Broken bike box after flight

68 lost souls wrote: »

Or if you bought it online you may have a record in your account at login

This.

Log into your account and you can see all your previous purchases however I don't think they look for original receipts. You can show them the cost of a new one now as ultimately that's what it is going to cost you to replace it regardless of what you paid for it.

I don't think it makes any difference who owned it, it was checked in under your name and so for all intensive purposes it is yours.

ford2600 wrote: »

As far as I know the limit of any payout for luggage is €1300 or so.

For that reason I think shipping a high end bike is mental.

Currently it's €1400 although you can declare items of special interest however this must be done prior to check-in. So if you are travelling with a bike worth more than 1400 then travel insurance is a must and most certainly declare it as an item of special interest at check in.

This is all covered as part of the Montreal convention. If you take the luggage out of the airport however legally they don't have to cover it. That's not to say they won't but they don't have to. When claiming any bags always check them over prior to leaving the airport.

gmacww wrote: »

Currently it's €1400 although you can declare items of special interest however this must be done prior to check-in. So if you are travelling with a bike worth more than 1400 then travel insurance is a must and most certainly declare it as an item of special interest at check in.

This is all covered as part of the Montreal convention. If you take the luggage out of the airport however legally they don't have to cover it. That's not to say they won't but they don't have to. When claiming any bags always check them over prior to leaving the airport.

I was told recently by my insurance company that you can also claim for items listed under your home insurance policy (ie expensive bikes) in the event that they go missing or get damaged in-flight. As far as I'm aware, airlines are only obliged to cover the cost of lost or damaged luggage up to the value of 1,131 special drawing rights-€1,330 at today's rates. Anything beyond that is entirely at the discretion of the airline. You also have to have a lost luggage report as part of any claim, so it's a must to go to the lost luggage desk before you leave the airport-which is a huge pain in the ass if you've just stepped off a long haul flight. Lst time it happened to me, I had two expensive bikes and cases...which thankfully showed up a couple of days later. Scared the sh*te out of me...Bottom line, make sure you have cover for the replacement cost of bike and case before you hand over your bike to the airline. Another tip is to bring your cycling gear in your carry-on if possible. If it goes missing, it's gonna be hard to find the right size shoes, helmet, shorts etc at short notice, plus the cost of that stuff adds up. I had a bag go missing on a trip to China last year and when I worked out the value of the cycling gear that was in it, it worked out as being more than the 1,131 SDR's I'd get in compensation.

If the OP is just concerned about a damaged case (as opposed to bike), and has a damaged luggage report, it should be grand, if a bit slow, to get compensation.

gmacww wrote: »

This is true however most insurance companies have limitations. Standard policies limit bikes to €250. If your bike is worth more then you need to specify that as a special item, same way you would an engagement/wedding ring etc... then you are cover in and out of the house. It makes your policy a touch more expensive but in my opinion it's worth it.

On the topic of the bike box the one thing I'd say is that it was a good box. If it's in bits and your bike is perfectly fine then it did the very job it's intended to do.

Exactly-you need to have the bike as a specified item on your policy and pay a bit extra. Your standard home policy doesn't really cover you properly for expensive bikes-I think the limit is normally around 2 grand or so. This wasn't something I was aware of until I renewed last year. The benefit for when you travel is that the bike is covered, with the stipulation that you don't exceed a certainamount of time outsde the country (60 days I think).

ford2600 wrote: »

If a special item would you not get caught with an excess? While a €500 excess is fine for a €25,000 smoke damage claim not so much on a €2500 bike.

That all depends on your policy. Varying policies standards place the excess anywhere from €200-500. You can take out a policy with €0 excess but it will cost you more.

To me if my bikes got stolen I'd gladly pay the €300 excess as per my policy. I think people are fully aware of the risks when traveling with their bike. Personally I don't do it. I just rent and bring pedals, a stem and a garmin mount with me. That lets me get the bike setup close to exactly how i'd like it.

Also when renting take it as an opportunity to have a temporary upgrade and ride a bike most could not afford. The last bike I rented was an s-works with Dura-Ace Di2 and carbon wheels. I tore the arse out of it!

Hope you get sorted soon but knowing airlines etc they drag it out hoping you give up and go away and alot of people do.. any chance you could tell us the make of the bike box and show a pic of the damage also the box box manufacture might have warranty or good will gesture as well that you can look at