Airlines charge more for bikes?

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I read this today on the Lonely Planet Bike forum. Anyone know if it's true?

International Bicycle Fund(IBF),a noble bike organization if ever there is one,has sent out an alert informing as of this month international airlines have conspired to ALL institute an extraordinarily high fee to fly bicycles internationally. The alert states that the fee,up to US$300 return,will be assesed on all bicycles.
Considering that Golfers,pay nothing,domestically or internationally,to fly thier equipment(easily outweighing a bicycle I believe)this is a prejudical policy.
I don't think there is anything us touring cyclists can do about this. In the US pressure has been applied to domestic airlines to relent on thier extraordinary fees for bikes-with very,very little success.

Is this very bad new true??????

I suspect part of it might be due to the handling issues - does a bicycle, because of its shape exceed the maximum dimensions allowable for single person handling under OH&S guidelines? Also, bicycles don't stuff into a standard luggage pod as readily a golf bag.

That's the problem, as soon as you become non-standard you require special handling. It has nothing to do with weight. Do you really think a bicycle can be thrown onto one of those automated baggage handling systems and make it out the other end in one piece? I bet golf bags can be easily slung onto a conveyor belt without issues. Reckon you might find skis, surfboards and other sports equipment which is "non-standard" from a baggage handling perspective will attract a similar surcharge.

Well they seem to have coped up to now....
(guess its just another way of screwing money out of passengers while trying to make us think that air travel is getting cheaper, along with paying for food, fuel taxes, headphones,.....)
I cant see how a bike in a box is harder to handle than a Samoan suitcase with 20kilos of bricks.....

Welcome to the world according to the MBA, where everything is geared towards making as much profit as possible while offering the absolute minimum in return.

I suspect part of it might be due to the handling issues - does a bicycle, because of its shape exceed the maximum dimensions allowable for single person handling under OH&S guidelines? Also, bicycles don't stuff into a standard luggage pod as readily a golf bag.

That's the problem, as soon as you become non-standard you require special handling. It has nothing to do with weight. Do you really think a bicycle can be thrown onto one of those automated baggage handling systems and make it out the other end in one piece? I bet golf bags can be easily slung onto a conveyor belt without issues. Reckon you might find skis, surfboards and other sports equipment which is "non-standard" from a baggage handling perspective will attract a similar surcharge.
It only cost me an additional $20 to fly my surf board from Canberra to Perth

Sounds like a breach of anti-trust law to me. I wonder if the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is aware of it?

domestic travel within Australia has never cost me anything extra* to fly the bike with me.
however, I've not taken it internationally, so can't speak for that.


*not including the one time i bought a bike box ;)

Virgin Blue, one of our domestic airlines, has a stated policy of no extra charges for bikes and surfboards if packed properly. Pretty generous, I thought.

I'd better get booking for my London to Perth flight in October then. Emirates seem to offer the best fare deal, but in common with most other UK-Oz carriers they have a baggage limit of 20kg and bikes are included in that (with no extra surcharge). It can be accepted in a polythene bag however, which only weighs half a kilo. To the states it'a usually 32kg, not sure why the diff.

I read this today on the Lonely Planet Bike forum. Anyone know if it's true?

International Bicycle Fund(IBF),a noble bike organization if ever there is one,has sent out an alert informing as of this month international airlines have conspired to ALL institute an extraordinarily high fee to fly bicycles internationally. The alert states that the fee,up to US$300 return,will be assesed on all bicycles.
Considering that Golfers,pay nothing,domestically or internationally,to fly thier equipment(easily outweighing a bicycle I believe)this is a prejudical policy.
I don't think there is anything us touring cyclists can do about this. In the US pressure has been applied to domestic airlines to relent on thier extraordinary fees for bikes-with very,very little success.

Is this very bad new true??????I flew to Christchurch from Melbourne last April with my mountain bike in tow and I wasn't charged anything extra. The worse part was spending an extra hour at each end getting my bike checked for mud and bugs by the bodies at quarantine.