Flying Southwest with a bike. They charge $75 each way. Currently I am using a Scicon case. Does anyone have any experience flying with Southwest and bikes? Anything I should know before booking?
They seem to be pretty cheap on the bike transport compared to other airlines so I am less inclined to declare the bike as “equipment” to avoid bike fees.
I’ve done it, though I use a regular case. Paid for it in about 75% of the cases. As you saidm, with it being less than other airlines, I didn’t feel too bad about it.
Knock on wood…I’ve only had good luck with Southwest, both back in the day when I had a hard case that I claimed was a bike and paid for, and now with an armored Hen House that I don’t comment on.
Southwest is great. They are also, in my experience, very smart. You’d be extremely hard pressed to sneak a bike by them as “equipment.” Other airlines? Sure. But Southwest trains its people very well. For better most times, but also - like this - sometimes for worse. I have NEVER not had a Southwest agent know right away that I had a bike in the case and that it was $75.
According to TJ, he has specific approval from Southwest for the Hen House. Check with the guys at Ruster to be sure, but I believe that he has spoken with SWA directly, and they #1 - know it’s for a bike and #2 - know that it’s not extra because it’s not oversize.
Oversize will get you regardless of whether you declare bike parts or not. (62 linear inch limit, I don’t know about Scion case). However, it all depends on the ticket agent, some let it go and some don’t. Good luck. Southwest is probably your best bet on slipping it through no charge.
Expect to pay the fee.
Everything about the Scicon stuff just screams, “Hey look at me! There’s a bike in here!” The people working the baggage counter have seen it all before and they know damn well what’s in that giant goofy shaped box. Every now and then you’ll get lucky and encounter an airline employee who will let you through without paying because they simply don’t give a fuck and can’t be bothered to process the extra charge. But that’s because they’re feeling lazy, not because you somehow fooled them.
I have, it depends where you are flying out of and if they know the rules. Southwest normally knows the bike fee, but it depends what airport. I live in Denver, you’re gonna be hard pressed to not find an agent at any airline that doesn’t know about the bike fee.
Southwest is great. They are also, in my experience, very smart. You’d be extremely hard pressed to sneak a bike by them as “equipment.” Other airlines? Sure. But Southwest trains its people very well. For better most times, but also - like this - sometimes for worse. I have NEVER not had a Southwest agent know right away that I had a bike in the case and that it was $75.
According to TJ, he has specific approval from Southwest for the Hen House. Check with the guys at Ruster to be sure, but I believe that he has spoken with SWA directly, and they #1 - know it’s for a bike and #2 - know that it’s not extra because it’s not oversize.
I was flying out of MCO yesterday and had a nice 20 minute long fight with the ticket agent about whether it ought to be charged. It’s not even TJ’s specifically, but the policy states that a bike, packed into anything under 62" and 50 lbs (normal check bag limits) is ok. I have a friend who had some prototypes made for a startup that’s a near-identical idea to the Hen House. It never entered production, but she still uses hers occasionally.
However, I went through the ordinary exchange of:
“What’s in the bag?”
“Sports equipment”
“What kind of sports equipment?”
(this being Southwest, knowing there’s no reason I should be charged) “It’s a bike”
“Ok, well that’s gonna be $75 then.”
I then proceeded to pull up Southwest’s own policy on my phone while she went and got her supervisor. I told her I’d be happy to have her charge me, but that I would be certainly forwarding along their names to customer service, and that I would get it refunded based on past experiences.
Short version: Southwest employees can still have the “oh it’s a bike it must get charged extra” mental alarm.
Southwest cracked my bike in an Armored Hen house… can’t say I like them very much. 
In return they gave me a $100 voucher and I got to spend $2k for a new frame.
SWA is the best. Twice they let me check-in the Trico iron case (huge, 52 lbs loaded) for free. That’s an exception of course. Nominally the fee is $75.
One time the agent told me they would have let me check it in for free if the case were under 50 lbs. It was 52lbs. (Case is just at 49 lbs with the bike, but I put pedals, flat kit, pedal wrench, and a Venzo torque set in there.) So next time I flew without tools (HUGE PITA) and with pedals in carry-on, and they still charged me even at 49lbs because it’s oversized luggage.
So yeah expect to pay $75 but it could end up free depending on who you get at the counter.
I flew to/from Philly/Denver for IM Boulder. 2 bags fly free, bike was one of them. I paid nothing extra. In line at curbside check-in at PHL the bag handler approached me and exclaimed, “Oh my god - is that a bike?!?!” Me: “Bike? Who puts a bike in a soft-sided case?” He gives me the long-narrow stare, then takes the bag. I tipped him $20. I had no such ‘problem’ in Denver. The bag is a Pica Pack, size small, which is honestly larger than necessary for my 48 cm Cervelo w/ 650 404’s.
Generic word of advice (w/o having read everyone else’s replies yet) - avoid the obvious sport clothing when checking in. Pick a different day to wear your “yay I’m a rock star athlete” shirt/hat/jacket/backpack.
I had this exchange with a SouthWest agent over hockey equipment. A hockey bag plus a stick bag = 1 item. I offered to show her the policy that I brought printed out with me to make things easier. Turns out airline employees don’t like to be told how to do their job, go figure. In the end, I got my hockey stuff and another bag checked for free while a teammate of mine ended up calling back later to demand a refund for the extra baggage fee.
Yea, I knew I would get it refunded, so I knew that saying “you can go ahead and charge it, but I’ve got your names and will pass them along” ended the fight.
I also did the “yes I know your policy better than you. That shouldn’t be the case. You work here every day; I might fly 10 times a year.”
flew SW with my bike to and from nationals last year. no issues.
didn’t even try to avoid the fee…pretty sure it wouldn’t have worked with that many triathletes on one flight. but since $75 each way is half what some other airlines charge and around the same as shipping it, so i didn’t really mind.
Tsa fucked up the paint on my bike PACK IT VERY WELL like seriously. Southwest is fine but tsa is not
Flying SWA on friday with a Hen house so no actual experience yet.
However your case is oversized which is 75 bucks, bike is 75 bucks, I’d guess you will be paying no matter what you call it.
I flew SW with Scicon bag and the agent didn’t even ask me what’s in the bag. He just asked for my credit card to charge me the $75 bike fee.
They make you sign a contract that they are not responsible for damage to your bike. They go above and beyond what the other airlines do. Talk about washing your hands
Last October, flew from Indianapolis to Vegas for Silverman with the Armored Hen House via SWA. They charged me the $75 on the way out. Since the Hen House is really 2 bags, they almost charged my twice for 2 oversize bags, but didn’t.
On the way back, I was in jovial mood and the ticket counter lady asked me what was in the bags. I said “my harmonicas.” I wasn’t charged the $75, I was just asked to carry the two Hen House bags to the end of the counters, where “larger bags” are loaded on a cart.
Unrelated…I don’t know if I’ll travel with the Hen House again, as TSA unpacked my bike & didn’t really re-pack it to well. I was lucky this time, no damage, but may try a hard case next time.