Brompton on an aeroplane?

[Bokonon]

Has anyone put a Brompton on an aeroplane as hold baggage? How did you pack it and what were your experiences?

 

[willem]

I did on Ryanair to Stanstead. The rack got bent and the so did one of the two studs on the frame for the little wheels. I have since seen many Bromptons with the same bent studs, and I now realize these are vulnerable.
Willem

 

[TheDoctor]

Willem - did the Brommie go as standard luggage or as 'sports equipment' at £60?

 

[Crankarm]

Could a Brommie not fit in a hard case to avoid damage? I have a Brommie bag but I suspect it would offer little protection to bike when the baggage handlers are chucking it around .

 

[Bokonon]

I did on Ryanair to Stanstead. The rack got bent and the so did one of the two studs on the frame for the little wheels. I have since seen many Bromptons with the same bent studs, and I now realize these are vulnerable.
Willem

The rack is not a problem for me as I don't have one, but bent wheel studs would be a bugger. Was the bike put on 'loose' or was it covered/boxed in some way?

 

[Bokonon]

Could a Brommie not fit in a hard case to avoid damage? I have a Brommie bag but I suspect it would offer little protection to bike when the baggage handlers are chucking it around .

There is then the problem of transporting a hard case to/from the airports. I'd agree with the view that the Brommie bag would offer no protection, but it seems that current advice is to pack standard bikes in a transparent cover and then the baggage handlers will be more careful with it...

 

[ColinJ]

it seems that current advice is to pack standard bikes in a transparent cover and then the baggage handlers will be more careful with it...

Ha!

I packed my new Bianchi in a bike bag for its first flight. Okay, it wasn't a transparent bag but the bag had large pictures of a bicycle either side so the handlers knew what they were trashing, er, handling.

Being the cautious type, I'd put a cardboard bike box inside the bag and the bike inside the box. I'd put pipe lagging on the frame tubes and forks, and filled any empty spaces with bubble-wrap to stop tools and other things bouncing about. If that little lot didn't protect my bike, then I was a Dutchman's uncle.

Call me Jan...! There I was in a plane at Alicante airport, peering out of a window while waiting for permission to disembark. Oh look, there goes my bike bag flying through the air! The lazy buggers had only chucked it about 6 feet down from the baggage hold onto a pile of suitcases.

When I got to the hotel, I discovered that my new £1,000 frame had a dent in it! Years late, the frame cracked where the dent was.

After that I spent over £300 on a SciCon bike box. The handlers have managed to drop that on one corner, cracking the case and breaking a wheel off but my bikes have survived another 6 or 7 return flights since then.

 

[Crankarm]

Ha!

I packed my new Bianchi in a bike bag for its first flight. Okay, it wasn't a transparent bag but the bag had large pictures of a bicycle either side so the handlers knew what they were trashing, er, handling.

Being the cautious type, I'd put a cardboard bike box inside the bag and the bike inside the box. I'd put pipe lagging on the frame tubes and forks, and filled any empty spaces with bubble-wrap to stop tools and other things bouncing about. If that little lot didn't protect my bike, then I was a Dutchman's uncle.

Call me Jan...! There I was in a plane at Alicante airport, peering out of a window while waiting for permission to disembark. Oh look, there goes my bike bag flying through the air! The lazy buggers had only chucked it about 6 feet down from the baggage hold onto a pile of suitcases.

When I got to the hotel, I discovered that my new £1,000 frame had a dent in it! Years late, the frame cracked where the dent was.

After that I spent over £300 on a SciCon bike box. The handlers have managed to drop that on one corner, cracking the case and breaking a wheel off but my bikes have survived another 6 or 7 return flights since then.

Retards. I bet baggage handlers instantly realise the package is a bike and try to do as much damage to it as possible by "innocently" chucking it around so as to discourage anyone from ever taking a bike with them again when they fly. I wouldn't be surprised if this was standard unwritten air line policy across the industry. Rather like all taxi drivers have an unwritten rule to cut up and close pass cyclists . The only other form of transport I have been on which isn't hostile to bicycles is boats.

 

[Crankarm]

There is then the problem of transporting a hard case to/from the airports. I'd agree with the view that the Brommie bag would offer no protection, but it seems that current advice is to pack standard bikes in a transparent cover and then the baggage handlers will be more careful with it...

Store the hard case in a locker ready for your return? Being a Brommie the case won't be that big so one will likely find a locker to house it.

 

[ASC1951]

I bet baggage handlers instantly realise the package is a bike and try to do as much damage to it as possible by "innocently" chucking it around so as to discourage anyone from ever taking a bike with them again when they fly. I wouldn't be surprised if this was standard unwritten air line policy across the industry.

Well, all I can say is that I have been flying with my bike every year since the early 1980s and I have never had it damaged in any way. I do the minimum packaging that the airlines allow, so to start with it just went bare, then in a plastic bag and now in a soft bag.

I have never seen baggage handlers abusing it and, as I say, none of my bikes have ever been damaged in transit.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

And all I can say as well, is that I have been flying with my bike since the mid 1980s, (both in Europe and trans Atlantic) and I have never had it damaged in any way. I do the minimum packaging that the airlines allow, so to start with it just went bare and more recently in a soft bag.

I have never seen baggage handlers abusing it and, as I say, none of my bikes have ever been damaged in transit.

 

[SavageHoutkop]

There was discussion about this on BromptonTalk on Yahoo! a while back (it's not publically searchable unfortunately but that's an argument for another day - oh, and the search function doesn't work properly even if you are signed up!)

If you make sure it's visible as a 'bike' (even though it folds to smaller than allowed suitcase dimensions for hold baggage), you may be forced at checkin to pay extra for sporting equipment etc.
If however it arrives already inside a suitcase that fits in with the regulations, no one will know.

But, of course, you want the thing to be well protected etc from idiot baggage handlers.

Depending on the hand-luggage rules you may be able to carry it as hand luggage.

A good source is http://sevenleagueboots.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/brompton-by-air-update/

 

[Amanda P]

I've taken my Brompton from Leeds to Dublin with Ryanair a couple of times.

I got a Brompton B bag. It rolls up for storage, and has velcro bits to keep it rolled up. It's still rather bulky, but you can bungy it onto the front of your Brommie touring pannier.

Ride it ten miles down the station, on to the bus with the Brommie in one hand and the pannier in the other. On to the plane with the pannier as hand luggage; the B bag looks like a wheely suitcase.

I've had no problems doing this. Maybe I've been lucky.

 

[andym]

Depending on the hand-luggage rules you may be able to carry it as hand luggage.

SFAIK a Brompton is too big for hand luggage on any airline. (Happy to be proved wrong though - Brompton owners may be aware of some unpublished wrinkles).

 

[SavageHoutkop]

off the top of my head, some of the airlines were in the 'states. I think one or two have also let it on because they were feeling nice, and then let it live in the cabin in the little cupboard that most planes have for oddly shaped things that need to be stashed somewhere. Don't think you'd get away with that post 9/11 though, with the things that security takes off you I'm sure a B is a dangerous weapon!

Also with some of the budget airlines, the weight limit is higher for hand luggage but the size limit might still get you, I suppose.