer.

Houston

Regardless, I still can't consider a folder. I asked my question based on a previous reply stating that they are now x-raying luggage and will upcharge, even if the bike is in a regular-sized case.

nun

I hate dealing with luggage when flying, so i always pack lightly. When I don't have the bike I only take a carry on bag and with the bike I have made the decision to be able to pack everything into two bags; bike and all my gear into the Tardis and carry on my handlebar bag with important items like wallet and passport etc. The Tardis weighs about 18kg packed and it fits into a Taxi and I can carry it. A big cardboard box is difficult to transport to the airport as may taxis won't take it and it's just too big to get on public transportation. Keeping gear weight and volume down also greatly helps when packing your stuff for a flight. My philosophy is if you can't lift your loaded bike reasonably easily above your head then you are carrying too much weight. If you can do this it makes lifting the bike over obstacles easy and also makes it easy to pack it up and stay below the airline weight limits.

imi

Nun: I too pack as light and minimal as possible, however have never had specific "ultralite" gear, partly because I never realised there was this kind of gear out there (e.g tarptent) before I lurked BF , partly because I was fine with my gear and partly because of the (unnecessary) cost of going ultralite, However, this may now, due to airlines' policies be becoming "necessary".

For colder and wetter weather tours (freezing nights) a decent tent, heavier sleeping bag and some warm clothing are unavoidable and make a big difference weight and volume wise.

Optimally I'd like to give air travel a miss but I work march-october and live in northern europe which is not a good place for touring in the winter, so hopping on a plane to warmer places is more or less my only option.

imi

Yes, x-raying all baggage is becoming more and more routine, but an upcharge if the bike is in a regular case is the exception, not the rule. I've only found one airline with this policy. I was told the reason was due to the extra security measures (read x-raying the bike frame) it ensued.

The Tardis nun mentions is larger than the regular baggage restrictions allow... Thus the airline might class it as "sporting equipment" and not allow you to put any other gear in there with the bike... ergo, you need to check in one more bag with, at the very least, sharp items (tools, knife, tent pegs, poles (?))

Options:

• 1: Foldable bike which can be fitted in a regulation case with everything else that can't be fitted in your hand baggage or worn = no extra charges
  
  
• 2. Foldable bike plus extra checked bag with whatever can't be put in with the bike or worn/hand baggage = extra charge for "piece system" or "weight system"... unless you are flying to/from N-America, in which case no extra charge (2 piece system).
  
  
• 3. Regular bike: Higher extra charge for "sporting equipment". Rest of your gear goes into your checked baggage without having to maximise hand baggage or wear all your clothes. This charge applies even flying to/from N.America.

The difference between "2" and "3" may, or may not, justify the extra cost of S&S couplings depending on how often you fly and with which airlines, and how heavy your gear is... ymmv

Al Downie

Before my A-B tour in India I made the big mistake of calling the British Airways 'Customer Service' desk, to ask for some guidance about their policy of only allowing bicycles to be transported if stored in a "recognised bicycle bag or box". When I started suggesting alternative interpretations of 'recognised' (like a cardboard bicycle box), the BA representative became really shirty and threatened to kick me off the flight, so I backed down. And I've since learned that the correct approach is to NOT call ahead, and just turn up with a cardboard box, a smile, and the friendliest attitude you can muster.

What we had to do was buy the cheapest bike bags we could, then plan when we'd arrive at our destination, book a hotel for those dates and make an arrangement with the staff there to store the bags after we'd posted them ahead. Sounds simple? Not in India! The post office requires that all packages have to be sewn into linen sacks, so we had to go and find a shop which sold the linen, and a tailor who would make the sacks while we wait. Then back to the post office where we had to affix around 200 stamps to the sack (we had included some unwanted equipment, gifts etc so it was quite a big sack!). Job done? Not really! We arrived in our destination about 20 days later, and the bags still hadn't appeared at the hotel. We stayed in the hotel for another 5 days, and only on the very LAST day did the bags arrive! Without doubt, shipping luggage around was the most stressful part of the tour. I've learned my lesson - pack light, don't buy gifts, and smile a lot. Life is so much easier that way...

