Current United Airlines bike fee

Quoted message said:

Don't know what United is charging for International, but since I'm stuck
in
airports today I had the opportunity to ask someone (Madison & Chicago;
total meltdown today in the midwest, so I feel lucky to be getting out at
all, even though I won't make it home until 2am) . $100 each way. That's
actually just $20 more than last year. All things considered, it probably
still makes sense to bring the bike on the plane with you, since UPS is
going to run about the same, +/- $30 depending upon distance.

Here at Chicago O'Hare, there's not much chance of finding out about the
fee to bring a bike along on an International flight; the lines for
customer service are literally 200 people deep. It's *really* bad here
tonight.

--Mike Jacoubowsky

Bike Fridays fly for free.

Pat said:

Quoted message said:

Don't know what United is charging for International, but since I'm stuck
in
airports today I had the opportunity to ask someone (Madison & Chicago;
total meltdown today in the midwest, so I feel lucky to be getting out at
all, even though I won't make it home until 2am) . $100 each way....

Bike Fridays fly for free.

But not on American Airlines anymore - $15 each way for the first
checked bag with a few exceptions (and $25 if you have a second bag to
check). Just what we need - more encouragement for people to try to
cram everything into an oversized 'carryon' bag.

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Don't know what United is charging for International, but since I'm stuck in
airports today I had the opportunity to ask someone (Madison & Chicago;
total meltdown today in the midwest, so I feel lucky to be getting out at
all, even though I won't make it home until 2am) . $100 each way. That's
actually just $20 more than last year. All things considered, it probably
still makes sense to bring the bike on the plane with you, since UPS is
going to run about the same, +/- $30 depending upon distance.

Hmm, $200 r/t. Maybe a $70 Wal-Mart bike or $150 Costco bike that you
donate to Goodwill at the end would be better, if you're just using it
for some casual riding.

peter said:

But not on American Airlines anymore - $15 each way for the first
checked bag with a few exceptions (and $25 if you have a second bag to
check). Just what we need - more encouragement for people to try to
cram everything into an oversized 'carryon' bag.

One of the talk shows tonight joked that American will let you not fly
with them at all for just a "$35 No-Fly Fee."

Bill

__o | Reason has seldom failed us because it has seldom been tried.
_`\(,_ |
(_)/ (_) | --Edward Abbey

On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 21:23:37 -0700 (PDT), peter <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Pat said:

Quoted message said:

Don't know what United is charging for International, but since I'm stuck
in
airports today I had the opportunity to ask someone (Madison & Chicago;
total meltdown today in the midwest, so I feel lucky to be getting out at
all, even though I won't make it home until 2am) . $100 each way....

Bike Fridays fly for free.

But not on American Airlines anymore - $15 each way for the first
checked bag with a few exceptions (and $25 if you have a second bag to
check). Just what we need - more encouragement for people to try to
cram everything into an oversized 'carryon' bag.

After a little fuming, I'm just looking at that as a $40 price
increase. At least until I hit "elite" later this year.

Pat

Email address works as is.

SMS said:

Quoted message said:

peter said:

But not on American Airlines anymore - $15 each way for the
first
checked bag with a few exceptions (and $25 if you have a second
bag
to check). Just what we need - more encouragement for people to
try to cram everything into an oversized 'carryon' bag.

One of the talk shows tonight joked that American will let you
not fly with them at all for just a "$35 No-Fly Fee."

I liked this comic:

"http://www.cagle.com/working/080521/sheneman00.gif"

I think that AA will either back down on the first bag charge
before
the date it's scheduled to go into effect on June 15th, or
discontinue it shortly afterward. It will cause a lot of delays,
including at security, at the gate, and on the plane prior to
take-off. The L.A. Times reported that AA is going to put more
workers at airports to try to ease delays, and install devices to
prevent oversize bags from going through. Amusingly, they're
dropping
the "curbside check-in fee."

Nobody, American included, probably knows for sure. I think you are
probably right, and this is like the "$3 to talk to a teller" fee
the largest local bank tried some years ago. When nobody else
followed, they eventually backed off.

I do know that I've been getting considerable e-mail from American
informing me that I'm not subject to the fee (I'm Gold status on
AA).

--
Mike Kruger
"When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl." -
Anonymous

Update- New UA bike fee, announced today, is $125 each direction, at least
for domestic. Still nothing to clarify the International situation, but my
guess is that it's the same.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

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

Quoted message said:

Don't know what United is charging for International, but since I'm stuck
in airports today I had the opportunity to ask someone (Madison & Chicago;
total meltdown today in the midwest, so I feel lucky to be getting out at
all, even though I won't make it home until 2am) . $100 each way. That's
actually just $20 more than last year. All things considered, it probably
still makes sense to bring the bike on the plane with you, since UPS is
going to run about the same, +/- $30 depending upon distance.

