Does anyone have any idea as to whether or not there is a plane size that the airlines will not let you check oversize bags on?
My trip itinerary for IMCdA just changed and the first flight of the leg has changed from an MD-88 to a CRJ-900. From what I can tell the CRJ is about half the size, it seats 70 people.
Has anyone ever had a plane that was too small to fly your bike on?
I happens frequently coming/going to/from Kona or IMFL given the smaller airports. When you have 20 triathletes trying to get on a plane that seats 30 and half have bikes, the bikes will stack up like cordwood on the runway waiting for be put on the next biggest/available plane.
you should be fine, I did on a cdr in 2005 with no problem. I am doing it again this year from memphis. There really are not that many bikes going on the planes anyway.
The RJs actually aren’t too bad, and under the right circumstances can actually have a pretty high amount of cargo space per passenger because of quirks in airline pilot union contracts. (some CBAs limit the number of seats on commuter flights even when a plane flying that commuter route can technically/physically hold more people)
I used to love the commuter RJs when NWA used to use them more frequently in my area because you got an extra two inches of legroom because of those union contract rules. Far, far different beasts than the prop planes.
I wouldn’t consider the CRJ as a puddle jumper. It is quite a bit more advanced than the MD 88 and not much smaller.
I’ll respond with a real-life story. A few weeks ago I was heading from Salt Lake City to San Diego for Calif 70.3. I noticed that my itinerary on the outbound flight said we were on a CRJ. So, thinking like you did about the smaller plane, space, etc. I called Delta and they informed me that #1 - there is only room for 1-2 bike box size pieces on the plane and that I should get there a couple hours in advance to “reserve” my spot for my bike box (this is what they told me) AND #2 - SkyWest (partner of Delta) tacks on $30-$40 more each way for a bike box which would bring my cost one-way to about $110-$120 for my bike. Those CRJs have weight and balance limits that have to be met in order to take off and they’ll ditch baggage and even leave people behind if they can’t make the weight/balance requirements before takeoff. I’ve personally been kicked off a CRJ because my 155 lb. body was determined to be too much weight - I was also going stand-by and last on the plane!
So, for Calif 70.3 I went with Tribiketransport and had an EXCELLENT experience with their service. They service CDA from several major cities in the west. Well worth the $225 to have them deal with the hassle of transporting my bike.
I’ve never ran into a situation where the plane has been too small. CRJ has plenty of room. Something like an EMB-120 can get a little tight, depending on how much stuff is on flight. I’ve actually had good luck calling and talking to the CS service people at the airlines, several times when i knew it was going to be a smaller type aircraft, they called the ground supervisors for me to see if it was going to be an issue, most of the time the loads in the hold are pretty consistent flight to flight, so they can say yeah they’ll be plenty of room, or it might be tight.
When you have 20 triathletes trying to get on a plane that seats 30 and half have bikes…
For the orginal poster, if you are the only passenger with a bike or similar oversized baggage, you should not have a problem but if numerous passengers show up with bikes (or golf bags, cello’s, etc.) then there might be a problem. Also, like a previous poster mentioned, the CRJ-900 is among the most recent additions to most fleets and if were not for the rules imposed on the regional airline by the airline’s code share partner (Delta) in regards to maximum number of seats that can be installed on the regionals aircraft, the CRJ-900 could readily carry more passengers, further and more efficiently than the MD-88 (aka DC-9 80 series) aircraft you are on for the other leg.
Im coming out of lurking to post this. I am researching bike travel issues for my trip to Timberman this year. This is what Delta told me today.
Starting May 1, you get one checked bag ,and one carry on bag. The fees for anything else:
And those fees compound.
This is what Delta told me today
Not surprising considering you are planning to fly with a legacy airline that just announced a quarterly loss in excess of 6 billion dollar and announced the week previous that it was planning to merge with another legacy carrier that posted a quarterly loss in excess of 4 billion dollars!
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It’s hard not to when I got two tix for $200 total.
I love these treads on puddle jumpers. Being a former CRJ pilot I have heard it all. Some folks would much sooner strap themselves into a MD-88 with 1950’s tech. and some 30 year old parts. My favorite was being called a “barbie jet” by a delta pilot.
I did fly in a 9 seater from LAX to SD one time and the pilot asked me"Hey big guy how much do you weigh" I never thought at 210lbs I was that big of a guy but they did balance out the passenger size lt to rt. It can be a problem for small airports (like Kona) where some 1200 folks all show up within about a three day period and they all have bikes…
I love these treads on puddle jumpers.
I wonder how many passengers take time to consider whether or not there airline operates ‘puddle jumpers’? For example do customers who book flights with smaller main line carriers such as Jet Blue take into consideration that the airline operates a mixed fleet comprised of Airbus A320 (150 seats) and Embraer regional jet aircraft such as the Embraer EMB-190 regional jet (100 seats) pictured below:
As the long-time girlfriend of a Delta pilot, and Delta Passrider (employee privledges) who lives in Boise and travels through SLC, all the time, I can tell you this. The SkyWest flights are getting incredibly packed and less frequent to all the destinations out of SLC. In fact, there have been times I have had to buy myself a ticket on SW just to get home, or fly into Twin or Hailey and drive as the flights are not only full, but oversold. If the weather is warm, and it can get very hot in SLC in the summer, your flight could easily get weight restricted, and the bike will sit on the ground until they can find space for it. Secondly, on the RJ’s they ARE limited to cargo space. In fact, flying from Steamboat this winter to SLC, they stopped checking skis because they ran out of room in the cargo.
That said, your bike is last priority with the airlines. In 2005, I flew to LP (Burlington, VT) on United through the Black Hole (aka O’Hare). Thunderstorms in Chicago stopped all traffic for 8 hours, and when I finally got to VT at midnight, there was no luggage / bike. It took 3 days to finally get my stuff in LP, which arrived Sat. morning and I had less than 3 hours to layout gear, pack transition bags, setup and test ride bike. By the time the race arrived, I was mentally cooked from the stress of dealing with United, and sitting on my ass with no gear, and not even having any other clothes to wear. All I wanted to do was go home and forget about the whole debacle. I probably will never fly my bike again to an important race.
So my advice is this. TriBike Transport. They do a big run out to CDA. One of my housemates used it from New Jersey to CDA in 2006, and it seemed like an awesome deal / service.
Another transporter of bikes to consider…Bikesherpa.com
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