Flying abroad with bike

Snapper1

Hi folks,

I'm looking into flying from Ireland to another European city (with the bike in tow of course) as a bit if an adventure early in the new year. I was just wondering has anyone got any first hand experience of flying with Aer Lingus or Ryanair with a bike as excess luggage.

I've done a little looking around and it seems with Ryanair you need to have a bike box but with AL you don't. Both require the pedals to be detached, wheels taken off etc but I'm just looking for any problems or advice any previous flyers have had e.g. what it cost.

Thanks for any replies

pete4130

I've been flying with my bike for about 8 years now (luckily its a BMX so it can be broken down pretty small and tough enough to be thrown around without taking anythig more than cosmetic damage). Ryanair charge you €25 each way for your bike and Aerlingus charge €20 each way. You CAN pre book this when you buy your tickets but this isn't always the best option.
From past experiences with my bike you CAN get lucky and have someone at the check in desk at an Irish airport who doesnt really care about charging for the bike (very unlikely with ryanair to be honest). Generally you will almost 100% be charged for the bike leaving Ireland.
There is a 22KG limit for outsized items such as bikes too. Flying back into Ireland (especially with Aerlingus who use other operators like Iberia etc...) you are generally more lucky. They don't really care, probably wont charge you and the last time i flew back from barcelona my bike was a kilo or 2 over the weight limit and they didnt care either.
Nowadays I use a large army canvas holdall thats no larger than a regular piece of luggage and can break my bike down totally (wheels off, forks and bars off, pedals off, seat lowered etc...) and my bike doesn't even get questioned at airports and I don't get charged for it.

I'd try to avoid Ryanair as much as possible, even though they have cheaper flights they usually fly to remote airports and it costs you the same in getting from the airport to your location by bus/taxi/train. Ryanair are also more on the ball with charging you for your bike and they charge more (and have a lower baggage allowance than Aerlingus). The last thing you want to be doing is getting a late night flight to somewhere and landing in a remote airport lugging your baggage and bike with you and not alot of cheap transport options because you chose "cheap" flights with Ryanair.
In fairness last time I flew with my bike it didnt arrive with Aerlingus until the next day, but luckily the airport was a 30 minute bus ride from the Barcelona, unlike the 100km journey it is to Girona "Barcelona" airport with Ryanair.

Regarding a bike box its simple enough. Just get one a bike shop is throwing out and make your bike as small as possible (remove bars, pedals wheels etc....) and cut the bike down to size. Makes it easier to carry and less of a box to carry around (if you want to re-use the box on the return journey). If you choose this option and cut your box down to as small a size as possible and you are travelling with a friend, what we've done in the past it to use duct tape and tape TWO boxes together if they are under the weight limit and say its one bike....cutting the cost of bringing the bike in half effectively.

It's easier in my situation as my bike is alot smaller, tougher and the small wheels are easier to hide away. Airlines also like you to deflate your tires for the flight. I dot bother and have never had a blow out, but I wouldnt recommend it on hig pressure road bike tyres (160psi tubless tires). My tires are 100psi in the back and 80psi in the front.

Remember to bring some box tape, insulating tape or some duct tape to hold everything together in your bike box/bag and to repair your bike box for the journey home.

Anyway, heres a pic of how small I get my bike for air travel to avoid the costs. They are 20" whells to give you an overall size of the bag.

Sean02

First thing is to always book your bike in advance. Theres a quota of bikes allowed depending on the aircraft. I have never got a bike past check-in without paying and it not expensive considering the cost and hassle (unless your going to Majorca) of hiring a bike abroad. What I do is wheel the bike to the oversize baggage, pedal off, bars turned, saddle lowered (mark height first). Plenty of pipe insulation on delicate parts. Remove rear mech from hanger and tape well to bottom stay. If attendant at oversize say's nothing thats fine if he does you have a large compactor plastic bag in your pannier pocket , 2 mins to wrap bike and everyone happy. Enjoy trip.

blorg

I've flown both Aer Lingus and Ryanair without any boxes or problems. Most recently was August/September this year (Ryanair out, Aer Lingus back.)

Aer Lingus is actually slightly more expensive (€30 each leg) than Ryanair (€25) and with AL you have to ring while with Ryanair you can book the bike online with your flight. Ryanair does not cause any more issues with bikes, in fact they have a reasonably good reputation in this regard (check out www.bikeaccess.net for reviews.) So no need to shy away from them.

