Extra stuff inside bike bag with Easyjet

[22camels]

Just booked a return Bristol-Reykjavik with Easyjet for next summer. Paid for one bicycle (70 quid), and zero hold bags. According to http://support.easyjet.com/case-4040 "No other items can be carried in the bicycle box/bag (i.e. clothing)". Yet the weight limit is 32kg. My bare bike wouldn't come to more than 12kg. What's the point of the extra 20kg if no other items should be carried?

I am hoping to get away without a hold bag and stuff everything in my opaque bike bag. In all, it should come at around 22kg, as it did last time when I flew with BA where you're allowed a bike free as part of your 23kg allowance, as long as everything is packed as one item and it looked like this:

Anyone with any recent (post Jan 14) experience of Easyjet enforcing this rule (which I believe is new)? Will I get away with it or will I be made to pay for an extra hold bag? Currently looks like 36 quid online, something like 50 at the airport, and I am not sure if that's one-way or return in which case my luggage will end up costing me twice my actual flight..

 

[KneesUp]

No experience, but I think your question boils down to this:

"Do airlines that sell tickets for passengers with a wafer-thin margin then try to extract as much money as possible from their customers in extra charges?"

I think I can guess the answer.

 

[steveindenmark]

Not sure why they have that limit. My Koga World Traveller is heavy and thats 16.6kg plus 5 kg for the box 22kg.

Your problem will come when they tell you to take your other gear out of the box. You have a normal luggage allowance and a cabin allowance. Thats how I would carry my gear. You cant beat their system so I wouldnt try.

 

[22camels]

Ok, I've flown with BA 6 times (3 return trips) and there you have a single 23kg allowance, and if you ask them (I spoke to them on the phone) they say you must not put anything extra inside your bike bag. At check in, they don't care what's inside as long as the bag is under 23kg.

Just this will be the first time with Easyjet, and I am anticipating having to fork out an extra 50-100 quid for the hold bag allowance. If I have a reasonable guess at what will happen in advance, I will be able to buy this allowance online for less. I am sure plenty of people like me would have 'got away with it' before. Just it seems Easyjet might have got stricter on this fine point this year.

 

[rich p]

I've done it numerous times on EJ. The check-in person isn't remotely interested in what's in the bag. They usually want to know the weight these days but half the time they ask ed me what it weighed and I guesstimated it. Otherwise you walk to the end of the counter for a weigh in.
Nobody will ever look inside the bag. Ever. You have my word.

 

[22camels]

Yeah that's kind of what I suspected. But then I wonder why they have put in this wording "No other items can be carried in the bicycle box/bag" - I don't think it used to be there. Is it just to discourage you or are they actually considering enforcing it?

 

[rich p]

Yeah that's kind of what I suspected. But then I wonder why they have put in this wording "No other items can be carried in the bicycle box/bag" - I don't think it used to be there. Is it just to discourage you or are they actually considering enforcing it?

It's always been there as far as I remember. They simply don't care.

 

[Bodhbh]

I've done it on one of the other airlines that had the same policy. I generally filled the bag with stuff I could loosely claim belonged with the bike (panniers, tool kit, the tent strapped to the rack, etc). Then took the rest as hand luggage. Not sure they really cared about my mental gymnastics, but I didn't have a problem.

 

[MarkF]

Me too with EJ, I take on one pannier as hand luggage, everything else (tools, spares, pannier, clothing etc etc) is in the bike bag, never a problem.

 

[StuartG]

Its the only way you can legally fly your most important tool - a corkscrew - out of the country. I just take the bike for cover.

 

[22camels]

Sounds encouraging, thanks.

 

[jongooligan]

I've done it numerous times on EJ. The check-in person isn't remotely interested in what's in the bag. They usually want to know the weight these days but half the time they ask ed me what it weighed and I guesstimated it. Otherwise you walk to the end of the counter for a weigh in.
Nobody will ever look inside the bag. Ever. You have my word.

+1 for this. Six of us flew to Toulouse with EJ. The only interest shown was at check in on the way back. We were asked if the bike bags were all under 24kg and that was it - they didn't go near the scales but we had to lug them over to the oversize luggage gate ourselves. All our clothes and tools were in the bags. Nee bother.

 

[Crankarm]

Yeah that's kind of what I suspected. But then I wonder why they have put in this wording "No other items can be carried in the bicycle box/bag" - I don't think it used to be there. Is it just to discourage you or are they actually considering enforcing it?

Just make sure you've been wearing your bike clothing for a week and it's not washed. This will make sure they steer clear. Second thoughts the stink might arise suspicion so wash, dry and press it.

 

[Malsih]

Hi there 22 Camels,

I am planning a tour in Spain from next week and have just read the same message on the easy jet t's and c's that you saw last year. Could you possible let me know how you got on on your trip to Iceland??

Cheers

 

[22camels]

I didn't bother in the end. Paid in advance for an extra check in bag. Even if I could have got away with it (I am still unsure if it's allowed or not, it's one of those grey areas and probably depends on the airport and the person on duty at the time) - I didn't really want to, as the amount of luggage I had (4 panniers worth) would have made the whole thing very heavy and made it more likely the bike would get damaged (though perhaps not - the panniers pad it out - but in any case it would have been a real pain for anyone to lift). Also I decided I wasn't taking my opaque bike bag as I would need to find somewhere to store it, but would travel with the transparent CTC plastic bag instead (which I disposed of on arrival and picked up an equivalent one for the way back), with which, well perhaps you could leave the panniers on, but they may demand you check them in separately (as I say, I think it's a grey area). I did leave a smallish frame bag and a saddle bag on the bike but neither of them had much inside.

I still think their T&C's are contradictory though - how on earth could you have a bike package weigh 32kg, and contain nothing but the bike (ok there are some hard bike cases that might weigh 10kg by themselves but you'd still need a 22kg bike…).