panniers on flights

[Yorksman]

I am thinking of doing a few days touring in Germany and am thinking of pre booking the bike in Hamburg. As I will stay in guesthouses, I only need panniers for clothes for a few days but am wondering if there are any which are suitable for flights, ie, which can be used like a suitcase until I pick up the bike from the hire shop.

Maybe I should put the panniers and clothes in a suitcase and leave the case itself at the bike shop until I return the bike?

 

[Brandane]

I am thinking of doing a few days touring in Germany and am thinking of pre booking the bike in Hamburg. As I will stay in guesthouses, I only need panniers for clothes for a few days but am wondering if there are any which are suitable for flights, ie, which can be used like a suitcase until I pick up the bike from the hire shop.

Maybe I should put the panniers and clothes in a suitcase and leave the case itself at the bike shop until I return the bike?

Only done it once. I put my two panniers back to back to protect the mounting clips, then got one of those baggage wrapping places at the airport to wrap them together. They went as one piece of checked baggage and I had no problems.

 

[MarkF]

I put my panniers, plus other stuff in one of these, bungeed up. They weight nowt and can be folded and put in the base of the pannier.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I take my Brompton T-Bag as hold baggage while the Brompton goes in the hold in a Bike Pod case. You just need to fasten them together and make sure the total size and weight is within the handbaggage allowance for the airline you are flying.

 

[rich p]

Take a large cheap (tenner?) plastic holdall, with the panniers in. and leave that at the bike shop or first hotel maybe.

 

[andym]

I am thinking of doing a few days touring in Germany and am thinking of pre booking the bike in Hamburg. As I will stay in guesthouses, I only need panniers for clothes for a few days but am wondering if there are any which are suitable for flights, ie, which can be used like a suitcase until I pick up the bike from the hire shop.

I avoid flying at pretty much any cost, so I'm no expert, and I haven't checked the carry-on sizes for particular airlines, but have you considered whether you could a single pannier and carry it as carry-on baggage? A single pannier is plenty for a change of clothes and bits and pieces.

 

[jay clock]

One of these or similar..... http://www.millets.co.uk/activities/100632-eurohike-packable-holdall.html weighs very little

 

[MarkF]

The Ikea bags are about £1 and indestructible. Any very light, very foldable bag is useful when you have a room up several flights of stairs.

 

[Yorksman]

The Ikea bags are about £1 and indestructible.

I like a challenge but in this case, a result would not be in my interests

 

[MarkF]

I like a challenge but in this case, a result would not be in my interests

I am with you....but they are seriously robust, made out of that rice bag material.

 

[Yorksman]

I am with you....but they are seriously robust, made out of that rice bag material.

Well, if my daughter ever gives me mine back, I'll try it!

I take your point, you do need a tough material to wrap around the panniers as they get a lot of stick with airport handling.

A mate of mine flies Lufthansa as they take bikes so I'll see how he does it. There is always something unexpected. At Manchester they deflated his tyres before loading the bikes, fair enough, but they damaged the valves because the handlers didn't know what they were doing so they were stuck at the destination airport with bikes and kit and looking for new innertubes.

 

[rich p]

Well, if my daughter ever gives me mine back, I'll try it!

I take your point, you do need a tough material to wrap around the panniers as they get a lot of stick with airport handling.

A mate of mine flies Lufthansa as they take bikes so I'll see how he does it. There is always something unexpected. At Manchester they deflated his tyres before loading the bikes, fair enough, but they damaged the valves because the handlers didn't know what they were doing so they were stuck at the destination airport with bikes and kit and looking for new innertubes.

Am I missing something? Take a tenner bag as Jay and I have suggested. You're not taking a bike so there's no issue with valves etc. Surely anyone touring would take a few innertubes anyway?

 

[Yorksman]

Am I missing something? Take a tenner bag as Jay and I have suggested. You're not taking a bike so there's no issue with valves etc. Surely anyone touring would take a few innertubes anyway?

Well I want some panniers anyway, for longer trips. The short trip is just a try out. I hope to take the bike as well later in the season as I fancy some of the river routes. If it were just a three day one off jaunt yes, a holdall type would do, or rucksack even.

My mate did get it sorted, it's just that after a flight and landing late in the evening, it's a sod of a thing to have to do just because the handlers at Manchester Airport didn't know how to let the tyres down without ruining the valves. I'd be cheesed off as I too would have been looking forward to an evening meal and a drink in the hotel before setting out. We all slow down at his age, 70 plus. In addition, as they were cycling from Munich to Vienna, I think he saw it as a bad omen

 

[rich p]

Maybe I should put the panniers and clothes in a suitcase and leave the case itself at the bike shop until I return the bike?

We've suggested a way of answering this question of yours^^^^^
We're not suggesting that you tour with the holdall.

 

[vernon]

I bungeed my panniers together and for good measure used some parcel tape for an outward flight to Budapest. The baggage handlers didn't bat an eyelid.

It was a different matter on the return flight. The person at three check in tutted and put my panniers into a robust clear plastic bag and zip tied it shut.

When using Eurostar I use an IKEA bag like MarkF.