airlines & bikes

In article said:

Greetings,

Is anyone else as frustrated as I am with flying your bike?

Hey! When have you been flying with my bike?!

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

"sheri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Greetings,

Is anyone else as frustrated as I am with flying your bike? I am writing a letter to America West
expressing my dissatisfaction with the extra $160 I have to spend to get my bike to a race. My
bike box is my only checked luggage, and although it is greater than the 62 inch guideline, it is
still smaller than most people's combined checked luggage. Had I had the foresight to book my
flight through USAT travel desk, I would have potentially saved this fee, although probably not
received the same fare, and would need to pay USAT $40 for the booking, on top of my annual
membership.

Per America West's website, they will carry damn near any other equipment for free - archery sets,
fishing rods, surfboards

Surfboards?

They may be the last airline in the US to do this.

Anyway, the beginning of your post made me think of surfing's solution to this.

www.popebisect.com

Maybe you need wheels that fold or split in half.

a.

"andrew smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"sheri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Greetings,

Is anyone else as frustrated as I am with flying your bike?

Consider shipping your bike. This was very common in Lake Placid.

People either shipped it to one of the sponsoring LBS's or booked a hotel that was agreeable to
storing it. In some cases, you may even have an acquaintance that can accept the delivery at
their home.

Many triathlete-types keep two bikes, so parting with your main ride would be a minor
inconveinience.

Just take steps to minimize your risk:

* Give enough lead time that you can confirm it's arrival before you leave for the race.
* Get a tracking number.
* Pack it well.

You can get a pretty hefty parcel service uplift for well under $160 -
- and you won't have to lug it through the airport.

rsquared

andrew smith <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Anyway, the beginning of your post made me think of surfing's solution to this. www.popebisect.com
: Maybe you need wheels that fold or split in half.

Done and done.

sandsmachine.comsandsmachine.comOpen ↗ ritcheylogic.combabmain.htmOpen ↗

Wade Blomgren said:

andrew smith said:

Anyway, the beginning of your post made me think of surfing's solution to this.
www.popebisect.com Maybe you need wheels that fold or split in half.

Done and done.

sandsmachine.comsandsmachine.comOpen ↗ ritcheylogic.combabmain.htmOpen ↗

That's too cool.

On the other hand, I wouldn't tell them it's a bike.

Just call it artwork.

a.

I have to say AA have got a lot more consistent recently. The real problem seems to be the
inconsistency. If they told us we HAD to pay and then everyone paid, no one would feel bad.

A discussion of shipping bikes is gated (no pun intended) by luggage allowances. Typically domestic
travel includes a weight limit on your luggage, International travel is often based on the number of
pieces. I regularly travel internationally with AA. Almost every ticket I get includes the allowance
to check-in 2-pieces of luggage. Even flying economy I can check my bike in free providing I only
check 1-suitcase, and the Scicon bikebox; also taking care not to jam everything in the bike box and
keep its weight to a minimum.

The rules for this are described here
aa.combaggageAllowance.jhtmlOpen ↗

Note carefully that many bike boxes are oversize as defined here. That means you have to pay. Excess
charges are 80 USD per item, per journey(not per flight). So in the morning I may be asked to pay 80
USD to ship my bike from SWF via ORD to SFO. If I am I will get out my copy of this web page, and
challenge them to measure my bike case and prove it doesn't qualify(hint, they can never find a tape
measure at check-in) So if you are at SFO around
1.30pm and see a guy dragging a grey scicon case through the airport and onto the Hertz bus,
that'll be me.

AA also have an internal baggage rule, IBAG16 which says that on International trips bikes are
carried free provided the tyres are deflated, the handlebars turned sideways and the pedals removed.
What it doesn't say is if the bike has to be in a box or not. Many gate agents can't find this for
looking and thus revert to the published rules. When in doubt rather than cause a fuss at the gate I
pay and then write to the London HQ asking for a refund...

++Mark.

Thanks for all the help everyone. Happy tris and travels.

🙂

s.

"Mark Cathcart" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Note carefully that many bike boxes are oversize as defined here.

Are there ANY bike cases manufactured that are NOT oversized? I checked out the scicon and even the
soft case model is oversized according to the dimensions listed. I have been investigating this for
a while - trying to find a case that will fit the airline dimensions and have come up short. I think
it is possible to get a bike into a box to meet the dimensions (if someone would or has designed
such a case) but maybe the wheels would need to be carried separately. I was trying to get one of
the local bike shop guys to design this. I am sure there would be a market for it!

That means

Quoted message said:

you have to pay. Excess charges are 80 USD per item, per journey(not per flight). So in the
morning I may be asked to pay 80 USD to ship my bike from SWF via ORD to SFO. If I am I will get
out my copy of this web page, and challenge them to measure my bike case and prove it doesn't
qualify(hint, they can never find a tape measure at check-in)

Not true - the tape measure has been pulled out to measure my case on more than one occassion! (Mine
is obviously oversized though - but sometimes Delta wouldn't measure - their policy is that you can
check a bike in place of another piece of luggage as long as it is <63" - sometimes when they check
their policy they seem so surprised to see that a bike can be checked in place of another piece of
luggage that they don't really notice the dimension restriction.)

-hug

Someone sent this to me. I haven't used the service, so I can't vouch for it, but it sounds like a
good idea at least.

Quoted message said:

Sports Express is a sports equipment and bicycle delivery service. The company was founded in 1999
to simplify the hassles of traveling with luggage and sports equipment and to provide individual
and group travelers an alternative way to transport gear.

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

Agreed. I don't know iof a bike case that would take the wheels and be under the 62inch requirement.
I think though the Scicon case is at least a little confusing becuase its not a pure rectangle and
you can measure the width at a complimentary place on the case.

The family travelling before me Tuesday had 3-giant cases for 2 adults, 2-late teens, 2 younger
kids. There were charged 80 USD for excess even though if they'd have packed 6-cases they'd have
been under weight.

I didn't get charged or measured. ++Mark.