Q:air travel with bikes

Tom Jackson said:

Are there storage lockers at airports that can be used? If
so, how much do they cost in general?

Very much dependent on your airport: call them in advance to
find out, also ask your airline to help out, since they all
go on about how great their customer service is.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

"Tom Jackson" wrote...

Quoted message said:

For those of you that transport bikes overseas by flight,
and use a travel case or boxes to protect/carry the bike,
where do you store these whilst you're out touring so that
they're avilable for the return flight?

Are there storage lockers at airports that can be used? If
so, how much do they cost in general?

Insights/experiences welcomed.

cheers, tom.

The last time I did this I used a cardboard bike box (like
bikes are shipped from the manufacturer to the LBS in),
assembled the bike in a quiet corner of the airport (London
Gatwick), found a rubbish bin to stick the box in, and rode
out of the airport on my bike. For the return trip a few
weeks later, I rode back to the airport, bought a cardboard
bike box from the excess baggage service at (about GBP 15),
disassembled and boxed the bike, and handed it over to the
airline. Much cheaper than storing anything at the airport,
which would have cost a few pounds per day.

For my next trip (leaving in 3 weeks!) I'm toying with the
idea of simply wheeling the bike up to the check in counter,
turning the bars sideways, removing the pedals, and handing
them the bike. I'm told that baggage handlers are more
inclined to treat what is obviously a bike a bit more gently
than a cardboard box or suitcase that may or may not contain
a bicycle. Has anyone tried this approach with BA, and if so
with what results? It's a nonstop flight, so there will be
no shuffling of my bike between airplanes .
--
mark

In article
<[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

For those of you that transport bikes overseas by
flight, and use a travel case or boxes to protect/carry
the bike, where do you store these whilst you're out
touring so that they're avilable for the return flight?

I keep mine in the hotel! Sorry, I don't tour, only ride
from one central base and then move on.

Guess you could just leave it in the middle of the airport
and then claim it when you return from the lost property
department (assuming it hasn't been detected as suspicious
and blown up!) :-)

--
Mark (MSA) This post is packaged by intellectual weight, not
volume. Some settling of contents may have occurred during
transmission

On 2/4/04 5:26 pm, in article
[email hidden], "mark"

Quoted message said:

For my next trip (leaving in 3 weeks!) I'm toying with the
idea of simply wheeling the bike up to the check in
counter, turning the bars sideways, removing the pedals,
and handing them the bike. I'm told that baggage handlers
are more inclined to treat what is obviously a bike a bit
more gently than a cardboard box or suitcase that may or
may not contain a bicycle. Has anyone tried this approach
with BA, and if so with what results? It's a nonstop
flight, so there will be no shuffling of my bike between
airplanes .

The only time I used a box (cardboard) it came through on
the carousel with a pile of suitcases on top.

Otherwise I just wheeled the bike up, turn the bars sideways
and sometimes have to put it in a plastic bag (protects
everything else from the chain).

No damage at all. Only quibble I have is with the tyres and
the ignorant wanting them to be let down.

One trick is to put the pedals back on the inside of the
cranks through the wheel. This stops the jokers scooting the
bike across the tarmac on flattenned tyres and means they
have to carry it.

The only time I had to change planes the bike made it
no problem.

..d

"David Martin" wrote

Quoted message said:

No damage at all. Only quibble I have is with the tyres
and the ignorant wanting them to be let down.

One trick is to put the pedals back on the inside of the
cranks through

the

Quoted message said:

wheel. This stops the jokers scooting the bike across
the tarmac on flattenned tyres and means they have to
carry it.

The only time I had to change planes the bike made it no
problem.

..d

BA's website says not to bother letting the tires down,
they'll be fine. The website also suggests that people
wanting to deflate the tires before putting the bike on the
plane remember that they'll need to pump the tires back up
at the other end. My plan was to leave the tires inflated,
let them scoot the bike around on fully inflated tires if
that will make life easier for the baggage handlers (easier
for them = more careful handling of my bike).
--
mark

"MSA" wrote

Quoted message said:

Guess you could just leave it in the middle of the airport
and then claim it when you return from the lost property
department (assuming it hasn't been detected as suspicious
and blown up!) :-)

--
Mark (MSA)

I did make a few jokes with friends after my last trip about
leaving a large cardboard box propped against a support
pillar and pedalling away, but I don't think that would have
made me too many friends...
--
mark

On Fri, 02 Apr 2004 19:30:05 GMT, "mark" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

My plan was to leave the tires inflated, let them scoot
the bike around on fully inflated tires if that will make
life easier for the baggage handlers (easier for them =
more careful handling of my bike).

