Taking Bikes on Planes

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
nmnm
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by nmnm »

Ankaradan, have a look at BA - very good bike policy, flights from Edin to Ist. from £160. They go via London, but they deal with the luggage during the connection, not you.
ankaradan
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by ankaradan »

nmnm wrote:Ankaradan, have a look at BA - very good bike policy, flights from Edin to Ist. from £160. They go via London, but they deal with the luggage during the connection, not you.



Thanks, BA were the next choice, and certainly much easier to book with a bike. I chose Turkish Airlines because its a direct flight, so less chance for baggage handlers to damage the bike. I've had one or two horrendous experiences with BA and baggage. THY is also a little cheaper.
Tinhorseman
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by Tinhorseman »

IanSmitton wrote:I have just finished some research about taking bikes on planes, and have drawn up a table of all the major European airlines with how much they charge to take your bike on the plane.

I hope it can be of use to someone here - it seems as though a flight with BA, for example, could work out cheaper than with Ryanair if you bring your bike.

http://www.cyclefiesta.com/multimedia/articles/bikes-planes.htm

Thanks, this is brilliant and really useful - you've saved us a lot of legwork :D
North Wales Yorkie
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Location: Bangor

Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by North Wales Yorkie »

That's very useful indeed Ian, I appreciate your inclusion of the year too, so many internet searches return info that's out of date.
If you can spare the time to keep it updated it'll be an invaluable resource, quite a committment though to monitor airline policy changes.
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bigjim
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by bigjim »

Whats this e/jet thing about nothing in the bike box? How would they know?
The bike is already checked in and labelled before it goes to the oversize scanner and the staff there don't work for e/jet.
I always leave tools, panniers, tent and sleeping bag on the bike. :roll:
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RickH
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by RickH »

bigjim wrote:Whats this e/jet thing about nothing in the bike box? How would they know?
The bike is already checked in and labelled before it goes to the oversize scanner and the staff there don't work for e/jet.
I always leave tools, panniers, tent and sleeping bag on the bike. :roll:

You may get away with it, provided your "bike" doesn't weigh over 32kg, but they may be within their rights to charge you for additional items - their rates seem to be £40 per "bag" (they could argue a bag is an individual item - £40 for tent + £40 for sleeping bag + £40 each pannier...) or £11 per kilo, and they might not release your bike to you until you've paid up front. You'd have to decide if it worth the risk or whether it is simpler to pay the £13 for a 20kg hold bag (booked with flight, I don't know if that is a fixed price - I just checked the Liverpool-Bordeaux flight for an example).

Rick.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
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bigjim
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by bigjim »

You may get away with it, provided your "bike" doesn't weigh over 32kg, but they may be within their rights to charge you for additional items - their rates seem to be £40 per "bag"

I don't understand "getting away with it". If the bike is under the weight then it is checked in and goes to x ray without any further involvement from e/jet. I've took mine with the panniers,tent,h/Bag, tools attached and all in a CTC plastic bag for years and had no problem.
Airlines like to frighten you into paying more all the time.
The latest one from Rynair is that you have to put "camera etc " in you cabin baggage. Yea right. What exactly is etc?
Amazing the amount of people travelling with bulging pockets on a Ryanair flight. never seen them challenged.
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RickH
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by RickH »

bigjim wrote:
You may get away with it, provided your "bike" doesn't weigh over 32kg, but they may be within their rights to charge you for additional items - their rates seem to be £40 per "bag"

I don't understand "getting away with it". If the bike is under the weight then it is checked in and goes to x ray without any further involvement from e/jet. I've took mine with the panniers,tent,h/Bag, tools attached and all in a CTC plastic bag for years and had no problem.
Airlines like to frighten you into paying more all the time.
The latest one from Rynair is that you have to put "camera etc " in you cabin baggage. Yea right. What exactly is etc?
Amazing the amount of people travelling with bulging pockets on a Ryanair flight. never seen them challenged.

When you book you agree to their terms and (unless you can prove they were unreasonable) you take a risk if you don't comply. I said that it is a case of "you may get away with it" because you may not and have to be ready to face any subsequent consequences. It is like, for instance, ordering items over the internet from abroad - I've seen some sites that offer to put a low value/gift declaration on the goods, even though they are worth more, so that you don't pay customs duty and/or VAT. If you do that you have to be aware that you may, in the end, be charged and the charges will almost certainly be greater than if you did things according to the rules laid down.

