I just checked the new bike fee. $175 each way. I’m about to lose it. Someone calm me down. It does say that things like hockey equipment, fishing equipment can be in place of one checked item. Anyone had any recent luck in convincing the teller it’s not a bike?
Do you want the TSA to find out that your “fishing equipment” is not what you said it was?
ship it?
If you do ship . Ship a week ahead of time and to a preset LBS that knows its coming and what to do. Make sure they know all your wishes ahead of time. This way it is sure to be ready and there. Do not think if you ship it the day b4 it will get there. What can go wrong will go wrong be prepared for the worse.
paint it to look like a small child and set it in the seat next to you?
Ya, use UPS ground if you can, and if it is to a big race, the one of those bike carriers work pretty well. It costs around the same as flying, but no hassles, your bike gets there the way you put it onto the trailer, and then after the race you just walk it back over…Of course you need a 2nd training bike to fill in the last week of tapering, but most have one, or access to one…I just ship it to my hotel these days, usually runs about 60 bucks…
anyone have a rough sense of what it costs to ship a bike in a trico style case? This is for cali 70.3 next week so probably too late anyhow.
ride the bike to the event?
Just one reply…US AIR!
you may not get charged if you are bringing with you -your “massage table”…
how does TSA know what you told the United check-in clerk? in most cases, you check-in, put tags on the bags, then walk your bags over to the separate TSA luggage scanning area. they have no idea whether you paid extra for that bag or what the heck is in it. hell even if they did catch you in a lie, seriously, i doubt they have the time/effort to try to detain you or charge you with anything purely based on the fact that you told them your bicycle was a fishing rod. i mean, come on. there are bigger fish to fry out there
Last May it was over $250 round trip.
Good advice Mark. I’ve shipped, via UPS, several times to save the whole hassle PLUS TSA isn’t taking apart the box to check things. One of my friends had her Zipps ruined when they didn’t re-seat things very well.
I have spent about $60 each way via UPS ground to Idaho, Panama City and Tuscon.
ONE piece of advice to all. Take the RETURN UPS sticker with you on your trip. All you have to do is stick it on and away it goes from the hotel.
Last fall I paid $125 one way and then $140 the other. The airlines are not very consistent about enforcing their own pricing, in my experience. My plan ticket only cost me about $100 more.
Lying in general is a bad idea and especially to save a few dollars. It’s pretty frustrating though, because three or four years ago I remember paying $85 for flying it both ways.
I’m not flying to any races this year.
Chad
I doubt that TSA would care but i would be reluctant to fly with na bike with a fishing rods declared value ;- 0
Styrrell
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It is too late, dude. However, UPS charges less than $100 – at least that has been my experience. From Tempe, Ariz. (post-SOMA) to Iowa was $72. If you have a second bike or are willing to forgo your last week-and-a-half of bike workouts, I’d do this. Monty, good that sending it to the hotel worked; that’s my plan for IM Wisconsin.
I doubt that TSA would care but i would be reluctant to fly with na bike with a fishing rods declared value ;- 0
Styrrell
Doesn’t matter. They’re only going to give you $50 when they lose it either way.
If you ship in those refridgerator size bike cases, you deserve to pay $175 each way. I am tired of all the bitching and complaining on this topic. Airlines need to make money and if we are going to force baggage handlers to carry these bohemoths and throw out their backs, we deserve to pay.
20 years ago, these hard shell cases did not exist. We all used light softshell bike cases. Since 1988, I have use a variety of small soft shell cases. I have only paid three times for transport, once out of Kona, two times out of St. Croix when I was lined up beside 200 other trigeeks shipping everything including the kitchen sink. I’ve boarded over 100 flights with my bike over the past 20 years
The latest bike case I use is the softshell from Akona. When asked, what is in there, I say, “triathlon equipment”. When quizzed further, and asked, “what is that”, I reply “swim, bike, run”. When they say, is there a full bike in there, I say, “bike parts maam” and smile at her and offer to open it up cause in that puny bike case no one will believe you have an entire bike and when they see the pieces, they agree.
EDIT: Keep bike case at approximately 40 lbs so when they weigh, they don’t blink an eyelid. Don’t stuff all your gear (leave kitchen sink at home) in the bike case.
Make sure you ask the ticket agent: How is is your day going? Have you been working long hours? When is your next break? Do you have a long commute to get to work? Is everyone being nice to you today? How many days a week do you do this…must be tough dealing with all the irate travellers during delays that you are not even responsible for. Try to ask her stuff about her personal life and if she mentions kids, make sure you say, “no way, you look too good to have kids that old…” Try to get her to bitch about her boss and bitch about “bosses with her” Do not travel dressed wearing a cycling jacket, any Mdot gear or hat. Dress in dress pants if you have to with a business suit jacket and dress shoes.
Divert the entire conversation so it is “all about her”. If you are really lucky, you might even get upgraded to business class because the flight is probably overbooked and by the time the conversation gets to the bike bag, it is a non issue.
Dev
How big is your bike that you can use that tiny case? And to what degree do you take your bike apart? I’m 5-11, ride a 57cm frame, and can’t go any smaller, thus a Tri-All-3 case. If I knew I could ride a smaller bike and thus use a smaller case for travel, I’d have started smoking cigs and drinking coffee in elementary school.
Dev’s latter points are key. If you are an asshole, expect to be treated like an asshole. I fly with dive equipment all the time (technically they can charge for it), but I don’t say anything, am nice, and I have never had to pay. Even a few times it’s been over the weight limit, it gets waived.
There’s a guy on BT who flies a lot with his bike in a small bike box that doesn’t scream “Triathlete” or “I’m a bike” and has never had to pay.
And TSA doesn’t give a shit about the legal stuff in your bags.