Bikes on Airlines? Wisdom sought!
 

Hello all,

I'm headed for Bali in May, and am trying to figure out how to get my bike there without paying LOTS in airline fees.

I've seen setups with bikes packed tightly into extra large suitcases (35 x 25 x 10 inches), but am having a hard time finding such a suitcase!

Any other wisdom for flying with bikes without paying outrageous airline fees?

I'm located near Boston, and I welcome direct responses as well (lindy60696@hotmail.com)

THANK YOU!

- Liz ( :

Airline policies on bikes can vary widely. See here: http://www.ibike.org/encouragement/travel/bagregs.htm

We flew from Seattle to Prague with an uncoupled tandem, and only paid $75 in fees for the round trip. It really depends on the airline. We built a wooden box for our tandem. We stripped it and essentially only had the frame and wheels in the box. All the parts went into another suitcase, but a lot of that was because we were up against a weight limit. Still it was easy to do and good to travel with. No damage. I put casters on the box and we piled all our luggage on it for moving about in airports. The box went as oversized sports equipment. Sports equipment can be a much more lenient category than oversized baggage, though it is still checked in the same manner as oversized. If your arrival and departure hotels are the same, the hotel will store the box for you if you make arrangements in advance.

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It really depends on the airline ...

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perhaps an actual travel agent, can sort through the fee structures. of various airlines, for you..

You won't be able to pack your bicycle into a suitcase within the size limit unless you've got a folding bicycle.

Look at the link the first poster posted ... and then look up the airline regulations with regard to bicycles. Then choose an airline that doesn't charge very much. I think Qantas flies to Bali ... they don't charge for bicycles. If Air Canada flies to Bali (not sure if they do), they'd only charge you $50. Do your research.

And when you get to the airport, arrive very early, be the first person in line, and be as friendly, helpful, pleasant, nice, and cheerful as possible. Sometimes it helps.

Yeah, a large suitcase isn't necessarily going to help you. If an airline has a punitive "bike" rate, then packing it so it's not obvious it's a bike may help, but you'll still pay oversized fees. If you're going to fly the bikes more than just this once, getting your bike retrofitted with S&S couplers might be a good investment. Even then, the best case scenario is just barely fitting into the airline's size allowance.

Best advice to keep the cost down is to research airline policies before you book, and don't book any connections on separate tickets.

Plus a substantial 2nd bag fee if you can't pack all your other gear as carry-on. Not sure about Bali, but when I looked into taking AC to France, it worked out to $175 each way.

Look into the airline(s) you're flying. I make it plural because if you fly a few different partner airlines to get to Bali (which is usually the case), the baggage policy of the airline where you'll be flying the longest leg applies. This is a fairly recent IATA policy and cause of lots of debate/confusion with airline personnel at many airports around the world. So say your flight originates from Boston with American Airlines and you fly to LAX to transfer to Singapore Airlines which will take you to Bali. Singapore Airlines will be the dominant airline for your entire trip. They only charge $88 to fly with your bike each way. That's what American should charge you to fly with your bike all the way from Boston to Bali instead of their regular $150 fee each way. If your dominant airline has a really lenient "bikes fly free" policy, then you really lucked out. Again, you need to be ready to show these written policies to the agent at the check-in counter (being pleasant about it) who normally has to check with a supervisor. I learned about all this just a few months ago on FlyerTalk. Hope it helps!

If you could engineer it so that BA was the dominant carrier, they don't charge specifically for bikes. They charge on the basis of weight, so if you can get your bike within your weight allowance it goes free. If not they charge you for excess baggage just as they would for any other overweight or extra bag.

I flew with Air Canada last year and it was $50 can. each way , plus I had to pay $20 on one of the two trips for the duffle bag I had with me to put two panniers in. Did not have to pay that twice, which I suspect was connected to following the golden rule of Machkas final comment, arriving early and being friendly....didnt work on way back. So $120 for taking the bike, not too bad.
Did make sure that the box I got from a bike store was one of the smaller ones to be ok for the dimensions rules X by Y by Z inches.

as noted, research research research and expect a wide variation of prices.

What kind of bike do you have?
If getting charged for oversized/overweight
luggage is too much, you may also check
into renting a bike at your destination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUQNU2DKiWw

As others have said it really depends on the airline. However, I've flown internationally with IcelandAir and Virgin Atlantic with my bike packed in a Ground Effect Tardis bag and was not charged anything. It just went on as regular baggage, so it is possible to pack a regular bike into a soft sided case and either meet the size limits or exceed them by little enough to be charged nothing. Here's a video that shows how it works, but I use my gear as padding around the bike and make sure nothing can move around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raUiKoRu2Oc

I flew my touring bike to Europe last year on Delta and it cost $150us. I packed the bike in a cardboard "bike box" (i.e., wheels, seat, and handlebars off). Flying back on Air France (Delta's partner) cost 100E. Pricey indeed, but a relatively small cost compared to the great time I had cyclig across Spain and France.

A bit pricey yes: IMHO only fair for airlines to charge extra for bikes when they actually exceed normal size/weight limits: but things that get me are the uncertainty & inconsistency not to mention "security" hassles. IE AFAIK no airports/airlines guarantee being able to buy a bike box so travelers are forced to get a bike box from local shops despite language problems, taxi fares etc. My new bike has S & S couplers but considering extensive time to break down/build up & necessity of special cases a definite PITA vs riding to the airport & sticking bike in a $20 box.

If you are a member of MASSBike, I think that they have a bike case that they loan out to members. You might try asking them if you can borrow it.

This is extremely good advice. I have seen passengers thinking that if they are obnoxious that the ticket agents will get scared of them and succumb. I however have had the best luck getting better seats for free by being as pleasant as I possibly can be.

I got a cheap pocket sized luggage scale shipped from China on ebay for less than $10. Took a month to arrive, but it is a very useful thing to have for travel. I try to have my luggage 2 pounds lighter than the limit, rest of my weight is in carry on bag.

I also take a photo of my luggage before I check it, when you are trying to describe your luggage to someone at your destination airport, it helps to show what it looks like on your camera display.

Fair in those cases, yes, but airlines that slap a "bike" fee regardless of size or weight aren't being fair. I've heard horror stories where, despite the use of S&S couplers or folding bikes to fit within the baggage allowance, the airlines still slap an extra charge of several hundred dollars if they find out what's in the box.

My experience is that the baggage policy of the airline with whom you check in applies. So be wary of code share flights.

I've had the check-in people drop the charges all together, or reduce them, when I turned up before they were busy and was as nice as can be. The check-in person has quite a bit of power. They can also choose to charge you a lot more if they want.


We've discovered in our travels that some airports have weigh scales for travellers to use to check the weight of their luggage ... Heathrow is one. So even if you don't have your own scales, you might be able to find some in the airport.

And good idea about the photos.

Yes, right now I'm looking at Delta's site, for instance. They're not clear if coupler/folders escape $400 round-trip fee. Lufthansa has high fees like Delta for full-size bikes but notes that no extra charge if bike fits in regular-size luggage. Oh well...at least some US city buses now have bike racks on the front!

My colleagues who travel a lot fly with Ritchey Breakaway frames. They're full size frames that break down with not much effort.

To get the full benefit, you need the travel case. According to Ritchey, the travel case is small enough that most airlines don't require an oversize charge (but it's best to check first):

http://www.ritcheylogic.com/dyn_prod...9-202&k=472765

Disclaimer: Undiscovered Country is a Ritchey dealer.