Bikes on Planes??

[stuartmac]

Hi

Probably been answered a thousand times on here and I've done the searches but thought I'd ask anyway.

I need to fly back from the south of France in August, having started from the UK. I then need to bring the bike back on Ryanair from Perpignan. I won't be able to carry a bike bag with me and I arrive late Saturday flying back Sunday afternoon so won't be able to get to a bike shop as I think they will all be shut. So my only option is to post something forward to the hotel and then pack it myself before going to the airport.

So .... what bike bag do I need? I have a steel framed large road bike, my two mates have carbon bikes. I have seen anything from a full padded bag to just a £10 clear plastic bag so the loaders know what they are dealing with.

Looking for some experience from others on what is the best thing to do and what will be accepted by the airlines?

Thanks

 

[jonny jeez]

No actual experience but I was a week away from taking my bike to the US in march and had chosen to use a hard case, like the Thule roundtrip but a clamshell rather than a half and half thing.

If I recall the rental cost was around £30 a week. £500 to buy

 

[stuartmac]

Thanks, I looked at that as an option, I would need to ship out 3 of these to the hotel in Perpingnan which is the problem. Not insurmountable but because of the logistics I'm assuming that might just be down the options list a bit.

I'm thinking a clear thick plastic bag with cardboard taped round the tubes, the rear mech off, handlebars turned and spacers on the forks. I'm thinking that's the best I can do but will look for some help here to get an options list.

I've organised everything else, except the weather which i suspect will be more of a great problem the further south I go.

 

[Debade]

A couple of experiences. 1) When flying in the States, we would go to our LBS and get a box (and many times simply ask them to box it for a fee). The dimensions locally were right for the airlines. I am guessing policies are similar there and you can go online to learn the dimensions and weight. 2) On our recent trip flying into Scotland and out of Copenhagen, we took Lufthansa. What a pleasure. They have a roll-on policy. Upon arrival in Edenborough, I had damage to my fender that they paid for. Upon our return to NYC, bikes came in undamaged. In all our trips, the roll-on was the best.

After posting, I thought I would add this. When we arrived at the LaGuardia, NYC, the counter person told us the bike must be boxed. We did our homework and knew that was absolutely wrong and insisted to see a manager. The manager said the box must be boxed. We insisted she call a higher authority at Lufthansa, since Lufthansa outsources airport check-in. About 15 minutes after that, everything was cleared up and they allowed our unboxed bike on the plane.

We were able to see our bikes in a large mobile baggage cart on the tarmac (just lucky) from a window near our gate. We noticed one bike, the one that needed repair, had been placed or fallen on its side. We were able to take a picture. I do not think we needed it for the claim but it was good to have.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I've used something like this multiple times to the US & back, http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vaude-big-bike-bag/rp-prod93192 it was their own design I have, it lasted quite well, including being deliberately being burst into by US baggage handlers in Houston

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Sorry to add, just make sure the airline will take it, Virgin used to carry it for free to the US, BA wanted £60 each way (I think) used to have to argue big style on internal flights in US as they wanted to class it as transport $100 not sports equipment $30

 

[Brains]

Be aware it's not the Airline, but the Airport that sets the rules

We had a situation a few years back where flying out the airline were happy with bikes not in covers, just pedals removed and bars turned inwards.
For the return flight we had to fully box up the bikes. (Which caused a few issues when we found out whilst standing in the baggage queue)

 

[Tin Pot]

I've only done this once, boxed up my bike with a box from an LBS and took it to the airport to fly to Kenya.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Be aware it's not the Airline, but the Airport that sets the rules

We had a situation a few years back where flying out the airline were happy with bikes not in covers, just pedals removed and bars turned inwards.
For the return flight we had to fully box up the bikes. (Which caused a few issues when we found out whilst standing in the baggage queue)

My brother's just flown back from Delhi with his bike. It was wrapped up in that transparent plastic tape that they use to hold pallet truck loads together, pedals off, bars off, wheels off and held inside the wrapping. I believe it was wrapped up at the airport and presumably the same will happen when he takes it to Heathrow (flight to Alberta, Canada) next week.

 

[User269]

Ryanair T&Cs for bikes, subject to one way charge of €60;

Bicycles - MUST be contained in a protective box or protective bike bag in order to be accepted for travel. Electric bicycles cannot be transported by plane.

In practice, I think we've all found that turning the bars, removing pedals and wrapping in polythene or similar, securely taped, is always acceptable.As long as you've booked and paid for the bike when you make your Ryanair booking and get to the airport in plenty of time it's highly unlikely you'll encounter any problems. Max weight is 30Kg I think.

 

[fimm]

I didn't think that it was advisable to fly with a carbon framed bike in anything other than a proper hard box, though?
(I might be wrong about this...)

 

[classic33]

Do you know anyone who works in a warehouse, that might be able to get you the end of a roll of pallet wrap?
Use that on top of any bag you use, if a bag is the only option open to you.

 

[rich p]

My wife and I once flew back from Toulouse using cardboard bike boxes that I got for nothing from the local Decathlon. There is a decathlon in Perpignan. You'd need to go into the store the previous day I suspect. My default position was to either buy a soft bag from them and flog it on my return or make a box from cardboard I had scavenged from somewhere.

 

[MarkF]

I always fly back becuase I like cycling out towards the sun. In France or Spain I've never had a problem getting boxes from bike shops, especially independents, just email them, tell them what you are doing & they'll be interested and will help, I've had shops leave the boxes "somewhere" for me to pick up.

 

[stuartmac]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I'm going to email a few bike shops to see if they will leave a few boxes at the hotel, failing that I'll go with the CTC bag and tape, checking with Ryanair and the airport in advance.

Think I'm set now, let's hope the weather is kind and we don't have any accidents like we did in JOGLE!!!

Cheers