$200 each way for bike from HNL-LAX but at least their customer service sucks as well. I’m avoiding DAL like the plague in the future.
You’re not the only one, there is a Facebook group dedicated to it:
http://www.facebook.com/...122055964&ref=ts
What is even crazier is that they will charge you that much for a folding/coupled bike that fits inside a regulation sized suitcase!
Thanks for the link. Just joined.
I’ve had more bad experiences with Delta Airlines than any others. I avoid them as much as possible too.
Greg,
Sorry to hear about this.
However, it’s been known for some time that Delta has some of the worst policies and fees for extra baggage in the business. We stopped using them years ago.
How do you book your tickets? On Expedia or other online ticket services, do you just take the cheapest fare at the top of the list? That’s part of the problem and the issues right there. Many people just knee-jerk and do that when they book on-line - and think, “gee what a great deal I just got”. The better thing to do is search the list of fares offered and find the airline that has a ticket in your budget and has a reasonable fee for bikes. You may pay more for your ticket, but pay a bit less for the bike and come out even or a bit ahead!
FWIW - Delta, United and American airlines have some of the worst fees in the business and cyclists and triathletes should avoid using them ever.
Not to jump on the bandwagon here Greg, but did you read the infamous Airline Bike Fees thread?
Not to jump on the bandwagon here Greg, but did you read the infamous Airline Bike Fees thread?
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ee%20thread;#2396572
Jay,
Indeed. That should be mandatory reading for anyone traveling with their bike by plane.
FYI - I just traveled Toronto- Boston return on Air Canada. Paid $30 each way for my bike as the “Second Checked Bag Fee”. I use an Aerus Biospeed bike bag. On the way down they asked me what was in it. I said “Bike Parts” and they said, “OK. We’ll just charge it as your second bag”( AC’s bike fee is $50) On the way back, they never even asked me what was in the bag**!**
Easy to sit on your high horse and rant about how high prices and bad service are our own fault when you’re close to a large airport with a dozen or more airline options. I have four choices- Delta, American, Continental, and US Air. And American and Continental connect only through Texas, adding significant time to any trip. And US Air has an extremely limited flight schedule, so it’s pretty much Delta or nothing. (Unless I want to drive an hour and a half one way to Pensacola and pay long term parking fees to pick up United or Air Tran, which would end up costing me more than sticking with VPS)
For all that a lot of people hated them, I actually really liked Northwest and always had good luck with their Memphis hub. Here’s hoping that Delta doesn’t screw up a perfectly nice alternative to the hell that is Atlanta Hartsfield.
Easy to sit on your high horse
Jill,
Yes. Indeed it is. I apologize if I cam across as too pompous. We are lucky in Canada to have Air Canada and West Jet. WJ does not even charge for the bikes as far as I know!! As I noted, AC and WJ ticket ticket prices are overall higher than other U.S. airline fees for similar flights. I could have got a UA fight for less to/from Boston, but would have had to pay $175 each way for the bike. In the end I cam out ahead paying more for the AC flight but way less for the bike($60 total).
I wrote Delta a letter three years ago and explained to them that I was no longer going to ever, use their airline when traveling with my bike and had other options to fly with my bike that were less expensive. I would encourage others to do like wise as well as vote with the wallet.
Didn’t you fly for American?
I think most folks who would really be concerned with bike travel would have checked on price before making reservations especially if it were the first time flying with a particular carrier.
I think it is pretty funny that people would rather complain about the policies of airlines rather than take some pro-active responsibility to find out the policies of airlines. Unless of course you just want to complain when things don’t go your way.
Easy to sit on your high horse and rant about how high prices and bad service are our own fault when you’re close to a large airport with a dozen or more airline options. I have four choices- Delta, American, Continental, and US Air. And American and Continental connect only through Texas, adding significant time to any trip. And US Air has an extremely limited flight schedule, so it’s pretty much Delta or nothing. (Unless I want to drive an hour and a half one way to Pensacola and pay long term parking fees to pick up United or Air Tran, which would end up costing me more than sticking with VPS)
For all that a lot of people hated them, I actually really liked Northwest and always had good luck with their Memphis hub. Here’s hoping that Delta doesn’t screw up a perfectly nice alternative to the hell that is Atlanta Hartsfield.
