Sorry dude, I was asking the guy above you.

(since answered)

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blood, sweat...and big gears

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ''Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.''
- Muhammad Ali

HA! (no problem)

Hi,

I'm flying with British Airways and then Air Canada and I need to fly with my bike. I have an EVOC bicycle bag...do you think British Airways will accept it?? Please let me know as this is very important!!
Thanks!

Hello,

Big semisoft bag that could carry 2 bikes - under 23 Kg - to take me to Ironman SA.

BA : Brussels/London/Cape Town = 0 overcharge.
Kulula : Cape Town/Jo Burg = 0 overcharge.
BA : Jo Burg/London/Brussels = 0 overcharge.

The outbound flight from BA had 21 bikes in it because of the Cape Epic, yet service was great.
On the return check-in I had to move 1kg of weight from my bike bag to my GF's bag.

Overall bike service great.

G

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http://brokeniron.blogspot.com/

Hi all,

I'm flying to Seattle this month and used this thread as a guide in my quest to find best airfare and cost to transport two bikes from JFK-SEA and return. Jet Blue had the best deal. First check-in bag free and $50 for a bike.

Does Jet Blue still offer free bike transport during the month of July in celebration of Le Tour? That would be icing on the cake.

Flew out of Toronto to Frankfurt on Air Canada with a hard shell bike box. I was with my family and between the 4 of us we had 3 checked bags plus the bike box. The Air Canada counter rep said "Normally we charge $50, but since you only have 3 bags I will let it go for free"

Yesssssssss.


Flying back on Lufthansa from Nice and the counter person doesn't say anything, just treats the bike box like any other piece of luggage and tells me to take it to the oversize area. Another freebie!

Yessssss!


And Fleck - I was dressed like a bum - jeans & t-shirt both times
;-)

I also flew Toronto to Frankfurt on AC and my bike was free. I gave the lady some cash and when she gave my passport back, the cash was inside it.

Lufthansa just dinged me for $200 each time from Boston to Germany and back. Maybe I should have dressed messier.

It seems to totally depend on the agent with Air Canada. I flew Ottawa-Calgary last week expecting to pay $50 each way for my soft bike bag (in addition to one suitcase). I was charged $30 on the way out and $70 on the way back. It came out to $100, so I didn't argue. No hassle about the weight. Who knows what indignities were offered to it once it disappeared down the conveyor, though. I decided that if I ever fly with my next bike, I'll use a hard case.

Does anyone know if that coupon code for US Air still works?

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Team Zoot Northeast

Just put this out there for all active military. United charges 100 for a bike, but they do allow three free bags (up to 70lbs) for you and all dependants flying with you. This greatly offsets the 100 dollar fee.

Westjet charged me $50 from Vegas to Calgary, and then $25 from Calgary to Vegas. I did not have any other checked luggage, and I think the check in person felt it ridiculous to charge me. My Tri-All 3 case holds alot of stuff! Thanks Westjet!

Flew Air Canada Ottawa to Frankfurt then transfer to Swiss for the leg to Zurich...no fee for my Akona soft shell case

Flight home

Florence-Frankfurt on Lufthansa, then transfer to Air Canada for leg to Ottawa.....Lufthansa charges 80 Euros for domestic European and 160 Euros for internation (so basically around $220). My options are check in to Frankfurt for 80 Euros, claim bag and then go out of security and recheck in at Air Canada for $50 Canadian (to total would be around 115 Euros) or suck it up and pay the 160 Euros and save the hassle. I was pretty busted up from an accident the previous week at IM Switzerland and had limited interest in debating or even trying to do a sell job, so just sucked it up and paid the 160 Euros.

The worst part is that it was for a busted bike with the frame broken up....I was not planning to use the frame anyway. If I was smart, I'd have stripped the components and thrown the frame out.

In effect, I almost the same to ship my busted bike back from Europe as what Kestrel charged me for a BRAND NEW AIRFOIL PRO replacement FRAME.

