Flying with Ryanair

tunney

There is now a 20kg limit on bike boxes. Boooooooo.

blorg

tunney wrote: »

There is now a 20kg limit on bike boxes. Boooooooo.

15kg with Aer Lingus.

tunney

blorg wrote: »

15kg with Aer Lingus.

Since when???? FVCKERS, so now you can't fly with a bike.

alfalad

Has anyone challenged them on it? They can't expect the bike in a box (and if it's in a box it makes it easier for them) to weigh less than 20kgs never mind 15kgs.

Raam

tunney wrote: »

Since when???? FVCKERS, so now you can't fly with a bike.

Since ages. They tend not to weigh on the way out, but they do on the way back.

Caroline_ie

15kg and they weight it too ... my case was 32kg on my way back from France last october ( my bike is very light, the amount of food in the box wasn't )

They said to me: 'but, we don't usually see bikes that heavy' --> bitch!

blorg

Sometimes they enforce it, sometimes they don't- this goes for both airlines. I believe Caroline was told on the phone by Aer Lingus that there was no 15kg limitation on a bike, but then they tried to enforce such limitation on her return from Bordeaux.

With Ryanair they are 100% clear on the website that there is a 20kg limit on boxed bikes. Aer Lingus is a bit more vague, this is the relevant section:

Shorthaul Flights (Ireland/UK/Europe)
- Pay online prior to day of departure: Sports equipment, (golf bags, fishing equipment, surf boards, skiing equipment and snowboards) will be charged at a rate of €30.00 or equivalent per item each way.
- Pay at the airport on day of departure: Sports equipment, (golf bags, fishing equipment, surf boards, skiing equipment and snowboards) will be charged at a rate of €40.00 or equivalent per item each way.
- Passengers can travel with a maximum of 1 item per passenger excluding infants.
- The maximum weight allowable for carriage of such equipment described is 15kgs.
- If the weight exceeds this limit, passengers will be charged excess baggage fees in addition to the flat rate charge.
- Bicycles, diving gear and windsurfing equipment cannot be booked online.
- Bicycles must be pre-booked by contacting the aerlingus.com helpdesk. A maximum of six pre-booked bicycles may be carried on each aircraft. Bicycles must be boxed or bagged. These can be purchased at the airport. To pack bicycles passengers are advised to remove the front wheel and secure it to the frame, lower the handlebars and saddle and place in line with the frame and invert the pedals.

Disregarding that they don't insist that you box or bag your bike in practice, note that the section referencing bicycles comes _after_ the statement regarding 15kg for sports equipment. So arguably it doesn't apply.

Caroline_ie

blorg wrote: »

I believe Caroline was told on the phone by Aer Lingus that there was no 15kg limitation on a bike, but then they tried to enforce such limitation on her return from Bordeaux.

I had called aer lingus call centre 3 times and they had said to me they wouldnt charge because the bike fee is more than your average sport accessorie. i was able to argue in Bordeaux that aerlingus had confirmed me 3x there would be no fee. But i knew I was taking a risk ...

Quigs Snr

Yep, they got me with the 20kg limit last time. Box is 9.8 and the bike was 6.2 but I had a load of other stuff stuck in the bike box, so I emptied it all out on the floor of the airport and stuffed it onto another bag.

Raam

blorg wrote: »

So arguably it doesn't apply.

I tried to argue it. It applies.

blorg

Raam wrote: »

I tried argued it. It applies.

Point is there is the actual airline rule (which may or may not even be explicitly decided) and then there is the check-in staff in any given airport (generally not even employed by Aer Lingus) and their interpretation, and these are two very different things.

Back in 1999 Iberia (acting as agents for Aer Lingus) tried to charge me £250 to bring a bike back from Madrid even though I had paid the special bike fee; they were insisting that the whole thing be charged on the excess baggage scale. There certainly wasn't a 15kg limitation in those days.

Raam

blorg wrote: »

Point is there is the actual airline rule (which may or may not even be explicitly decided) and then there is the check-in staff in any given airport (generally not even employed by Aer Lingus) and they are two very different things.

