Avoid United for Travel with a Bike

mabry said:

I bought a Ritchey BreakAway four years ago and since then have travelled without a problem almost constantly while on business, personal travel and have never been charged. That is until today.

A surly Premier/Premier Exec counter agent in LA spotted the Ritchey logo on the case and charged me.

Found out the hard way that United has changed their policy and broadened their definition of bike surcharges to include foldable bikes, etc., whether in a standard-sized case or not.

To add insult to injury, the bike charge increased from $80 each way in May to $100 and will increase again to $125 on August 18.

American, Delta, Continental, USAir and others still let bikes on without a charge as long as the case is standard-sized. I’ll be moving my business to them.

Either visit the skycaps curbside or avoid United altogether. They’ve gone from a supporter of USACycling (remember the good-old voucher days?) to the most bike un-friendly airline in just a couple of years.

Don't expect it to be any better or stay any better at the other airlines. Increased fees are the order of the day for airlines. Increased fuel prices have been the kick to their groin, and it's not like airlines have been terribly profitable enterprises anyway.

mabry said:

I bought a Ritchey BreakAway four years ago and since then have travelled without a problem almost constantly while on business, personal travel and have never been charged. That is until today.

A surly Premier/Premier Exec counter agent in LA spotted the Ritchey logo on the case and charged me.

Found out the hard way that United has changed their policy and broadened their definition of bike surcharges to include foldable bikes, etc., whether in a standard-sized case or not.

To add insult to injury, the bike charge increased from $80 each way in May to $100 and will increase again to $125 on August 18.

American, Delta, Continental, USAir and others still let bikes on without a charge as long as the case is standard-sized. I’ll be moving my business to them.

Either visit the skycaps curbside or avoid United altogether. They’ve gone from a supporter of USACycling (remember the good-old voucher days?) to the most bike un-friendly airline in just a couple of years.

You can check the airlines in advance, but they are changing so fast it may change before you book or travel.

Some persons have elected to take the bike apart, split the components in seperate luggage and call it bike parts to avoid the bike surcharge.

I've just flown from SFO to LHR and didn't pay a thing for my bike. Not sure if it makes a difference for transatlantic?

The few times that I have flown with my bike, I had the cartons labeled as "Exercise Equipment". Then I saw how they were handled by the baggage loaders. Since then, I always preferred to ship the bike that I was going to use to the hotel via UPS or FedEx and then it was waiting for me when I got there. It may not be handled any more gently, but at least I don't have to see it. In addition, UPS and FedEx have a better record of getting packages to where they are supposed to go and for finding them if they don't get there🙄 .

I think the real issue is that in a Ritchey travel case the bike is broken down and is not "oversize" by the their own definitions.

It certainly is not overweight, so the OP was charged simply because the luggage was a bicycle, regardless of the fact that it fit inside all of their requirements.

Had it been "just a suitcase" of the same size he would not have been charged anything other than the second bag charge.

mabry said:

I bought a Ritchey BreakAway four years ago and since then have travelled without a problem almost constantly while on business, personal travel and have never been charged. That is until today.

A surly Premier/Premier Exec counter agent in LA spotted the Ritchey logo on the case and charged me.

Found out the hard way that United has changed their policy and broadened their definition of bike surcharges to include foldable bikes, etc., whether in a standard-sized case or not.

To add insult to injury, the bike charge increased from $80 each way in May to $100 and will increase again to $125 on August 18.

American, Delta, Continental, USAir and others still let bikes on without a charge as long as the case is standard-sized. I’ll be moving my business to them.

Either visit the skycaps curbside or avoid United altogether. They’ve gone from a supporter of USACycling (remember the good-old voucher days?) to the most bike un-friendly airline in just a couple of years.

Any way of covering up the logo?

My impression looking online rather than closeup, is without the branding it wouldn't stand out as a bike case. Or is the case sufficiently distinct that it would be spotted anyway.

If you travel enough by airline with bikie, another option might be to find another piece of luggage that holds your bike that is bicycle specific-or if there is sufficient margin on weight and dimension-something light weight the Ritchey case can fit inside and hope they don't question what is in it.