If it is one ticket you will only pay one fee, most likely the fee of whichever airline you fly on first, but airline employees don't seem to know what is going on sometimes. If you look through the fine print it may tell you what happens in this case.

If you are buying two separate tickets you will be paying the bike fees for both tickets.

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instagram.com/42pointtwo

It would be one ticket in one direction, combining two airlines, which apparently have a partnership. It would make sense to only have the bike fee apply for the first airline - otherwise it would be a pain. I guess I could probably call to ask the question, but would be on hold for 30+ minutes...

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
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If they have an interline agreement and check the bags all the way through, you should be good to go. If you have to collect and re-check, then you're at the mercy of the gate agent, which could work in your favor or to your detriment, depending upon the ticket's fine print.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

First off you are doing the right (and rare) thing of considering the cost of the bike transfer before booking the cheapest ticket. So many people book first, ask questions after and then end up paying more than if they had spent another few dollars on the main ticket.

As above, there's two parts to this. First, What the airline agreement / rules are buried deep in the internal policy manual. The second is what the checkin staff understand / know / have access to.

I've flown a fair bit with the bike and even with the same airline, same rules have had to explain and provide direction to their own policy. So calling probably isn't going to help you, you'll need an email that confirms their policy that you need to print and have with you.

Daftest I ever had was a through ticket Manchester>London Heathrow>Akl via LA with British Airways for that first hop, then Air New Zealand rest of the way. At that time the bike was UKP100 for the entire journey on Air NZ. But after being on hold for ages with BA they said, it would be UK50 for the entire journey, but they wouldn't be able to guarantee that AirNZ would take it on the LHR>Akl legs. So I asked how that would work as my baggage was through checked. THey suggested that they woudl bring my bike back to me in the departure lounge at LHR and I'd need to arrange alternate from there. So cut it into little pieces and post through the letter box for postcards I assumed as that was the only option. In the end, arrived early, their checkin computer had failed, they just took me on my word, charged me UK75 using an old fashioned zip zap credit card roller thing and it was there in perfect condition in Akl.

I have never ever paid bike fees twice in one direction on a contiguous journey involving multiple airlines assume luggage is check in all the way through from source airport to destination airport (even if you have to collect luggage and recheck it at customs). If it is already tagged by source airline to final destination then it counts as "in transit". If you are re checking yourself and your luggage in on the forward journey or the return journey you will have to pay the luggage fee (in this case the bike fee) when you check in at the connecting airport.

Sounds like your October Ironman is Kona...that final puddle hopper on Hawaiin airlines I have connected to in Honolulu coming off both Air Canada and United and I never paid Hawaiin for an extra bike fee. On the way back I paid Hawaiin in Kona and did not pay Air Canada or United after that.

best of luck.

Dev

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like if the bike is checked through to the final destination, even on two different airlines, I’d only pay the initial bike fee - in this case it would probably be JetBlue, as that would be the first carrier.

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023