New Delta bike policy. Any one tested?

Triathlon Forum
1

Delta has a new policy for 2005 that says something to the effect of:

You can check your bike box as one of your free ‘checked bags’ when you fly on Delta.

The bike case/box has to be less than 62’'. (Most single cases are.)

Any bike case longer than 62’’ is subject to the $80 USD fee in each direction of your flight.

Has anyone tested this new policy? It seems there has been very little historic consistency between Delta ticket counters on when they apply extra charges for shipping your bike. At least in 2005, they have published their new policy on their web site.

I’m flying my bike to the Ralph’s HIM and can use FedEx for $39 and have it sent to my hotel room. Or, try and use the new Delta policy and fly it for free. The risk I’m trying to eliminate is whether or not Delta is really on board w/ their new policy or if I’m going to run into a ticket counter that refuses to let me fly the bike case for free.

Anyone tested this in 2005 on a Delta flight?

UPDATE: please read the next post that contains an update. There really is no effective change to Delta’s policy in 2005.

2

Be also sure when you Fedex it to your hotel room that you are not being “handed” a hotel package handling fee, which could be as much as $50 depending on the hotel.
As for the new Delta policy, I will test it in April.
Cheers,
Herbert
Litespeed/QR

3

i recently did fly delta and was not charged for my bike either direction. it was packed in the tri all 3 ups size case. i wasn’t aware of this new policy so it was a pleasant surprise.

brent

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Awesome awesome awesome, thanks for pointing out this policy change. As far as testing it out, I wouldn’t worry about it. Simply be sure to print out the page from Delta’s website and bring it with you, in case there is any trouble.

Here’s the text on the website:

"Non-motorized touring or racing bicycles with single seats for carriage are accepted as checked baggage, with certain limitations.

Any bicycle presented in a box with overall dimensions not exceeding 62" or 157.5cm (length + height + width) and checked in lieu of one bag is accepted. Bicycles exceeding 62" are subject to charge. For domestic flights, an $80 fee applies to each checked bicycle up to six, and $180 for each bicycle seven and above. For international flights a $90 fee applies to each checked bicycle for passengers traveling on a Delta ticket, including codeshare flights. This fee may vary per carrier or destination.Non-motorized touring or racing bicycles with single seats for carriage are accepted as checked baggage, with certain limitations."

5

They had this policy in place last year too. I flew with my bike in May and didn’t get charged. I did go to the airport armed with their policy just in case the clerk gave me trouble.

I think this is only good for flying domestic. I used it to fly international last year and got away with it.

6 
62'' total (L+W+H) is mighty small.  I can't get downstairs to measure my bike case but it's got to be way over 62".  I would say that a large suitecase is those dimensions.  This needs to be clarified before we start showing up and getting charged extra.
7

Yes, 62 inches OVERALL is pretty small. Joe’s bike is in two boxes, wheel case which is never questioned and a custom made case for the frame. It just makes the 62 inches (actually is a few inches over). He has to completely disassenble the headpiece and cranks to get it in. We have been flying with it since the late 80’s, mostly Delta, and have only been challenged a couple of times. One agent took out a tape measure and charged us because it was 2 inches oversize.

It all depends on who checks you in. Sometimes you get an agent that doesn’t care and sometimes you get a hard nose. We had an agent on Aloha Air many years ago who actually charged us for TWO bikes, because of the two boxes. He was wrong and we got a refund from Delta.

The drawback is that you use up your luggage allowance with the bike boxes. Not bad if you travel with a spouse, you get 4 pieces allowed.

Support Crew

8

you need to measure your bike cases, I am not aware of any bike case that meets this size requirement. I fly my bike much the same way that Joe does, wheels in a hardshell case and the frame in a padded garment bag that is about 66 overall dimension. It has flown free everytime, only been challenged once, but I had a copy of the airlines size policy in hand so they let it go.

9

I have a lot of expereince flying with my bike. Ultimately, me experience has ben that the “policy” is whatever happens at the ticket counter.

It is different every time and few people know the “real” policy. If the line is long, security is backed up, you are late for your flight and you are courteous they aren;t taking the extra 45 seconds to charge you- they just put it through.

If they print your luggage tags without seeing the flight case (i.e. the flight case is positoned between you and the high ticket counter- they ask you "are you checking ny bags? and you answer “Yes, two” then they print the tags without looking at the luggage) then they do a brief double take, probably think, “Ahh, what the fuck!?!” and then say, “Next person in line please…”

Other times they are quick on the uptake and say, “Is that a bicycle in the case Sir?” Then you’re busted.

It all depends on how you play it, and they play you.

10

The post about Delta’s new policy got me thinking about an experience with Continental a couple of years ago. Their policy was something like “bikes, $80 each way regardless of weight or inches”. I got tired of seeing 40 pound golf clubs flying for free while my 16 pound bike was costing me $160 per trip, so I thought of a way around the regulation.

Traveling to the next race, I took the wheels off my bike and packed them separately in a hard wheel box and I packed my bike frame in a heavy-duty cardboard box given to me by the Colnago importer Trialtir.

At the counter the woman who checked my bags looked at the box and asked me “is that a bike?”

I said “no”.

she said “it says Colgano bike on the box”.

