I am planning to take bikes to Kona for IM and looking at flights. Does Hawaiian Airlines have favorable fees. etc for bikes?
Any advice would be appreciated. Saving 100 on a cheaper flight and getting a bigger bike fee doesnt balance out in the end. Would rather pay a little more and fly with a company that is more bike friendly.
Thanks
Joshua
I am planning to take bikes to Kona for IM and looking at flights. Does Hawaiian Airlines have favorable fees. etc for bikes?
Any advice would be appreciated. Saving 100 on a cheaper flight and getting a bigger bike fee doesnt balance out in the end. Would rather pay a little more and fly with a company that is more bike friendly.
Thanks
Joshua
I have used Tribiketransport twice to Hawaii. Too many horror stories of bikes getting crushed to put my bike on the line for the Sport’s biggest day.
Alaska flies nonstop from Seattle to Kona (and Oahu, Maui, and Kauai) and their bike fee is one of the best. $75. As far as I know Frontier and Southwest also charge only $75 but they don’t go to Hawaii.
Hawaiian fees are $100 for oversize, plus $50 more if over 50lbs. The three airlines I mentioned don’t stack their fees, although an agent may misinterpret the rules and try to do so. Print their baggage policy and bring it with you for that reason.
Thanks. I will actually be flying from Taiwan to Kona first with China or Eva air with a connection through what looks like Hawaiian air. so hope the bike checks all the way for free.
More concerned about my flights from Hawaii back to LAX.
I will have my own personal bikes for display in our booth for those flights. For our other demo bikes, will likely ship by UPS. still un decided.
Thanks for your input though.
Joshua
I used TBT for my first time there and it was fine - but way overpriced. Flew with my bike last year and it was so much better.
Little known fact. You can actually send your bike via FedEX ground to Hawaii. About the same cost as taking it on the airplane. But way easier as you just ship it to your hotel or condo. Just give it like 5 days to get there.
I flew hawaiian airlines and it was $100 roundtrip from phoenix. they did a good job. nothing banged up or damaged.
This is good to know, how would one send through FedEx, UPS? Bike case? Bike Box? I am assuming bike Case would be best.
Thanks Darryl
This may be ignorant of me, but whether you are flying from Florida to Hawaii or Nevada to California, or even shipping it via UPS, FedEx or TBT, I don’t think it becomes more or less dangerous to transport your bike. The possible problems arise from layovers and multiple flights, that’s when worry sets in, but I would think your bike has more of a possibility of getting moved around a lot and possibly banged up using a shipping company. Which is probably why TBT is so expensive… they don’t mess around with the security of bikes in transport.
I flew bike from Dayton-Pheonix with a one-stop layover (so bike had to change planes). I packed bike myself in a cardboard bike box picked up for free at LBS and saw it in same condition when landing at destination and then again when coming home. the important thing is to put the styrofoam inserts in the proper places, and packed tight, in order to avoid problem areas (derailleurs, fork, cranks). If any indication, why wouldn’t bike companies send all their bikes in hardcase bike cases if it was so dangerous to do otherwise?
I think most people are overly nervous about flying/transporting their bikes (probably due to the massive amounts of $$ invested in them). If you are nervous, then buy a hardcase to fly bike. One note to add, is TSA will open any over-sized containers and “take a peek” at contents, so if that also worries you, then use a bike case as they will cut your packing tape off bike box and re-tape their own way once finished.
Has anyone else FedEx’ed their bike to the hotel (not just Kona)? I like the idea of being able to track it.
**One note to add, is TSA will open any over-sized containers and “take a peek” at contents, so if that also worries you, then use a bike case as they will cut your packing tape off bike box and re-tape their own way once finished. **
Yes - TSA seems to open up and have a look in every bike case/bag/box.
However, I’ve never had an issue with them messing up my packing job by removing the extra foam packing that I use to protect the bike and the wheels in the bike bags that we use Aerus Biospeed.
Just traveled to/from Hawaii with two bikes. The only issue, and this was my own fault is that I tried to to get a bit too tight with the connections, and the bikes did not make it out of LAX when we connected through there. I had an option with a longer lay-over, and I probably should have taken that. They were flown in the next day to the Kona airport.
To the OP, yes - always compare the price you are paying for your ticket, vs what you it’s costing you to fly with the bike. Example - we fly out of Toronto. When buying flights to most places in the U.S., I can very often get some great deals via Hotwire or other discount online re-sellers for the flights with US carriers. However, almost all the US Carriers charge $150 - $175 each way for each bike. That’s adding at minimum $300 to my flight. Whereas, I might pay a bit more for my flight with AirCanada or WestJet up front, the bike fee for both is $50!
FWIW i normally fly in MX or Cuba so only one experience in the USA but I flew out of MSP (international) and asked TSA if i could watch them go over the bike case (thule hard side). they moved and inspected EVERYTHING. took off foam, removed bike, lifted up inner plastic dividing piece COMPLETELY to get at wheels under it. it was INSANE. don’t know if it was show because i asked to be present or what but No Way In Hell they could have repacked everything safely as i had to redirect them numerous times in repacking (but they would not allow me to do it - so i had to describe everything for a good 10 minutes of how to repack). YMMV.
If you just take the bike in a case to Fedx, it will cost you a fortune. With a Fedx account, you get almost 50% discount. Similar price with Bikeflights.com.
Pay Bikeflights, print your label and drop it off at Fedx. Much easier than dragging it though the airport.
Flew mine in a case I borrowed similar to this. http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/02/how-i-travel-with-my-bike.html
I convinced them that it wasn’t that big (even though technically just over the size limits), and was just “sports equipment” on both flights to and from Kona through United. It was around 45lbs including extra tubes, tools, nutrition, a helmet and misc. crap I stuffed in there.
No damage. But I removed the derailleur and I have a stronger upgraded stainless steel hanger as well.
That being said, I will probably get a Ruster Sports case here some time and resolve the problem for good. You might have checked bag fees, but not ridiculous fees.
I fly with the Trico Ironcase. Nonstop flights whenever possible. The more load/unload and baggage handling the greater chance of damage or loss. TSA open the box yes but make only the most cursory examination. I think they swab the inside for nitrates residue. They’ve never disturbed the inside packing or foam blocks. I use bubble wrap and rubber bands to wrap the cockpit (aerobars and basebar individually), the RD (always removed), the chain, and between the wheels where they overlap. Not once have they disturbed any of that.
But it’s more expensive to ship it from Hawaii.
I flew Hawaiian. My bike-bag wheels came off. Not necessarily their fault but they weren’t exactly falling over themselves to help me out either.