Here at Chicago O'Hare, there's not much chance of finding out about the
fee to bring a bike along on an International flight; the lines for
customer service are literally 200 people deep. It's *really* bad here
tonight.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Update- New UA bike fee, announced today, is $125 each direction, at least
for domestic. Still nothing to clarify the International situation, but my
guess is that it's the same.

That makes a good case to rent at the destination, at least where
such is available. Seems a bit excessive to me.....

Quoted message said:

--Mike Jacoubowski

--
They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for
one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in
your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.
-- Ernest Hemingway

"JCrowe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
| Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
| > Update- New UA bike fee, announced today, is $125 each direction, at
least
| > for domestic. Still nothing to clarify the International situation, but
my
| > guess is that it's the same.
|
| That makes a good case to rent at the destination, at least where
| such is available. Seems a bit excessive to me.....

Renting a road bike (and finding one that fits) isn't always so easy.
Depends upon the destination. Also, there's that shared experience thing
with your own bike. But it does seem pretty expensive if riding wasn't the
main point to your trip.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Quoted message said:

| > Update- New UA bike fee, announced today, is $125 each direction, at
least
| > for domestic. Still nothing to clarify the International situation,
but
my
| > guess is that it's the same.
|
| That makes a good case to rent at the destination, at least where
| such is available. Seems a bit excessive to me.....

Renting a road bike (and finding one that fits) isn't always so easy.
Depends upon the destination. Also, there's that shared experience thing
with your own bike. But it does seem pretty expensive if riding wasn't the
main point to your trip.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles

I see we've come full circle, back around to Bike Friday again. No extra
"bike fee" charge.

🙂

Pat said:

Quoted message said:

|

I see we've come full circle, back around to Bike Friday again. No extra
"bike fee" charge.

I'm worried, though. First, the suitcase they supplied with mine is a
tad over the 62" limit! (I measure 63.5"😉

Second, I've heard of people getting dinged when they let slip that
the suitcase contained a bike - even though it was obvious no special
handling was needed. I forget which airline that was though. Not
necessarily United.

- Frank Krygowski

Frank Krygowski said:

Pat said:

Quoted message said:

|

Quoted message said:

I see we've come full circle, back around to Bike Friday again. No extra
"bike fee" charge.

I'm worried, though. First, the suitcase they supplied with mine is a
tad over the 62" limit! (I measure 63.5"😉

Second, I've heard of people getting dinged when they let slip that
the suitcase contained a bike - even though it was obvious no special
handling was needed. I forget which airline that was though. Not
necessarily United.

I don't think you have any reason for concern. The suitcase is just a
standard 'full size' one (I've seen both Samsonite and Carlton ones
offered by Green Gear) and I've never seen any airline counter agent
pull out a tape measure on a regular-looking suitcase. I've also
never been asked to provide an inventory of my luggage at the airline
counter, so I suspect the story was a result of an over-eager airline
employee combined with a passenger who wanted to brag about their new
folder. (The TSA folks will see what the contents are, but they
aren't concerned about bicycle surcharges.)

But the 50 lb. weight limit can be an issue. I used to pack
additional items in with my Bike Friday, but the combined weight of
suitcase, bike, trailer components, and rear rack is getting pretty
close to the limit.

peter said:

Frank Krygowski said:

I'm worried, though. First, the suitcase they supplied with [my Bike Friday] is a
tad over the 62" limit! (I measure 63.5"😉

...
I don't think you have any reason for concern. The suitcase is just a
standard 'full size' one (I've seen both Samsonite and Carlton ones
offered by Green Gear) and I've never seen any airline counter agent
pull out a tape measure on a regular-looking suitcase. ...

I agree, I've never seen that either. But I was a bit worried about
the airlines' new zeal for dinging luggage, and whether they'd start
actually measuring. Let's hope not.

Quoted message said:

But the 50 lb. weight limit can be an issue. I used to pack
additional items in with my Bike Friday, but the combined weight of
suitcase, bike, trailer components, and rear rack is getting pretty
close to the limit.

Yes, this is one of the few times when an extra pound on a bike can
make a really significant difference!

On our trip to Europe last year (with two Fridays & trailers) I ended
up with an added small duffle. Seats, pedals, handlebar bags, locks
etc. went in there so as to get the case weights below 50 pounds. In
the airlines wisdom, the extra bag was free, but not packing that
extra bag and hitting 53 pounds in each case would have been
expensive. Go figure.

Hmm. Is it time to start adding "drillium" to our bikes?

- Frank Krygowski