I hear ya, but the man in Munich rang the Aerlingus desk to find out. I got away with it in the end, but that was only after I made an effort to reduce the weight... like Quigs did.

blorg

Raam wrote: »

I hear ya, but the man in Munich rang the Aerlingus desk to find out. I got away with it in the end, but that was only after I made an effort to reduce the weight... like Quigs did.

I'm not sure as a company that they are straight on whether there is a limitation for bikes- as Caroline says they said three times to her there wasn't. Seems to depend on who you get. The T&Cs on the website are ambiguous in a way that Ryanair's are not (they are very clear that a 20kg limitation does apply to bikes.)

Beasty

Check-in staff get a percentage of any "extras" they get passengers to pay. Staff at Dublin probably don't want the hassle, and are less likely to charge for excess baggage. However staff at other airports seem much keener

thebouldwhacker

Caroline_ie wrote: »

They said to me: 'but, we don't usually see bikes that heavy' --> bitch!

Class, page one of how to piss off a cyclist...

alfalad

Raam wrote: »

I hear ya, but the man in Munich rang the Aerlingus desk to find out. I got away with it in the end, but that was only after I made an effort to reduce the weight... like Quigs did.

When was that? I flew through there last spring and they never mentioned anything and I'm sure the bags were more than 20kgs. Also there were 4 of us so they could have made a pretty penny.

Raam

alfalad wrote: »

When was that? I flew through there last spring and they never mentioned anything and I'm sure the bags were more than 20kgs. Also there were 4 of us so they could have made a pretty penny.

August 2008. My bag weighed in at 23kg.

alfalad

Raam wrote: »

August 2008. My bag weighed in at 23kg.

I was there in September 08 and they never said anything then either and know we were above the 20kg as we were comparing whose bag was lightest/heaviest, we also had shoe, tools and pumps in the boxes.

Eoin D

Bicycles must be boxed or bagged. These can be purchased at the airport.

I'm curious about the bags/boxes that you can purchase? Anyone seen them or know the cost?

I'm living over in the Netherlands now and I'm not buying a pricey box or bag if I'm only bringing my bike over here one and bringing it back (maybe) in a few years time.

Anyone got any other recommendations? This has been doing my head in for quite a while, I'm coming home for Christmas but haven't booked a flight back to the Netherlands until I decide which airline to bring my bike with.

Yaaarrrrrrrrrrghh!

blorg

Eoin D wrote: »

I'm curious about the bags/boxes that you can purchase? Anyone seen them or know the cost?

Generally the stuff you will get in airports will be simply a big plastic bag, it will provide zero protection for the bike but may keep oil from it off other baggage. Despite what Aer Lingus say this may not be available for purchase in all airports, probably most airports. Most baggage handling rules beyond the actual weight are down to the airport and not the airline in any case, e.g. you don't actually generally have to twist the handlebars, take off the pedals or remove the wheels either.

Amsterdam (Schipol) is meant to be quite strict about bagging I believe, in any case it used to be singled out in Aer Lingus's T&Cs as the only airport that bikes needed to be bagged. It said they sold bags at the airport.

Eoin D

blorg wrote: »

Generally the stuff you will get in airports will be simply a big plastic bag, it will provide zero protection for the bike but may keep oil from it off other baggage. Despite what Aer Lingus say this may not be available for purchase in all airports, probably most airports. Most baggage handling rules beyond the actual weight are down to the airport and not the airline in any case, e.g. you don't actually generally have to twist the handlebars, take off the pedals or remove the wheels either.

Amsterdam (Schipol) is meant to be quite strict about bagging I believe, in any case it used to be singled out in Aer Lingus's T&Cs as the only airport that bikes needed to be bagged. It said they sold bags at the airport.

Cheers Blorg, just checked the site there and the bags are €2. I'm going to chance it, but with a little added protection, maybe take the derailler off wrap in bubble wrap and tape it to the bike, styrofoam on the chainring.. I'll see.

Yeah, says if you're flying from Schipol you need a box for €20. I'll worry about that when I'm coming home