Flying bikes

[::dom::]

Stitting at the Café, slugging back short blacks, after a Saturday morning ride the topic of bikes on planes came up.

Some airlines seem to have a good policy when it comes to bikes, others see them as just excess baggage and a few don't seem to have any policy at all (don't know if or what to charge, whether they count as check-in baggage or treated as excess).

What are your experiences and which arlines are the most bike fiendly?

 

[ItsikH]

The only company I have had experience with was El-Al, and here are the results:
1. Charge: No charge at all for the bicycle, and they even ignored my 5kg overweight, which usually costs somthing like 18$ per kg. I have heard that it is now a standard policy for bicycle union members to allow the extra weight, but they never bothered to ask me if I was a member.
2. The down side: I hae had some minor damages. Nothing serious, but annoying. It could have been the airport porters, though.

I have also heard that Swissair charge a lot for bicycles, but most companies don't.