Has anyone taken a bike on a RYANAIR flight?

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Never done it myself, on any airline, but I've heard Bad Things about Ryanair and bikes, especially concerning their response if it's damaged or lost. I think you're entitled to only standard compensation, which is not much above about thirty quid. And they'll try their hardest to wriggle out of giving you even that, by all accounts.
Sorry, I don't mean to be discouraging!
 

Abitrary

New Member
Me too... they say on the website that bikes aren't welcome... i think.

Easy jet are good.

Pack the bike in *clear polythene*, you can get bags from the CTC for a couple of quid, and some fragile tape. If people can see what it is, they treat it like a baby.
 

bonj2

Guest
my advice btfb is get a hard case for your bike, such as you can get off wiggle, they're quite expensive like about £150 but it's a one-time cost and you can't put a price on peace of mind. They are hard, and padded, so presumably even if the case is dropped or knocked about your bike should remain ok inside. Liberal amounts of bubble wrap would be good aswell.
 

Keith Oates

Janner
Location
Penarth, Wales
I use a hard case for my bike when flying but make sure there is someone or somewhere to store it when you get to your destination. You will also need to go back the way that you came to collect it for the return journey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

spindrift

New Member
I went Stansted-Biarritz and Pau-Stansted last year.

I did not pack the bike, no cardboard, no bubble-wrap, nothing at all, I just turned the bars and removed the pedals.

The bike was fine, not a scratch. My reasoning was i didn't want to carry loads of packaging and I thought the bike would be treated better unwrapped.

The only slight niggle was that the check in staff looked askance at my pedal spanner and wondered whether I could use it in a terrorist takeover of the plane, they let me on with it.
 

gavintc

Guru
Location
Southsea
My wife and I are booked Ryanair to Girona in Mar. We flew last Easter to Italy with Easyjet and then later to Majorca on a charter - no problems. It will be our first experience on a Ryanair flight with the bikes. My only comment on this subject is that the airline sub-contract the handling to an agent, usually the airport handling agent. The only time that the bikes will see a Ryanair employee will be at check in. I therefore think that poor handling is more of an 'airport' thing than an 'airline' thing.
 

xilios

Veteran
Location
Maastricht, NL
I was looking for a flight back from Santiago de Compostela for this spring with Ryanair, but according to their web page I would not trust them with getting any money back in case of damage.
I had a problem flying back from Greece last spring, at one of the airports they ruined my front wheel but Brussels air paid it back in full and then sum :ohmy:
We have always turned the handle bars, deflated the tires, reversed the peddles and wraped them up with about 10m of bubble wrap that you can pick up at any hardware store for a few euros.
 
On a holiday last year, there were three separate people will horror stories re Ryanair/Stanstead and bike damage.

It may not be Ryanair, it may be the Stanstead baggage handling company, but one guy, an retired cabinetmaker, had made a wooden bike case and concluded that it had been purposely destroyed, the damage could not be accidental. Another guy had a completely taco'd front wheel like someone had been dancing on it.

Ryanair charge extra to carry the bike, then make you sign a damage-waiver discaimer for them before they'll take it on the plane : you pay extra, they reject all responsibility !?!?!
 
OP
OP
Bigtallfatbloke

Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
Here is a reply I got from easyjet...I havent heard from Ryan air yet:

Thank you for contacting us. I apologise for the delayed response and can assure you this is not of our usual standard.

I was pleased to learn that you are hoping to fly with us soon.

I am pleased to confirm bookings can be made at the airport sales desk on the day which you intend to fly. However, I must advise that airport booking must be made 1 hour prior to the flights scheduled time of departure however, because you wish to take a bicycle with you we recommend that you check in 2 hours prior to your flights departure, as bicycles are carried subject to availability of space on board the aircraft. I must also advise that airport check-in will close promptly 40 minutes prior to your flights departure therefor if you have not completed all check-in procedures by this time, you risk forfeiting your seat. .

The hold baggage fee will be £8.00 per bag, per flight if paid at the airport. Irrespective of the number of checked-in bags, each passenger has a weight allowance of 20kg, after which excess baggage charges of £6.00 per extra kilo will apply.

For a manual handling fee of £20.00 per flight Bikes, Skis, Golf Clubs, Windsurfers, Surfboards, Hang-gliders and Firearms may be taken, which allows a further 12 kilos for your sports equipment. Only if your hold baggage and sports equipment combined weigh more than 32 kilos will you be charged excess baggage fees will be charged, accordingly.

You may also take one standard piece of hand baggage within the dimensions of 55x40x20cm. There is no weight restriction, within reasonable limits - i.e. you must be able to place the piece of baggage safely in the overhead compartments without assistance.

I have included a link below to more information on our baggage policy:

http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Book/regulations.html#baggage

The following conditions apply when travelling with a bike:

The bicycle must be packaged in a bicycle box or bag
Only one bicycle per bicycle box or bag will be permitted
No other items can be carried in the bicycle box (i.e. clothing)
The handlebars must be flush with the frame
The pedals must be flush against the frame or removed

Unfortunately, I regret that cycle bags will not be available to buy or use at the airport and therefor we recommend that your bicycle is packaged accordingly before arriving at the airport to check in for your flight. I apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you.

For future queries, you may wish to use the ‘frequently asked questions’ (FAQ) section under the ‘contact us’ heading on our website, which will provide the answers to our most commonly asked questions without the need to wait for an email reply. You can find the ‘contact us’ section by using this link;

http://easyjet.custhelp.com/

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. If you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again via the contact us section of the easyJet web site or alternatively call easyJet Customer Services on 0871 244 23 66 (calls charged at 10p per minute from landlines, mobiles and other network charges may vary accordingly)

Yours sincerely
 

Cathryn

Legendary Member
We took our bikes to Friedrichshafen about 3 years ago with Ryanair and had no trouble at all. That was a while ago in the days when you didn't have to pay to use the loo etc but they were fine.
 

Abitrary

New Member
spindrift said:
The only slight niggle was that the check in staff looked askance at my pedal spanner and wondered whether I could use it in a terrorist takeover of the plane, they let me on with it.

I declared my pedal spanner, and they made me put the bag through a special scanner.

Oh pedal spanners... why can't they build them into the bike frame... somehow
 
Flew from Nimes to East Midlands with Ryanair. Arrived at airport with bike and four panniers. I asked how they wanted the bike and was told to turn handlebars to the side and let some air out of tyres. I didn't argue just did that and the bike was accepted. At East Midlands it was wheeled out to me by a handler who ask if I needed to borrow a pump.

Everything was fine.
 

Danny

Legendary Member
Location
York
Over the last year, Ryanair have introduced charges for every item of luggage checked in, and then charge a huge excess if you exceed the maximum weight limit, which I think may be just 15kg. They say they are consciously trying to stop passengers bringing any luggage with them.

So I'd check charges for bring a bike really carefully.
 
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