So, if you put things in with your bike, you may not pay anything extra but it is by no means guaranteed. You are going down that route it is wise to be prepared for the eventuality, even if it doesn't arise, that you may pay more than you've paid for your flight to actually get to your destination with your bike in your possession at the other end.

I don't know about Ryanair, but Easyjet are clear:-

"You can take one piece of hand baggage into the cabin with you -no bigger than 56 x 45 x 25cm incl wheels- which must fit comfortably into the baggage gauge. Hand bags, briefcases, laptops and laptop bags are all counted as one piece so if you have a hand bag and a laptop bag for example, you might want to consider putting one inside the other."

You are allowed 1 item, not a bag plus a camera plus a laptop. Lots of pockets is a good option in this respect :D

Rick.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
Gearoidmuar
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by Gearoidmuar »

I have my bike. I ziptie both of my old and still waterproof Ortlieb Classic Panniers together (there are loops for that) as one bag and I carry a plastic supermarket bag into which I put stuff like my handlebar bag as carry-on luggage.
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bigjim
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by bigjim »

You still seem to be ignoring the fact that the Airline does not examine your bag. That is securities job.
The only reason they want you to ban you from putting anything in the box is so they can extract an extra luggage charge.
Personally it is no problem carrying all in hand luggage these days as my full kit would come to less than 10kg, but it is more convenient to leave some stuff on the bike and to give the bike more protection.
BlueRomany
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by BlueRomany »

We recently flew from Manchester to Frankfurt and return with Lufthansa. They allow you to take your bike as it is - not boxed or bagged, no turned handlebars, no pedals removed. At Manchester after you check in your other luggage you take the bikes to oversized baggage where a man comes along to swab them for explosives. You have to wait for the results - about 5 minutes. At Frankfurt the bikes were propped up against a wall in the baggage hall. The tyres had been deflated (although Lufthansa say they don't need to be).
On the return flight the bikes and luggage went through the oversize luggage desk - a man came over to wheel the bikes away and to check the tyres were deflated. Back at Manchester they were close to the baggage conveyer.
It cost 50 euros per bike each way plus at Manchester there was an extra £15 charge (because Lufthansa don't have their own desk). I had to ring Lufthansa after booking the flight to book the bikes. They wanted to know how much each bike weighed. At Manchester one bike was weighed; at Frankfurt they didn't bother.
All very straightforward and no damage. I'd use Lufthansa again.
bsilverstern
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by bsilverstern »

Recently ,July 23 , I flew to Paris with bike on Vietnam Airlines The first 3 legs ( stop overs in Hanoi and Saigon ) no problem , no charge. Then in Saigon to Sydney was extorted fort 150 USD. Refused to pay and left bike sitting at check in. Will make claim at Consumers Affairs.
hufty
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by hufty »

bigjim wrote:
The latest one from Rynair is that you have to put "camera etc " in you cabin baggage. Yea right. What exactly is etc? Amazing the amount of people travelling with bulging pockets on a Ryanair flight. never seen them challenged.

I don't know for sure but I would think this is just the one cabin bag rule being enforced rigidly in a manner typical of the airline's ongoing commitment to customer hostility. Bulging pockets are within their rules, two bags of any description are not within their rules. I wouldn't fly with them myself, but if you can put up with their peculiar brand of nonsense you know the score beforehand so play the game.
Please do not use this post in Cycle magazine
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BeeKeeper
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by BeeKeeper »

bsilverstern wrote:Then in Saigon to Sydney was extorted for 150 USD. Refused to pay and left bike sitting at check in. Will make claim at Consumers Affairs.

Best of luck!
hillspecial
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Re: Taking Bikes on Planes

Post by hillspecial »

Flown with BA, Swiss Air, Air France, Easyjet, Jet2 and a few others. Despite all these flights only picked up a few scratches and a broken cable.

Used to used just newspaper taped to the tubes, used CTC plastic flight bags the last few times - small enough to carry with you on tour. Jet 2 made us sign a disclaimer due to the plastic bags. Also used a soft padded bike bag when on a family holiday & staying in the same place.
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