I replied “yes m’aam I know it say’s that, but it’s just a Cannondale bike frame.”

she goes, “OK… it’s a bike… $80”

I said “m’aam… when you asked me I said it’s not a bike so why are you charging me $80?”

she said “you said it was a bike”

I said “no m’aam, I said it was a bike frame”

she indignantly said “well, that’s the same thing”

I said “well, with all due respect it’s not”

she snottily said “bike… bike frame… same thing… it’s $80”

I said “m’aam a bike is something you sit on, pedal and ride around on, right?”

looking above her glasses at me she said “yes”

I said “well… if you took that out of the box there’s nothing to sit on (saddle was in the wheel box) and it wouldn’t go anywhere because there are no wheels… it’s not a bike… just a frame…”

Right about at that moment the supervisor walks over from the next booth and tells her “he’s got a point” and asked her to weigh it. The scale read something like 22 pounds and he said to her “no charge”.

Outwardly I kept a straight face, but I was smiling a huge smile inside! Since then, though, I learned about FedEx and have used them ever since. So much easier to ship it to your hotel and just leave it there afterwards for pickup, and you don’t have to rent a huge van to carry multiple bikes.

11

Under the fact that the total dimensions must be 62 or under basically you have to pay to ship the bike. I just got out the tape measure, took the dimensions of my bike minus wheels, fork, seat post, handlebars and pedals. Total is 61 inches, this does not allow for the thickness of the case or box, wheels would have to go seperately, and all the other pieces would have to be creatively packed in the two cases. I save another inch if I take the big ring off my cranks. So with a little creative packing I could do it…By the way my bike is a size 48 Cervelo… So basically Francois and my self may benefit but good luck to everyone else:>)

12

Update: I was reading Delta’s policy on the IronmanCalifornia website. It never mentions L+W+H.
Here’s the text from the website: (my bad on the assumption of length only)

New for 2005:
Exception: if bike is presented in a container with total dimentions not exceeding 62 inches it will be accepted free of charge in lieu of 1 piece of free baggage allowance. Limitations for bicycles vary per aircraft. Reserve your spot when making reservations.

However, I just went to delta.com and their policy clearly defines the 62’’ as L+W+H. And you guys are correct, there are almost no bike cases that are that small. So, looks like the policy would favor the $80 charge if I was challenged on it.

So, I’m shipping via Fedex instead. $39 bucks and I can pack all my tools, etc. in the case and not have to worry about a TSA rep unpacking it for inspection and then improperly securing the contents, etc. (Wonder if I can ship CO2 via Fedex.)

Also, thanks for the tip on calling the hotel to make sure there is no special handling fee for a fedex package.

Now, my only challenge is to figure out how to get my long rides in during the winter months leading up to the race in mid March.

13

I can see some person at a ticket counter taking out a tape measure to measure a box. That strikes me as somewhat unlikely when there is a long line.

14

You got lucky. What I do is I say it’s a frame, not a bike frame, and while I say frame I motion with my hands to make a rectangle. They usually think it’s a picture frame and ask if there’s a painting in it and I just say the frame is empty. I figure these days it’s not good to lie about the contents, but it’s OK to be vague.

15

shame shame shame
.

16

I thought the deal was to check it at the curb? Maybe give the guy ten bucks?

17

American has the same policy and it’s stated below:

Bicycles 1 non-motorized touring or racing bike. Handlebars must be fixed sideways and pedals removed. Or pedals and handlebars must be enclosed in plastic foam or similar material. $80
Exception: If bicycle and container are less than 62 linear inches and under 50 lbs., the bike is free in place of one 62 inch bag in the free allowance.

100 lbs 115 linear inches - Not accepted for transportation during an Excess Baggage Embargo

  • Not accepted for transportation on some American Eagle/Connection aircraft
  • Acceptance conditional on aircraft size and load conditions
  • Exception: If a bike is less than 62 linear inches and 50 lbs., the above conditions do not apply

Notice that it says linear inches. In other words, as long as no one dimension (H, L, W) is longer than 62 inches then you won’t be charged. This does not mean that you add (H+W+L). This is great news and according to AA they started this new policy in September 04. By the way, what is the Fedex deal?

18

Fedex said they will ship the bike for $39 cross country to my hotel at my race destination. Its standard ground shipping and it takes 4 days. They can’t guarantee delivery at that rate, but the clerk basically said they never miss their 4 day target. To guarantee the delivery date, the price climbs to well over $100 each way.

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“I can see some person at a ticket counter taking out a tape measure to measure a box. That strikes me as somewhat unlikely when there is a long line.”

Are you guys talking “bike box” or “bike case”. If bike case, then I don’t know how some of you guys get away with these things? Flew out of St. Louis last June post HalfMax on Delta, and the lady @ the counter DID pull out a measuring tape while in a LONG line. Cost me $75 (not to mention the $75 I dropped flying from Dallas)

20

I believe it does mention it is the sum of L+W+H. Sorry.

“Any bicycle presented in a box with overall dimensions not exceeding 62” or 157.5cm (length + height + width) and checked in lieu of one bag is accepted. "

http://www.delta.com/travel/plan/baggage_info/special_baggage/sporting_goods/index.jsp