Liverpool & Nice, Easyjet check-in

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
I'm flying from Liverpool airport at the weekend, Easyjet, with a bagged-up bike and a big holdall for the hold.

And I'll be coming back a week later from Nice.

How/where do I check-in ?

I'm assuming (hoping !) I don't give them the bike and they just chuck it on the conveyor with all the 30kg Samsonite suitcases, I'm assuming I'll have to take it to some 'oversize luggage' counter ?

So presumably I check-in as usual, show my passport, say yes I packed myself and no I'm not carrying any drugs, they take my hold bag from me and send me to another counter with the bike ?

Cheers, Andy
 

Tim Bennet.

Entirely Average Member
Location
S of Kendal
Yep, they then send you off to the oversize check in, where the nice man on the x-ray machine is usually so 'underwhelmed' by work he will let you check for frame rust or stress fractures by switching between different resolutions.
 

AndrewClark

Veteran
Flown out of Liverpool several times and out of Nice 3 times. No major problems with check in at either end.

I've seen my bike come out on the conveyor though and the Nice baggage manglers gave it an free visit to Bristol on one occasion...

Alpes Maritime or Corsica ?
 

nickwill

New Member
Location
Kendal
I've flown from Liverpool with Easyjet a couple of times and never had any problems. As above, you take your bike to the oversize check in, and in it goes.
Both times, I was able to watch the bike being loaded on to the plane, whilst in the departure lounge!
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Hi Andy.

I know people who use bike bags regularly and don't have any problems, but from bitter personal experience, my advice is to be extra careful how you protect your bike inside the bag. The first time I flew my bike I used a bag and even with pipe-lagging round the frame tubes, padded wheel bags, bubble-wrapped bits and the whole lot inside a cardboard bike box, the baggage handlers still managed to damage my brand new £1,000 Bianchi frame! They put a dent in the seat tube. That was on the flight out from Manchester to Alicante. On the return trip, we were waiting to disembark at Manchester and I was idly looking out of a window and saw the baggage handlers get to work. They built up a big pile of suitcases on one of those baggage trolleys. The next thing, I saw my bike bag come flying out of the cargo hold and land with a thump on top of the suitcases! I would work on the assumption that they will give your bag some rough treatment and protect your bike accordingly.

A guy on the same holiday had his gear-hanger bent when his bag was dropped on one corner. He straightened it out but it then it sheared off on his first ride. After seeing that, I always now disconnect the rear derailleur from the frame, cover it in bubble-wrap and use cable ties to fix it inside the frame. I also use plastic spacers between dropouts front and rear to prevent the frame or forks being crushed. If you don't have any, your LBS will have loads of them.

BTW - if anyone is thinking of flying to the Costa Blanca I can tell you that Manchester has a huge X-ray machine which will swallow even a big SciCon bike box, no problem, and Alicante... doesn't! Every time I fly back from the Costa Blanca I have to go through the same ritual - a big security guy whose grasp of English exactly matches my zero grasp of Spanish orders me to put the box on the conveyor belt. I try using sign language to tell him that it won't fit, but he insists. Placed horizontally, the box won't go in. He stops the belt, stands the box upright, it still won't go in. He then tries feeding it in diagonally... it gets stuck! Eventually it dawns on him that it ain't gonna happen and I have to take the box off the conveyor belt and open it up. If I'm lucky, he does a quick prod about then waves the box and contents through. If I'm not, I have to unpack everything and send the contents through the machine individually. It's a right pain.
 
Thanks folks, you (particularly Colin !) have cheered me up no-end.

I was debating whether to take the carbon 'best' bike or the alu 2nd/Winter bike - the carbon bike would be the one I'd rather ride, but if the baggage (mis)handlers are to b*gger it up then I'd rather it was the alu one.
Eventually decided this was negative thinking, so taking carbon - but will be happier to see it in one piece at the other end.

I have a padded bike bag, lots of pipe lagging, lots of bubble wrap.
The rear mech and hanger are off and taped inside rear triangle, woodblocks in fork & stay ends, seatpost down inside frame, pipelag round exposed half of chainrings, bars off and tied to top tube and shifters loosened.
I guess the wheels are the most exposed bit, but am taking fairly standard wheels, with 'normal' spokes so I can hopefully get these fixed if necessary.

I've painted FRAGILE on it - this will either work or provoke even rougher handling !

Andrew - Provence/Ventoux/bit of Alpes Maritimes (Col de Bonette, etc)
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
andy_wrx said:
Thanks folks, you (particularly Colin !) have cheered me up no-end.
I think the mistake I made when packing that bike bag was to assume that all I had to do was wrap everything and I'd be okay. The damage was done by one of the QR skewers being jammed against the seat tube through the pipe-lagging. If I'd arranged the wheels differently in the bag and fixed them in place all would probably have been okay. As I said - I know lots of people who fly regularly with bike bags and they don't have problems, I was probably just unlucky. Enjoy the holiday!

That's enough time on the forum for now! I've been healthy all summer when we had endless rain, and now we have sunshine I've gone and caught a cold! I've been off the bike for nearly a week, but I'm tired of being cooped up so I'm off for a gentle 5 mile stroll along the canal towpath.

See you again some time Andy, you too Nick. Are either of you thinking of doing Season of Mists this year?
 
Yes, the things I've removed completely, like skewers, chain, etc are in one of the inner pockets in the bag, bubblewrapped.


Season of Mists...mmm dunno.

Same day as Helwith Bridge Duathlon and Rourkie's Ride (aka Cat & Fiddle Challenge).

I'll do something, just a matter of deciding which !
 
Top Bottom