Only had to lower saddle the last time, didn't have to remove pedals. Very easy. I would advise making sure you _can_ remove the pedals though, airports other than Dublin may require it.

AFAIK if you are paying the special fee there isn't a specific weight limit for the bike.

I can understand how pete4130 has a chance of getting a bike through free broken down in a small bag like that but for a full size bike, forget it, you will have to pay.

Sean02

The reason you won't get away without paying is that it must have a tag attached when you bring it to oversize baggage conveyor. Ryanair return from Porto don't seem to charge at all. also once in Malaga they didn't seem to bother.

Snapper1

Cheers lads, lots of helpful info there.

Was thinking of heading to Copenhagen (anyone ever been???) for the first trip in early Feb so should be good from what I've been reading up on. Will report back if any problems are encountered...

give your self plenty of time at the airport, you have to pay extra for the bike, in a different line, and then get it checked in.
also I would take off and put back on the pedals before the day, as they can become really tight.
have to say I found it really stressful, cycling out to the airport to catch an early morning flight, and then having to take it apart, when you arrive.

have you looked at the posibility of hiring a bike instead? often there isn't much difference in the price, taking into account what Aer Lingus charge and far less hassle.

Cycled from Lithuania to Latvia and onto Estonia, and was able to pick up a bike in Lithuania and drop it off in Estonia, for a small fee.

btw, copenhagen is nice, but very expensive.

Sean02

Your right Dursley prepare the bike before you get to airport it's less hassle.
Hiring the right bike needs advance planning particuarly if you want a decent road bike. Also it can be expensive recently in Croatia they were asking about €10 a day. Fortunatly our apt. provided free mtb's and the cycling routes were pure bliss.

blorg

dursey's point about the pedals is very too the point, I've had siezed ones in the airport before. I'd check you can remove everything beforehand, but it can be handy to be able to cycle to the airport- I've had more damage occur to my bike in transit to and from airports than on a plane.

The whole thing is indeed not without stress and generally only worth it for a longer cycle-specific holiday, I wouldn't be doing it for a weekend.

one other thing, they don't seem to care very much about bikes in Dublin airport, of the 6 of us who flew to Vienna, with our bikes, 2 had damaged bikes, on arrival.
On my bike the rear mudguard was wrecked, I took it off in Vienna Airport and dumped it.
so be warned................

Sean02

All good advice. Don't do what I did. After reassembling the bike at Bilbao airport discovered that I left bike shoes on kitchen table. Explained problem to bus driver asking if he knew of a city centre bike shop, (no problem taking bikes on board,) bit of a language barrier however, as we approached city centre to my surprise he pulled up outside a great bike shop, pair of Cannondale shoes with cleats fitted to perfection for €60. Would be nice to think that a Spanish cyclist would get the same help in Dublin.

doozerie

It has been a few years since I took a bike by plane, so I'll defer to previous posts as regards advice in costs, etc. I will say though, that one reason that it has been so long since I have taken a flight by plane is the stress of the whole thing - I have seen my bikes being thrown on and off conveyor belts and generally being badly handled by airport staff. They treated the bikes like the suitcases that they casually kicked and shoved around the place.

Fortunately, I always packed my bike in such a way as to protect it as much as possible from this kind of treatment, and it usually worked well. Amongst other things, this included leaving the pedals attached to the cranks to protect the wheels which I tied to either side of the frame - this might not always be possible though as some airlines might enforce the requirement that pedals be removed.

If I were putting a bike on a plane again, I'd seriously consider a hard shell bike box. They are not cheap, and there is the issue of where you store it when you get to the destination airport, but they should guarantee the safety of your bike in transit. A soft shell bike bag would be the next best option as some of them can be folded up and carried later (although the more foldable it is, the less protection it'll contain for your bike, unfortunately).

Something else to bear in mind is how you'll move your bike around when you get to your destination country. In France, for example, on one occasion I wasn't allowed to take a bike on my train (even when it was packed in a large cardboard box and therefore labelled as large luggage), so it had to be kept overnight at the train station for delivery on a train the following day and in fact I didn't receive the bike for several days. In my circumstances that wasn't a problem, but if I had been planning on using the bike during my first few days I'd have been in trouble. So, make sure to plan ahead for getting your bike to the start point of your cycle once you have arrived at the airport.