taking a bike with an airline

[Matthew Paterso]

Im planning a trip to the US soon (Jun-Jul) and will be
wanting to take my bike (riding around Northern California).
Has anyone in the UK flown with a bike to California? Any
idea how much this would cost? I guess vice-versa would
work. Anyone from the states flown a bike over to Europe?

Basically Im fishing about for a round about figure of how
much it would be.

--
Matt

Fear of a flat planet

 

[Ride-A-Lot]

Matthew Paterson wrote:
> Im planning a trip to the US soon (Jun-Jul) and will be
> wanting to take my bike (riding around Northern
> California). Has anyone in the UK flown with a bike to
> California? Any idea how much this would cost? I guess vice-
> versa would work. Anyone from the states flown a bike over
> to Europe?
>
> Basically Im fishing about for a round about figure of how
> much it would be.

Just found out today that if the airline is a member of the
Star Alliance and you are a gold member in the frequent
flyer club, you can take a bike for free. Don't know if it
helps you. Otherwise, from the US to other places it's
US$80 each way.

 

[Kamus Of Kadizh]

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 12:20:46 -0400, Ride-A-Lot wrote:

> Just found out today that if the airline is a member of
> the Star Alliance and you are a gold member in the
> frequent flyer club, you can take a bike for free. Don't
> know if it helps you. Otherwise, from the US to other
> places it's US$80 each way.

Don't forget - that's *per leg* - in other words, it can be
$80 every time you change flights. Three flights to get to
your destination, $240, or $480 round trip....

But airlines aren't consistent. Some charge, some don't.
Some check-in clerks will charge, some won't. And if you fly
overseas, all bets are off. Some will charge for the US only
portion; some for every leg, some for none. It's a
crapshoot.

You might do better getting FedEx or UPS to ship it for you
to a friend or some sort of drop address. Airlines won't
accept responsibility for loss or damage either. Or rent a
bike at the other end; or buy one and then sell it.

--Kamus

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
Matthew Paterson <[email protected]> wrote:

> Im planning a trip to the US soon (Jun-Jul) and will be
> wanting to take my bike (riding around Northern
> California). Has anyone in the UK flown with a bike to
> California? Any idea how much this would cost? I guess vice-
> versa would work. Anyone from the states flown a bike over
> to Europe?
>
> Basically Im fishing about for a round about figure of how
> much it would be.

It's funny you should mention this.

I'm expecting to take a plane trip this fall, and in
anticipation have starting building a cheater bike.

MTB drivetrain on a BMX bike. I think if I pull the fork,
wheels, and bars, I can shrink the package down to sub-
airline luggage size.

Now I don't know if that would suit your needs. I'm actually
intending this as a road bike replacement, so I have a 64T
front ring I'm going to mount to get the gearing tall
enough, and I have no worries about ground clearance .

With a full-suspension mountain bike, if you can unbolt the
rear triangle, you can usually shrink down the entire
package to airline-friendly dimensions (at which point you
may have two suitcases full of bike parts and assembly
tools, and will have to fit the rest of your luggage into a
carry-on).

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected]
http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/ President, Fabrizio
Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Spademan O----L]

"Matthew Paterson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> Im planning a trip to the US soon (Jun-Jul) and will be
> wanting to take my bike (riding around Northern
> California). Has anyone in the UK flown with a bike to
> California? Any idea how much this would cost? I guess vice-
> versa would work. Anyone from the states flown a bike over
> to Europe?
>
> Basically Im fishing about for a round about figure of how
> much it would be. Matt

Make a list of bike shops in the area, visit each one in
turn, look interested and ask to take a bike for a test
ride. I've done this successfully whilst on training
courses... its a great way to try new bikes.

Steve.

 

[B A R R Y]

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 12:02:30 -0700, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I'm expecting to take a plane trip this fall, and in
>anticipation have starting building a cheater bike.

Screw it.

Dress "business casual", or better yet, a suit, label the
box "Trade Show Sample" and fly away.

Or, ship your good bike ahead to an LBS for about $25 and
ride it all you want. The same LBS will probably ship it
back for $25-40, including packing.

Don't laugh.

Barry

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
B a r r y <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 12:02:30 -0700, Ryan Cousineau
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I'm expecting to take a plane trip this fall, and in
> >anticipation have starting building a cheater bike.
>
> Screw it.
>
> Dress "business casual", or better yet, a suit, label the
> box "Trade Show Sample" and fly away.

Interesting idea, but it does cost $80 to be wrong. Oversize
baggage is oversize baggage, and every indication is that
airlines are getting pickier about this stuff.

> Or, ship your good bike ahead to an LBS for about $25 and
> ride it all you want. The same LBS will probably ship it
> back for $25-40, including packing.
>
> Don't laugh.

I'm not laughing; the UPS/LBS shipping plan is a reasonable
one, but the airline will only cost about $80 typically. So
this is a savings, but not a big one.

There's other considerations:

1) a small bike fits more places in general, making it more
likely I will bring it along, whatever the occasion.

2) I already have a folder and two BMX frames. It will be a
fun bike to build, and I have an intuition that with a
BMX frame I could make a relatively light, incredibly
tough, surprisingly fast, and very compact bicycle.

Sometimes the reason is just an excuse,
--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected]
http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/ President, Fabrizio
Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[John Harlow]

> You might do better getting FedEx or UPS to ship it for
> you to a friend or some sort of drop address. Airlines
> won't accept responsibility for loss or damage either. Or
> rent a bike at the other end; or buy one and then sell it.

Or, call the bike manufactures (or check their sites) and
see if they are having a "demo day" at any place you will be
visiting. I just did that myself; I got free use of several
brand new bikes, and no shipping hassles!

 

[Bomba]

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 16:54:27 +0000, Matthew Paterson wrote:

> Im planning a trip to the US soon (Jun-Jul) and will be
> wanting to take my bike (riding around Northern
> California). Has anyone in the UK flown with a bike to
> California? Any idea how much this would cost? I guess vice-
> versa would work. Anyone from the states flown a bike over
> to Europe?
>
> Basically Im fishing about for a round about figure of how
> much it would be.

Depends if you fly with a US airline or a UK one. A UK
should charge you nothing. US airlines are rip-off
merchants who will strip the shirt from your back and...
well, you get the idea.

PS - Fly Virgin, the stewardesses are cuter.

--
a.m-b FAQ: http://www.j-harris.net/bike/ambfaq.htm

b.bmx FAQ: http://www.t-online.de/~jharris/bmx_faq.htm

 

[S O R N I]

bomba wrote:

> PS - Fly Virgin, the stewardesses are cuter.

For now.

Bill "not sure of point" S.