nun

Good advice. My experience with Virgin Atlantic was very different and I had no trouble at all traveling with my bike and gear. I just I'd looked at their bicycle policy on line and it seemed pretty good, 32kg weight limit, bicycle partially disassembled and packed in a protective box or bag. I turned up at the airport and at check in the attendant didn't even weight my bike bag, just directed me to the oversized baggage area where I handed over the bag and away it went. At Heathrow the bag came off on the regular carousel.

Your experience in India points out that allowances need to be made for where your traveling. Posting a bag will work well in the Americas, Europe and many places in Asia, but obviously not so well in India.

BigBlueToe

I don't know where you're touring. In the United States I've never had any trouble getting a cardboard bike box from a bike shop. They usually have a dumpster full of them. The problem might be that they've already crushed them all before you get there.

One recommendation would be to get a box from your local bike shop. If they don't have one today, they'll have one in a few days. When you get to the start of your tour, dispose of the box. Call ahead to the town where you're ending your tour. Find a local bike shop and offer them $10 to hold onto a box for you.

These logistical issues are often a big part of the preparation for a trip. How to get to the start? How to get the bike to the start? How to get home at the end? How to get the bike home at the end?

One time I rented a car to get home. It was a Taurus with a fold-down pass-through to the trunk. When I took off the wheels of my XXL bike there was just enough room.

Another time I cut my tour short within a couple hundred miles from home (mechanical issues, and I was burnt out.) I took a Greyhound home. I asked if a local bike shop would store my bike until I could come back and get it. They said no. I went back with a minor mechanical issue that needed fixing and asked how long until they could get to it. It turned out to be about as long as I needed them to store the bike, and once they had it in their service area they weren't concerned whether I would be a day or two late to pick it up. That's what I did.

Machka 

Just for information purposes ... this is Air Canada's baggage page. Most airlines would have a similar page (or should have):
https://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin...age/index.html

If you click on Additional Checked Bag Allowance, you will see that a bag that is oversize and/or overweight will be charged $100 for international flights:
https://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin...ge.html?src=rt

Now click over to Sports Equipment, and scroll down a bit to have a look at the information about bicycles:
https://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin...rts_equip.html

The first thing it says is: "Bicycles are accepted on a space available basis only and should be pre-registered at time of booking." ... so there's no guarantee your bicycle will fly with you. Then it tells you there is a $50 charge for bicycles. (There is other information there as well)

So when flying Air Canada, it is better to call a bicycle a bicycle because you'll save yourself $50 on the charges.


This is United Airlines baggage page:
https://www.united.com/page/middlepag...kTitle=baggage

And this is UA's overweight/oversize information:
https://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,52909,00.html

Interestingly they charge for both overweight and oversize, while Air Canada only charges for one, and not both. Depending on where you're going, you could be paying anywhere from $175 - $250 on oversize, and if you're overweight as well that could be an additional $125 to $400.

Click over to the bicycle part:
https://www.united.com/page/article/0...0.html#bicycle
And depending where you're going, it's $175 to $250 ... same as oversized luggage, and I would assume that if you went over the 50 lb limit, you'd pay overweight fees as well.

But again, you might as well call what you're carrying a bicycle because you'll end up paying the same for it if you call it a bicycle, or piano parts or art or exercise equipment or whatever.


As for X-raying ... if you're travelling internationally, your bicycle will be X-rayed. Where your bicycle will be X-rayed will depend on the airport. Some airports have the X-ray machine way down at one end of the check-in area and the check-in people will never know for sure what's in the box or suitcase. Other airports have the X-ray machines right next to the check-in area, and the check-in people might know what's in the box or suitcase. Still other airports (like Sydney, for example) take your bicycle box away from you during the check-in process and then return with the proclamation that there's a bicycle in the box.