Cheaper to Fed-ex at that point wouldn’t i?
Southwest was great with the bikes going to Lonestar. There were tons of folks in the race on my flight, just pay your 50 bucks for oversize bag and you were good to go. If it wasn’t oversized it would be free, so some of those soft cases might be small enough I guess.
What is even crazier is that they will charge you that much for a folding/coupled bike that fits inside a regulation sized suitcase!
We fly Delta frequently, just because the connections work out the best for us. Never been charged a “bike fee”. Joe’s bike is packed with the frame in a legal size, custom built suitcase. It looks like an old fashioned suit case. The wheels are in a wheel case. The agent will asks “what’s in here?” about the wheel case, which we answer “wheels”. They rarely ask about the frame box, but if they do, we answer “a frame”.
In my experience, all the airlines are close on customer service. Sometimes it is just the individual you are dealing with. I find a positive approach gets me better service in the long run. I just hate flying these days in general.
Delta had never lost or delayed our luggage. American has delayed my wheelchair twice, which is a MAJOR problem. They have delayed Joe’s bike as well. The worst was when they failed to notify us of a flight change and we missed out flight to Hawaii. This was long before online check in and flight verifications were available.They canceled our tickets,even the return flight, and tried to refuse to help us at all.
$200 each way for bike from HNL-LAX but at least their customer service sucks as well. I’m avoiding DAL like the plague in the future.
It seems like most of the North American ‘dinosaur’ airlines (i.e. Big, Unionized, luggage loosing, charging extra for everything, never on time, seem to think customers are a nuisance) think that just becasue they are large, they are entitled to our business.
Vote with your wallet - SKYTRAX, and independent organization behind benchmarking airlines for Passenger Satisfaction levels throughout the world. **SKYTRAX The World’s Top 10 airlines in the 2010 Awards : **
- Asiana Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- Qatar Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Air New Zealand
- Etihad Airways
- Qantas Airways
- Emirates
- Thai Airways
- Malaysia Airlines
Notice that none of the North American or European dinosaurs made the list. A few of the smaller North American airlines do well Southwest (USA), West Jet (Canada), etc…
Do you have a picture of the custom case? I’m intrigued.
Thanks,
Dan
Another note about Delta, I had accumulated well over 100,000 miles with them over my years traveling as a pro bodyboarder. Never got any info about an expiration date for the miles. One day, I called up to inquire about using the miles and they gave me the flight info I was looking for and said no problem on using the miles. I got off the phone, confirmed with my wife, and called back the next day to make the reservation. They told me my miles had expired. I flipped out! I said “when did they expire?”. They said, “last night at midnight.”. WTF? No notice and they just happened to expire the same day I had called to inquire about using them? Pretty goddamn suspicious if you ask me. I wrote two letters, and got completely denied. I haven’t flown that POS airline since.
Vote with your wallet
That’s the problem - but in reverse. People do vote with their wallet. For the most part they gravitate to the cheapest price for a product or service they can get( it seems to be human nature) but also have these sky-high expectations for delivery of the absolute best product or service. At some point, you reach a break-pot or tipping point and their is a dramatic reduction in the quality of the product or service delivered. Airline fees are the classic example of this. More or less they have remained unchanged for many years for the masses, yet the delivery costs have gone trough the roof!What are people expecting??
That was my point with the bike fees - I will gladly pay more up front for my ticket, to support an airline that has great service and a reasonable bike fee, than get hi-jacked with lousy service and a ridiculous bike fee with another airline - oh but I got such a great deal on my ticket!! 
what about the new airport near PCB? I flew in/out of there on Southwest and it was great.
Southwest doesn’t get me where I need to go. And there’s zero reason to fly Delta out of PCB when it’s going to be $100 cheaper per ticket and save 40+ minutes travel time each way by going out of VPS.
$200 each way for bike from HNL-LAX but at least their customer service sucks as well. I’m avoiding DAL like the plague in the future.
All the legacy carriers just plain suck. That is no news, you got something new? I used to work in that industry and am working in a similar one.
They all make me want to throw up.
Apparently the OP ain’t whistlin’ dixie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axDgcfPUnXM
Guy checked his bike and Delta destroyed it. Wouldn’t refund his $200, either (“We don’t *do *refunds,” quoth the customer service person). I could do without “Endless Love” being played over the photos, though.