Carrying Bikes on really Cheap Flights

[Dan Gregory]

MartinM wrote:

> such a dinky little plane, like the ones that go to the Channel Islands.
> Ryanair and EasyJet are no good, neither fly to Belgium from the South.

When my son and I couldn't get the ferry from the North of Barra to
South Uist due to tide problems we went back to the Beach which LoganAir
uses as a runway. The pilot let us stack our bikes in the nose of the
Twin Otter ourselves. Brilliant experience!
All the best
Dan Gregory

 

[Dan Gregory]

MartinM wrote:

> such a dinky little plane, like the ones that go to the Channel Islands.
> Ryanair and EasyJet are no good, neither fly to Belgium from the South.

When my son and I couldn't get the ferry from the North of Barra to
South Uist due to tide problems we went back to the Beach which LoganAir
uses as a runway. The pilot let us stack our bikes in the nose of the
Twin Otter ourselves. Brilliant experience!
All the best
Dan Gregory

 

[MartinM]

Dave Larrington wrote:


> > -The tires are air empty


> Bexelant! You don't even have to let the TYRES down

Sorry if a daft question but is it possible to prep a recumbent/trike
for air travel?

 

[Richard Goodman]

"Jo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I once had a bit of a problem with check in staff not knowing the rules
> about bikes - they tried to charge me about £100 for three bikes when they
> were covered by the 'sporting goods' allowance. Fortunately I carry a
> printout of relevant conditions from the website with me, which quickly
> solved the problem.

Well, I discovered something new about the carriage of bikes the other
weekend - British Airways check in staff (in Zurich) told me it doesn't
depend on the airline, it depends on the baggage handlers! So while they
accepted BA had been happy to carry it out there in a bag from London, it
wasn't going to go back from there unless it was in a box - which I
hurriedly had to buy from the baggage handlers - 15Sfr for a secondhand
cardboard bike box. It was the second time I've been told the bike has to
be in a rigid box flying back from Zurich - the first time was with Swiss,
when they said that it _their_ policy was that the bike had to be boxed, as
it is. This time BA blamed it on the handlers! It makes things really
awkward if you can take a bike in one direction packaged according to
published policy but not in the other. I've tried to take this up with BA
by email but they haven't replied. I think a letter might be necessary.....

Rich

 

[JLB]

Simonb wrote:
> Is it possible to carry bikes on the knock down flights you see online?
>
[repost follows]

I took my touring bike from Aberdeen to Dublin in 2002 on a Ryanair
flight, unboxed. On arrival I found that lights and other fittings were
bent and smashed. One of the front fork brake lugs was snapped, making
the front brake useless for the duration of my holiday. Getting the
frame fixed and repainted, along with replacing the broken bits, cost me
over £200. I have stopped using Ryanair. It's not cheap.

Ryanair makes its money by keeping the aircraft moving. The baggage
handlers have no spare time and will be held responsible if they do not
meet very tight time targets for loading and unloading. Michael O'Leary
is ruthless about this. No unusual baggage (such as a bike) gets on
board without the owner signing a disclaimer for any damage. No claims
are allowed. Passengers who know this are unlikely to claim, so will not
appear in the statistics, which therefore understate the problem. The
Ryanair attitude is that baggage is a hindrance and the passengers
should be discouraged from bringing any. Passengers themselves are
tolerated, barely, as "self-loading baggage".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2205545.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3878641.stm

--
Joe * If I cannot be free I'll be cheap

 

[Call me Bob]

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:45:27 -0000, "Richard Goodman"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Well, I discovered something new about the carriage of bikes the other
>weekend - British Airways check in staff (in Zurich) told me it doesn't
>depend on the airline, it depends on the baggage handlers! So while they
>accepted BA had been happy to carry it out there in a bag from London, it
>wasn't going to go back from there unless it was in a box - which I
>hurriedly had to buy from the baggage handlers - 15Sfr for a secondhand
>cardboard bike box. It was the second time I've been told the bike has to
>be in a rigid box flying back from Zurich - the first time was with Swiss,
>when they said that it _their_ policy was that the bike had to be boxed

I've flown into, and out of Zurich with Swiss with a naked bike. Just
turned handlebars, removed pedals etc. Check in staff didn't bat an
eyelid.

In fact, once, one of the lads went out with his luggage for three
weeks, all his tools, a TV and a playstation. No excess charge at all.
Either way. TV survived as too, I was stunned.

--

Call me "Bob"

"More oneness, less categories,
Open hearts, no strategies"

Email address is spam trapped, to reply directly remove the beverage.

 

[Ian Smith]

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 11:38:16 -0000, MartinM <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> "Ian Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > I'd suggest getting something in writing - even if it's only some
> > printout from their terms & conditions. I've spent some time in an
> > easyjet check-in queue behind a chap with a bike where the
> > check-in-person simply refused to believe they carried bicycles,
> >
> How long ago and where was this?

Less than a year, Edinburgh.

It's teh classic problem - there's a certain sort of person, that when
put in a position of authority, it doesn't matter if they are
completely wrong, they're not going to believe a mere amateur.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

 

[Dave Larrington]

MartinM wrote:

> Sorry if a daft question but is it possible to prep a recumbent/trike
> for air travel?

Never tried it myself, but know of plenty of people who have. Usual rules
apply as far as I know. If one were to go to <URL: http://www.bhpc.org.uk/>
and hover one's cursor over the "Events" picture, the machine which turns
green has travelled to the US a few times...

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
World Domination?
Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the
floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)

 

[MartinM]

the machin­e which turns
green has travelled to the US a few times...

Yes but surely you just need to fit some wings and a Pratt and Whitney
engine to it ;-)

 

[Simonb]

Arthur Clune wrote:
> MartinM <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> aka the Ronde van Vlaanderen, nice hills ;-)
>
> I'm doing it this year as well.

Have you booked your accommodation, are you staying in Ninove?