Yes they do charge, $50 each way. They charged me one way on my round trip flight, depends on the agent you get at the counter. Good luck.

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In general, I've adopted a Clintonesque, "Don't ask, don't tell" approach to airline flight case charges. Whe they ask me if I am checking bags I answer, "Yes Ma'am (Sir), two please..." The I ususally resort to diversionary tactics like asking, "Do you have my frequent flyer number in there...? Are their any exit row seats available???"

It seems like if you keep them occupied enough they simply miss the fact that the flight case may be oversized. Especially if you cleverly and covertly position the case between you and the ticket counter such that the agent can only see your normal size duffle back that you are checking, they may presume the other bag is standard size. I've been told that once the label is printed it is less likely they will go through the extra work to print a new one.

Now, all this tomfoolery is predicated on the fact that they did not ask about the contents of your flight case. If they do ask, you ought tell the God's honest truth in the interest of national security. Yeah, you'll have to pay likely, but it is the price we pay. So, if they ask what is in your flight case you're better off just throwing yourself on the mercy of the airlines.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I tried this in Paris and was amazed that it worked, well, until I got through security and they tracked me down just on the other side and took me back to the counter to pay the overages. Then I had to wait in line for security again.

I've never traveled with my bike before and am going to Florida. I'm planning on using a standard cardboard bike box. Is this okay or does it need to be a hard sided box? Which is more economical; flying with the bike or UPS / FedEx?

I use a hard shell case mostly out of force of habit and paranoia about . I have used soft cases and a few of my friends use soft cases too. There is some rationale to using them since you can pack them down to a manageable size once you get to your destination for storage in a rental car or hotel room. I've just never had the confindence in them others have.

A cardboard box may get the job done provided the bike packing job is really good. Remember: At some point every bike had to travel in a cardboard box to get to its destination and be built as a new bike.

I'm much more comfortable with flying with my bike as checked luggage than shipping it with a courier. Firstly, the thing travels with me so I know where it is. No tracking numbers, no worries about whether or not I have to arrange a "ship to" destination. Also, the incidence of damage while shipping via courier as opposed to via checked baggage seems to be much higher with the courier and the insurance they sell is virtually impossible to collect on. We currently have well over $10K in claims outstanding with one shipping company alone for damaged bike shipments.

Given the choice between airlines and courier, I go airlines every time.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Check these out:

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/.../packing-steps.shtml

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/features/packing.shtml

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

btw, my gf and I used your bike packing pages recently and they were great. thanks!

For last year's Disney half I flew from Philly to Orlando on Southwest with my bike and it was a nightmare. I have one of the larger cases from Tri All 3 Sports and the Southwest counter agent refused to accept it as baggage. She informed me the airline would ship it as freight, but only from prior approved shippers, which I was not. After repeated negotiations and pleading, the supervisor finally agreed to accept my bike. At that point, I gladly paid the fee. I have not had any other problems with the case on other airlines, nor returning from Orlando to Philly on Southwest.

It may just be me, but one additional caution is that every time I fly TSA opens and goes through my bike case. I appreciate the security and the job TSA has to do, but they never re-pack my case the same way. FedEx Ground will beat the crap out our your case, but at least they won't open it.

Hope this helps.

SW is $50 each way. I use the Trico case and have had no trouble. I always make sure all the straps are tight as can be, etc. (have seen people with the 2 halves barely overlapping...seems like some parts could come out?)

In this day and age, I wouldn't mess around with trying to get around that it's a bike. Plus, so many triathletes fly in and out of Austin, they know just what it is. Few weeks ago, they just asked me, "Where's your race?" :)

Bike has been inspected by TSA a few times...but the one time I actually watched, the lady was very careful and didn't disturb my things. She commented that she has been to Kona during IM week, so she understood how we want to care for our bikes a little bit. I thought that was nice. I'm sure that was likely an exception.

I do try to watch out the window while waiting to board...to make sure the case is actually getting loaded onto my plane and looks intact still.

Good luck!

Having flown A LOT this year, I've had good and bad experiences with the bike. I've taken mine with me on every flight and have not yet shipped it. I've read strories about folks who bribe the outside attendant. We've tried that, but in Austin it does not seem to work very well. I generally check in on-line and also note the number of bags if possible. If you can do that, sometimes you just go to a kiosk and they print out your bag tags.

I've found that it mostly depends on the airport and not the airline. We have been charged almost every time flying out of Austin. Continental has about the highest fees, and on our last flight their representatives at the check-in counter were horrible. Jet Blue is pretty good and we've only been charged 50% of the time, $50 each way. I like United, and it is worth the membership fee to join USCF to get the bike passes...silver is a really good deal.

TSA opening the case is a drag, but I've found that they generally just open the top 1/2, look in, and close it up. I would suggest putting as much stuff as you can in small bags so that loose parts are not rattling around because as one poster said, if TSA does not get the straps or buckles totally done, things could fall out. Watch the extra gear as well since the weight limits are getting more strict.

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Brandon Marsh - Website | @BrandonMarshTX | RokaSports | 1stEndurance | ATC Bikeshop |