Extra stuff inside bike bag with Easyjet

[goody]

I've gone wih easy jet twice this year never been asked what's in the box just the weight. Going again in October B&W bike box plus bike plus cycling gear and anything we can't fit in our cabin bag probably weighs 22ish kg.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

I get the weight bit, but why do airport officials make such a fuss over what it is, when you can stick tonnes in a car or van on a ferry and get through unmolested?

 

[vernon]

For what its worth. I flew with my bike to Seattle and back this summer.

On the outward leg there was just the bike in the carton and everything else was in checked in luggage. I used Icelandair BTW.

On the return leg, I stuffed a couple of model aircraft kits, my drinks bottles and a tarpaulin in the box. When I collected the box at Manchester airport the box had been opened and resealed by America's Transport Security Administration. - I suppose the extra contents flagged an alert as the carton was x-rayed.

 

[vernon]

I get the weight bit, but why do airport officials make such a fuss over what it is, when you can stick tonnes in a car or van on a ferry and get through unmolested?

Planes are more weight sensitive than ferries?

The drug/contraband sniffer dogs would suffocate in the baggage holds of aircraft whereas they can be given free rein in the car decks of ferries....

 

[MichaelW2]

I had security at Stansted inspect a waterbottle inside my packed bike.
One note of caution. If you required to open or repack your bike, and you need your duck-tape/swiss army knife/whatever, make sure you clear the bike before sending your kit down the conveyor belt.
At Madeira airport, the bike wouldn't fit through their small x-ray scanner with the front wheel in place, so I had to re-jig the whole package

 

[fossyant]

If going with Jet2 I'd take a spare fire extinguisher.

 

[ColinJ]

I had security at Stansted inspect a waterbottle inside my packed bike.
One note of caution. If you required to open or repack your bike, and you need your duck-tape/swiss army knife/whatever, make sure you clear the bike before sending your kit down the conveyor belt.
At Madeira airport, the bike wouldn't fit through their small x-ray scanner with the front wheel in place, so I had to re-jig the whole package

I had a non-English-speaking security guy at Alicante airport make me unpack my bike box so he could examine what was in it. (It would not fit through their x-ray machine.) He turned over the sweaty cycling kit with the end of his baton, generally nosed around, then spotted a large container in the corner of the box. He tapped the lid with his baton, mumbled something in Spanish, and indicated that he wanted me to open it. I felt a bit worried, because the container held 2 kgs of white maltodextrin powder. (I use maltodextrin to make a DIY sports drink.) I had visions of being slammed against the wall and handcuffed as a suspected drugs smuggler!

He asked me something in Spanish. I shrugged. He asked me again, more forcefully ... Gulp! I pointed to the bottles which I use on the bike and mimed mixing the powder into drinks in the bottles, and then drinking from them. The penny dropped. He gave me a thumbs-up and let me repack the box and be on my way!

 

[MichaelW2]

I pointed to the bottles which I use on the bike and mimed mixing the powder into drinks in the bottles, and then drinking from them. The penny dropped. He gave me a thumbs-up and let me repack the box and be on my way!

You need to mime an arm injection, then rapid pedaling. I'm sure they will get the general gist.

 

[ColinJ]

You need to mime an arm injection, then rapid pedaling. I'm sure they will get the general gist.

I think the handcuffs would definitely appear if I tried that!

 

[22camels]

What exactly is wrong with the bike not fitting through their oversize baggage x-ray scanner (which I heard is 1 metre wide)? It happened to me twice recently, but each time the staff were sensible and took it through manually. If they had insisted, I would have had to take out the front wheel probably = big hassle. Surely there are other large items people may want to check in? Is the too small scanner not their problem?

Has any airline yet gone out of their way to explicitly state that bike bags/boxes must be less than 1m wide/?

 

[Malsih]

Ahh OK, thanks for letting me know. I'm intending on taking a cardboard box and then going to throw it away and pick up another at the end of my tour. Flying to Madrid, cycling the Camino de Santiago, and then flying from Porto-Amsterdam so will find a bike shop in Porto to get another box. I'm trying to go as lightweight as possible for this tour. I don't need a tent or anything so will probs get away with 2 panniers. I guess I might try and put one in the box and take one on as hand luggage. I can just use all my belongings as padding in the box and use that as my arguement.

I know what you mean about the weight part of it. My bike is like 10kg and then my stuff will hopefully weight around the same again. Did they even ask to look inside your box??

 

[clid61]

Flown EJ 3 times with bike , noone bats an eyelid, they are only interested in the weight

 

[bigjim]

Flew with E/Jet two weeks ago with bike in box. They never asked or looked. Just weighed the box. They don't care. I once heard the guy at the big xray machine in Manchester airport tell a trainee to check the box as "cyclists stash other stuff such as clothing in there". What difference it would make to him I would not know as it's already been through check-in.
One tip. If you have to open your box at the airport after it has been packed and you can't carry a knife or scissors. An old Yale key works well to open tape with it's serrated blade and it is not a security concern. I carry one attached to my check-in bag.

 

[Joanna8]

I travel with a bike bag and always pack some stuff around the frame for additional protection/padding.