You think? More like the baggage handles will have a play on
it, abuse it and then sling it in the plane.

You don't let tyres down to stop them exploding, you let
them down to stop baggage handlers riding it.
--
"We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to
prevent life escaping from us." bensales.combensales.comOpen ↗

mark said:

"David Martin" wrote

Quoted message said:

No damage at all. Only quibble I have is with the tyres
and the ignorant wanting them to be let down.

One trick is to put the pedals back on the inside of the
cranks through

the

Quoted message said:

wheel. This stops the jokers scooting the bike across
the tarmac on flattenned tyres and means they have to
carry it.

The only time I had to change planes the bike made it no
problem.

..d

BA's website says not to bother letting the tires down,
they'll be fine. The website also suggests that people
wanting to deflate the tires before putting the bike on
the plane remember that they'll need to pump the tires
back up at the other end. My plan was to leave the tires
inflated, let them scoot the bike around on fully
inflated tires if that will make life easier for the
baggage handlers (easier for them = more careful handling
of my bike).
--
mark

BA's check-in people haven't always heard of this. They let
my tyres down for me, which I could have done without. I'll
point this out to them next time.

Pete

I have done the pack the thing up with old boxes, plastic
sacks etc approach a couple of times on EasyJet but they now
charge unless it is completely enclosed in a bag/box.
Ryanair charge £15 each way however it is packaged.

On Fri, 02 Apr 2004 16:26:11 GMT, "mark" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The last time I did this I used a cardboard bike box (like
bikes are shipped from the manufacturer to the LBS in),
assembled the bike in a quiet corner of the airport (London
Gatwick), found a rubbish bin to stick the box in, and rode
out of the airport on my bike. For the return trip a few
weeks later, I rode back to the airport, bought a cardboard
bike box from the excess baggage service at (about GBP 15),

Thanks Mark, I wasn't aware that you could buy the boxes
from the airlines. That's a big help.

For some of the other posters, are you really suggesting
that you put your bikes through airline handling without any
packing at all? With frame tubes being so thin these days
(esp alloy) how do they get through without being a mass of
dents? Or is this a risk people are willing to take?

cheers, tom.

On 5/4/04 10:21 am, in article [email hidden],

Tom Jackson said:

For some of the other posters, are you really suggesting
that you put your bikes through airline handling without
any packing at all?

Yes.

Quoted message said:

With frame tubes being so thin these days (esp alloy) how
do they get through without being a mass of dents? Or is
this a risk people are willing to take?

Because you can easily claim for damage off the airline.

If the baggage handlers can see what it is they are more
careful with it.

If it requires special handling then more care is taken.

If it is in a big flat box it will go at the bottom of the
baggage cart with lots of suitcases thrown on top.

Experience suggests that unprotected is safer than
apparently protected. This may be due to risk compensation.

..d

Quoted message said:

cheers, tom.

Tom Jackson said:

For some of the other posters, are you really suggesting
that you put your bikes through airline handling without
any packing at all?

Yup. Although I would be wary of doing it through major
airports especially with a change in the middle. I've only
ever done Liverpool-Nice (easyjet) with an unpacked tandem,
but have had little trouble in 4 trips.

Quoted message said:

With frame tubes being so thin these days (esp alloy) how
do they get through without being a mass of dents?

Our Cannondale tandem is actually pretty beefy. It was also
old and well-used the first time we did this. I would be
less laissez-faire with a high-end lightweight road bike.

Quoted message said:

Or is this a risk people are willing to take?

Yup. Well, the alternative of a cardboard box seems hardly
worth the effort, and a proper bike case is a significant
hassle (especially tandem-sized, of course it depends on
your holiday plans). We also have S+S bikes (singles plus
more recently a tandem) which are very securely packed but
they cost more than many are willing to pay and using them
does entail finding a hotel to leave the cases at etc.

James

David Martin <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Because you can easily claim for damage off the airline.

By weight, which isn't a good way to claim damage for an
expensive road bike!

: If the baggage handlers can see what it is they are more
: careful with it.

I was on a plane to Malloca once when all the baggage had to
be unloaded due to a missing passengers. The baggage
handlers threw all the luggage from the hold very roughly.

I saw an unpacked bike bounce on the tarmac.

Not good.

I now have a big hard-shell case. A PITA, but secure.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune clune.orgclune.orgOpen ↗ "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook