Bike friendly airlines ?

I've transported 2 bikes to Europe (Singapore Airlines & Malaysian) in
2003 and 2 bikes back to Australia (Emirates) in 2006.

The official line with SIA & Malaysian was (and still is) a boxed bike
is part of your luggage and you have a 20kg allowance, anything more is
subject to excess baggage charges. Unofficially, they usually allow up
to 30kg, but if you go over 30kg they charge and revert to the 20kg
rule. ie 29kg OK, 32kg would incur a 12kg excess baggage charge (though
I'd be repacking to squeeze that 3 kg in the cabin if possible). You
have to assume a worse case scenario with a full plane and no room for
leniency. Emirates are supposed to be diabolical as they usually run
full flights and pre sell any expected extra capacity for air-cargo,
cutting your chances for leniency. We were lucky to have special
frequent flyer status with Emirates that allows 30kg each so we still
had some spare baggage allowance after our bikes were included, though
at check in they said we should have reserved a large item spot for our
flight. Luckily, on all occasions I've been in a position to leave
the bikes behind if excess baggage was charged.

The problem today is that airlines are running leaner and meaner to
survive, with fuller flights and selling off excess capacity to
air-cargo. So going over the 20kg is more of a risk now.

Some other discussions on this:
http://tinyurl.com/lhjya
http://tinyurl.com/q23qb

Cheers,
Greg

AnyDave said:

I'm taking the treadly to Europe in June. Anyone know of bike friendly
airlines?

Most now seem to charge full Xs over 20kgs even for bikes, although it
depends a bit on the person on the counter at the time.

Singapore seem to allow a 15kg bike for 6kg Xs, but that is still a couple
of hundred $ each way. . .

I think I'll have about 18kg bike in box + about 12kg gear, tent etc which I
though was travelling light :-)

Are there any other airlines that are a bit more bike-friendly?

Dave H

I have flown both domestic and international with multiple bikes and at times a tandem.
I have only been charged excess baggage once, the reality is the airlines dont bother weighing your box because it doesnt go over the check in counter.

To answer your question though Qantas are probably the best they have quite a concession for sporting goods, bicycles are included in this.

CC

Not always true - I've had my bike box weighed on the return trip from
Europe and had to transfer several heavy items to my hand luggage to get the
weight of the checked luggage down to the point where the check-in staff
would turn a blind eye. I also pointed out to them that as I only weighed
65kg, me and my luggage together weighed less than some of the lardarses who
were getting on the plane, but that argument didn't seem to convince them.

And when boarding at Zurich Airport we had problems because they said the
bike box was too large to to through their xray machine. As it turned out it
fitted with about one centimetre to spare, but I saw another passenger who
had a larger bike box get it rejected.

Nick

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

Quoted message said:

I have only been charged excess baggage once, the reality is the
airlines dont bother weighing your box because it doesnt go over the
check in counter.

--
Frank
[email hidden]
Drop DACKS to reply
"AnyDave" <AnyDave(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm taking the treadly to Europe in June. Anyone know of bike friendly
airlines?

Most now seem to charge full Xs over 20kgs even for bikes, although it
depends a bit on the person on the counter at the time.

Singapore seem to allow a 15kg bike for 6kg Xs, but that is still a couple
of hundred $ each way. . .

I think I'll have about 18kg bike in box + about 12kg gear, tent etc which

I

Quoted message said:

though was travelling light :-)

Are there any other airlines that are a bit more bike-friendly?

Dave H

I travelled with Royal Brunei last year. No indication that weight was a bit
flexible when it comes to bikes but I had a chat with someone (don't know
who - just a 'phone number) from Perth to have a bit more allowance to cater
for my bike. Total was about 35kg (official limit 25kg) and it cost me
nothing.

Coming back from Frankfurt limit is 20kg (and 60 Euros/kg for excess -
oh-oh!). My lot weighed 33kg and I'd arranged with a girl I met at the
airport to share her weight allowance if needed - she only had about 10kg
with her. No need. Once I explained I had a bike it was "OK - just put it on
the 'big items' conveyor."

I suggest you go to your travel agent and get some phone contacts for
airlines and make prior arrangements if no official arrangements exist. I've
always found people to be very accomodating if you give them a call
beforehand.

Cheers,

Frank

I hate the inconsistency! A return work trip to Melbourne, on the
flight down, no excess, on the return, the chick at the counter tried to
charge me. I was on a defence ticket, I had my full army kit with me.
I'd offloaded a steel helmet in Melbourne so I couldn't figure out why
they wanted to charge me. They sent me to the ticketing counter where
the staff member shook her head and sent me straight through,
apologising. I'd say don't count on anything, ever, when it comes to
valuable luggage!

Tam

Thanx guys. . . . I double checked with Singapore Airlines and they will
only charge 6kgs XS for a 15kg bike, but then that probably just means they
don't *really* charge XS until you exceed 29 kgs anyway. I have a few points
with them so can upgrade some of the way at least :-) It would be so much
better if they just had a simple rule bikes=$100 or free or whatever.

I will make sure the carry-on is a full 7kgs and hope the reasonably minor
infraction is then ignored. Worst case is then 6kgs XS

Cheers,

Dave H

Tamyka Bell said:

I hate the inconsistency! A return work trip to Melbourne, on the
flight down, no excess, on the return, the chick at the counter tried to
charge me. I was on a defence ticket, I had my full army kit with me.
I'd offloaded a steel helmet in Melbourne so I couldn't figure out why
they wanted to charge me. They sent me to the ticketing counter where
the staff member shook her head and sent me straight through,
apologising. I'd say don't count on anything, ever, when it comes to
valuable luggage!

Tam

I agree, ive encountered some weird inconsistency. The worst was when taking a flight to Amsterdam from Syd on JAL. I had about 15 extra kilo's "prearranged" with a JAL region manager (lucky having a sister in corporate travel) plus the green light for a bike. They asked for the measurements of the bikebox, which i gave them and it was all given the ok. Cut to the day i was checking in and was told id have to pay 600$ as it wasnt considered sporting equipment and would be considered my luggage. They wouldnt budge for about an hour with the manager on duty being a right pain. Even had Quantas check in girls in my corner trying to convince her. Luckily my sister came along at the last minute so she could make a few calls and get it sorted. The manager muttered something about not being able to see it on the check inscreen. Got an express ride to my boarding gate through all that, though would much rather of walked there stress free an hour or so earlier.

cogcontrol said:

I have flown both domestic and international with multiple bikes and at
times a tandem.
I have only been charged excess baggage once, the reality is the
airlines dont bother weighing your box because it doesnt go over the
check in counter.

Never worn excess baggage (travelling with 3 kids gives you a big
allowance), but IIRC bikes have been weighed only on checkin at Sydney,
Not Singapore, Not Paris, Not Frankfurt.

No problems with Singapore Airlines, nor JAL.

It seems to be more of an airport thing, than an airline thing.

-kt

--
Kingsley Turner,
(mailto: [email hidden])
http://MadDogsBreakfast.com/ABFAQ - news:aus.bicycle Frequenly Asked Questions