Cycle Carriage on Planes

[petehenry]

There is a thread on the Touring and Expedition Forum which has generated a deal of interest about managing (or not in some cases) to take your cycle on a flight with you and damage, costs etc. (viewtopic.php?f=16&t=27014)
There is a huge variation in attitude, cost, reservation and packing requirements even though planes are all pretty similar, and even moreso airport ground staff will generally be employed by a single operator.
There seems to me to be clear evidence that the simplest and cheapest, CTC PVC bag or even nothing at all, results in the least likelihood of damage yet unless we watch out this option will gradually be removed by airlines as they move towards a more conventional hard box or case requirement which is both very expensive and impossible if you are doing an "open jawed" trip.

I would suggest that the following information is collected:
Date
From
To
Carrier
No of passengers and bikes in group
Booking method
Cost of Bike reservation
Packing method (Nothing, CTC Bag, Cardbord box, Softcase, Hardcase)
Approx Cost of packing
Additional Protection Used (Bubblewrap, Pipe foam)
Damage [None, Minor (scratches, brake levers twisted, bike immediately rideable), Major (bike only rideable after repairs), Write off (bike could not be ridden without major work)]
Staff Attitude (Good, Indifferent, Bad)
Comments.

As an indication, I did an earlier survey when I was cycling out to Rome and flying back with a colleague. My colleague was very concerned about using the bike bag (which I had used before) so to persuade him I spent a couple of hours searching on the internet and came up with the following data:

Packing No of Reports Bike Damage Case Damage Undamaged
hardcase 7 0 2 5
softcase 2 0 0 2
Plastic Bag 17 0 0 17
Canvas Bag 3 2 0 1
Cardbord Box 4 3 3 1

As you can see, in this limited survey of mine PVC bags came out way on top but I didn't have or gather data on airports, carriers etc.

Happy for any comments. If people start to post replies with enough data I will gather together and create stats after a few weeks.

[MartinBrice]

I flew gatwick-stavanger and back again in july 2008 - bike in poly bag, not a scratch going out or coming back. with norwegian.no - threw the ply bag away (left it in stavanger airport) on the way out and just used a bit of bubble wrap bought at the post office on the way back. no problems.
i flew gatwick-montpellier with Easyjet in October 2008, used a poly bag made from the plastic bag round a mattress we'd just bought. No pipe lagging or anything. Had no problems at all out or back, not a scratch on the bike.

[pal]

Date: July 14th 2009
From: Stockholm (Arlanda)
To: Manchester
Carrier: SAS
No of passengers and bikes in group: 1
Booking method: phoned first to check that the 'plane would take a bike; then booked ticket online; then phoned again to reserve a place for the bike, and again in 24 hours to confirm the reservation (I was told that if the bike reservation hadn't been possible, they'd have waived the usual rule about not allowing changes/refunds on the plane ticket). A slightly involved process, but it worked out ok, and the people on the phone line were helpful throughout.
Cost of Bike reservation: EUR40 (paid at check-in).
Packing method: Nothing -- just rotated the bars and removed pedals.
Damage: none at all.
Staff Attitude (Good, Indifferent, Bad): excellent throughout, from check-in, via xray, to the baggage handlers at Manchester (who carefully wheeled the bike into the baggage hall and handed it over in person).

Comments: this is the first time I've flown without packing up the bike (normally I use a padded bag, and leave it at left luggage at the airport) -- I reckoned since it was the end of my holiday (I'd come out by ferry) it was worth the risk. But in fact the bike seemed to suffer less unwrapped than it has when I've parcelled it up, and it was definitely much less hassle this way. So perhaps I'll risk it on an outwards journey in future -- esp. with SAS, who seem generally very cycle-friendly (I've flown with them before with a [bagged] bike, and had no problems).

[petehenry]

September '08, Ancona, Italy to Stansted, Ryanair, Single (cycled out), Booked on line, One passenegr and bike, reservation €20. Wrapped in CTC PVC Bag with pipefoam protection around rear mech. No damage and staff excellent at Ancona and bike appeared in Baggage Hall in Stansted just as first luggage coming up onto carousel. No damage.
July '09, Rome Fiumicino to Leeds, Jet2, Single (cycled out), Booked on-line but had to phone for bike reservation, £25 fee, two passengers and bikes. Old CTC PVC Bag that I had cycled out with, no additional protection. Arrived at airport later than expected due to torrential rain so arrived at check in about 75 minutes before departure. Flight Supervisor came and took us to front of queue to get checked in so we could take bikes to outsize bagage, then walked all the way there with us (other end of check in hall) to ensure that Imanaged to get bike through x-ray OK. This proved difficult as the bike had to go through at an angle in the end propped up by packing, but got through in the end. Flight Supervisor phoned up handlers to make sure that they would pick up the bike and take it to plane.
Came through on Carousel at Leeds. Outsize Bagage x-ray machine too small though (slightly under 1 metre square). No damage to mine, friends bike brake/gear lever twisted round slightly.