In fairness, I have flown the "first leg" on Lufthansa out of Europe several tiems to connect to Air Canada and have never been charged, so I was due.

While I am on this thread, can anyone confirm if there are any changes to the Southwest fee policy? I have to book a flight from Vegas to San Francisco, and it seems that many airlines have good fares, but if I do happen to have a bike, Southwest would be the cheapest option.

Dev

SW still $50 each way, as far as I know.

I'm lucky...Frontier goes to my next destination! I got the cheaper seats, since I was getting more than one seat, but $20 for the bike! :)


cut and paste from SW site:
Non-motorized bicycles, including Bike Friday and Co-Pilot, will be accepted in substitution of a free piece of checked baggage at no additional charge provided the bicycle is properly packaged and the box containing the bicycle fits within the 62-inch sizing limit and weighs 50 pounds or less. (Maximum weight is 50 pounds and maximum size is 62 inches (length + width + height per checked piece of luggage.) The handlebars, kickstand, and pedals must be removed and placed inside the box. A $50.00 each-way charge applies to bicycles that don't meet the above criteria. Bicycles packaged in a cardboard box or soft-sided case will be transported as a conditionally accepted item.

Thanks. One more question. At the start of this thread, USAirways had an Ironman01 coupon for travel to WTC races. Does this still apply a few years later or is that thing dead? Anyone with experience recently applying this coupon if it is still alive?

An updated chart with notes explaining different scenarios (charged for overweight + bike fee) can be found here http://www.airlinebagfees.com/bicycles/charts/.

Thanks for this. Fortunately, I mostly fly Westjet.

N.

Hey guys,
Anyone had any experience with Qantas?
My wife and I are moving back to Australia next year and will be flying with a ton of stuff including bikes and a few extra bags. Route will likely be Ottawa - Chicago - L.A. - Sydney. Both flights until L.A. with be with Air Canada (shared flight with Qantas) and thus we'll be checking our bags with them, I believe, so we *should* be subject to the Air Canada fee ($50?).
Cheers

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Coaching - Future Endurance

I always take my bike apart and wrap every thing with bubble wrap starting with the wheels, then stack each piece on the other and wrap some more. Of course dismantling anything that can get bent or is protruding.. Wrap the whole thing up with clear tape and make a handle for ease in carrying.. I,ve never paid a fee and never had a problem with the bike and it only takes about 15 minutes to put it back together...

Yes, you'll be charged at check in on the airine that runs the checkin. So even though Air Canada is running the Qantas code share flight, you'll pay the $50 Air Canada fee. I have the opposite, checking in my bike case on an Air Canada code share flight out of Florence Italy run by Lufthansa and got nailed for 150 Euros....yikes!

Dev

It has been awhile but when I purchased my ticket through the Qantas website from St Louis to Brisbane I had to fly American to LAX. At that time my bike case was considered my 2nd bag by Qantas. I had all the information from the Qantas website printed off. When the American person tried to charge me for the bike I showed her it was to go for free. She spent ages pounding on a keyboard but finally said I was right, tagged it and sent me on my way. She said since I had the Qantas ticket they had to honor the Qantas rules. Don't know if that will fly in this day but I got a pass then.

Just make sure have a printed copy of the then current rules to show them.

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Rich G.
Proud member of the Geritol wave!

Makes sense. Two checked bags and only a $50 bike fee - with luck we will only have to pay for extra bags if we grab Aerus bike bags.
No fun getting dinged 150 Euros!

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Coaching - Future Endurance

Looking at Qantas site at the moment - Looks like you can still check your bike as part of your normal baggage, provided it fits within certain dimensions! So, if Qantas will fly them free, hopefully Air Canada will honour that.

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Coaching - Future Endurance

150 Euros for a totally trashed bike....the only reason I was shipping it home was that I wanted some of the components and the rear wheel and because of a broken hand and 2 sprained wrists I was not willing to take the components apart and no way I was asking my wife to do it for me! It was nice enough of her to pack the heap of destruction!!!

Wow, talk about salt in the wound!

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Coaching - Future Endurance