I suspect that more airports will start going the Sydney method.

imi

Oh and beware of "CODE SHARING"!

Case in point:

I have booked with "Lufthansa" (directly from their website, not a travel agency) from Sweden to LA via Frankfurt, Germany... However, the trans-atlantic stretches are served under code sharing by "United Airlines"... My bike and baggage will be checked in all the way from Sweden to the USA

HOWEVER! This means that I have to comply with BOTH Lufthansa's AND United's bicycle policies... and yes, they are different!

This could only be seen by carefully studying the flight numbers on the booking.


If you see a guy wearing a bicycle helmet trying to hitch a ride from LAX you'll know what happened!

imi

^^^ this is what really worries me... and this kind of wording is getting more and more commonplace. I've never heard of anyone's bike being flat refused.. anyone experienced this?... but the thought of standing at a check in counter and being told there's no room for your bike is scary...

Actually from a purely economical point of view I could fly from Europe to the USA, buy a brand new $1000 touring bike, and probably sell it after the tour with a net loss of much less than I'd pay to transport my bike...

But I want to ride MY bike!

Machka 

Yes ... the same thing happened to me when I flew to Los Angeles from Calgary on my way to Australia this past June.

Now, they did actually have the information I needed on the website during the online booking, but I needed to click a button to access the additional information. Here was the situation ...

If I booked a flight, with Air Canada, from Calgary to LA, via Denver ... I would pay $50 for my bicycle to Air Canada for the flight from Calgary to Denver PLUS the $175 or whatever it was to United for the flight from Denver to LA ... because Air Canada and United have an agreement, and I would have automatically switched from an Air Canada flight to a United flight in the US.

BUT if I booked a flight, with Air Canada, from Calgary to LA, via Vancouver ... I would just pay the $50 for my bicycle to Air Canada, but NOT the $175 to United, despite the fact that I would automatically be changing to a United flight in Vancouver.

The difference was that on the first, I'd make the change in the US, but on the second I'd make the change within Canada ... and that difference would save me or cost me $175.


You've really got to pay attention to the individual airline and all the small print when you book a flight with a bicycle these days!!


BTW - isn't Lufthansa one of the most expensive airlines to fly with, with a bicycle?

Machka 

I kept calling right up till the day before and the customer service agent kept telling me that they might not have room for my bicycle.

So ... I decided that if they didn't have room for my bicycle when I got to the airport in Calgary, I'd get the bicycle on the next flight to Vancouver. I contacted some relatives in Vancouver and enlisted their help. If my bicycle arrived too late to come with me on the next leg of my journey to LA, they would see that it got on the next flight, or would pick it up and await further instructions.

Fortunately it was all OK.

However, I've had to pull out the sad eyes and verge-of-crying technique to get my bicycle on greyhound when they told me that there wasn't going to be room for my bicycle on that bus and it would have to go on another bus some time later.

imi

Yes your right Machka! Unfortunately I discovered after I'd made the booking that I'd looked at the wrong table (Europe instead of Trans-Atlantic) which means I'll be paying a total of €300 for the bike, round trip, (instead of €150 which it would have cost for europe, and which I find just ok)... Ouch! my mistake! However on the upside the actual flight was very cheap (€400 round trip) and flying from Gothenburg, Sweden there aren't too many other viable options.

BA was great before they changed their baggage policies, but unfortunately all the other contenders get expensive for the Sweden to London/Frankfurt/Amsterdam/Paris stretch...

The hassle and expense of flying with Ryan Air to London, or Berlin Air to Frankfurt would have worked out at about the same total cost... so I'm just sucking it up!... and saving up for an S&S frame

FWIW I have had good experience of Berlin Air in europe...

Actually what I still "could" do, as the bike fee is paid at check in, is buy, say an LHT in LA, take it back to Sweden after the tour with me, and sell it, which would probably cover the transport cost (o/w) and leave me with a profit... The list price for a new LHT in sweden is $1670...

cheers!