Airports and Airlines - a guide for cyclists

brownian · 24-07-2014 4:54pm #1

Hi all
following the recent thread on Nice Airport, I thought it'd be really useful to have up to date info on other airports and airlines, and how awkward they are (or are not) to deal with. Getting home to Ireland, it's usually not easy to get a bike box in a local bike shop, even though that's par for the course here in Dublin.

So:

Nice Airport (don't know airline) makes you buy a box (22 euro) of poor quality.

Rome Fiumicino lets you wheel on (as of summer 2014), with bubble wrap on the chain, derailleurs and shifters (Aer Lingus). Despite losing them for 2 days, all four bikes turned up just fine. Fiumicino will store bikes at left luggage for 6 euro a day... good if you want a day in Rome and no bike.

Dublin - to date, I've always scrounged a box (Thanks, BikeRack, Halfords!) with no trouble. Aer Lingus and Ryanair have both been happy with this. You can 'hide' your helmet, shoes and other stuff in the box, too.

blobbie · 24-07-2014 5:21pm

brownian wrote: »

Dublin - to date, I've always scrounged a box (Thanks, BikeRack, Halfords!) with no trouble. Aer Lingus and Ryanair have both been happy with this. You can 'hide' your helmet, shoes and other stuff in the box, too.

Brownian,

With AL at Dublin, do you have to pre-book and do they weigh the bike box. The reason I ask is that I have a flight in 2 weeks with Qatar to Delhi but 1st leg to LHR is with AL.

Thanks.

brownian · 24-07-2014 6:16pm

blobbie wrote: »

Brownian,

With AL at Dublin, do you have to pre-book and do they weigh the bike box. The reason I ask is that I have a flight in 2 weeks with Qatar to Delhi but 1st leg to LHR is with AL.

Thanks.

Yes and No, in that order. That said, when we turned up in mid June to fly to Pisa, I had forgotten to book the bikes (idiot me). But the girl made no fuss, except to make us pay the charge. So... Yes (in theory, at least, and I would!) and No.

The notional weight for bikes is 20 or 30 kg, depending on who you ask and what airport you're at. 20kg is a heavy bike, plus box, plus helmet, plus tools, plus shoes, plus empty pannier...and some change. So if they do weigh it, you have to be really taking the p*ss to be over-weight.

Cycling in India is going to be interesting - all joking aside, have good insurance for flying yourself to a first-world hospital, just in case.

blobbie · 24-07-2014 7:08pm

brownian wrote: »

Cycling in India is going to be interesting - all joking aside, have good insurance for flying yourself to a first-world hospital, just in case.

Well covered on that front. Trip is from Manali to Leh so going to be hard hard work :pac:

07Lapierre · 24-07-2014 8:02pm

blobbie wrote: »

Brownian,

With AL at Dublin, do you have to pre-book and do they weigh the bike box. The reason I ask is that I have a flight in 2 weeks with Qatar to Delhi but 1st leg to LHR is with AL.

Thanks.

Aer Lingus have a ten bike limit on most flights.
You can't book your bike on via the AL website.
Officially, the weight limit is 15kg's but they don't weigh the boxes in Dublin.

In short, there a pain!

Raam · 24-07-2014 8:24pm

Weight limit with Aerlingus is 23kg now.

http://www.aerlingus.com/travelinformation/baggageinformation/sportsequipment/

The maximum weight allowable for carriage of sports equipment is 23kg / 50lb. Normal excess baggage rates apply if the passenger carries excess to this maximum allowance.

07Lapierre · 24-07-2014 8:52pm

Raam wrote: »

Weight limit with Aerlingus is 23kg now.

http://www.aerlingus.com/travelinformation/baggageinformation/sportsequipment/

I stand corrected...there still a pain though...;)

Raam · 24-07-2014 9:16pm

07Lapierre wrote: »

I stand corrected...there still a pain though...;)

What probs you had? I've never had any apart from those of my own design.

07Lapierre · 24-07-2014 9:36pm

Raam wrote: »

What probs you had? I've never had any apart from those of my own design.

No real problems..I just followed the correct procedure:

First, I rang Aer Lingus to confirm there was a spot available for my bike on a flight to Lyon.

Then I logged onto the website and booked the flight.
Then I had to call back and book my bike onto the flight.
Then, the day before the flight, tried to checking online to find I can't.
So I called Aer Lingus to be told that online bookings that are then amended by phone, cannot be checked in online. We had to wait till we got to the airport.

Compare that to flying Ryanair.

Logged on to there website and booked myself and the bike onto the flight.
Next week I'll checking on line a few days in advance.

The Aer Lingus procedure is a pain ( if like me you like to checkin before you get to the airport)

Raam · 24-07-2014 9:39pm

I was recently able to checkin online after modifying the booking via phone to add a bike. I was unable to add a checked bag though online after I did the phone change.

Lusk_Doyle · 24-07-2014 9:43pm

Raam wrote: »

I was recently able to checkin online after modifying the booking via phone to add a bike. I was unable to add a checked bag though online after I did the phone change.

That surprised me that we could do that. Thankfully it was a short trip and you didn't need to book a bag.

07Lapierre · 24-07-2014 9:46pm

Raam wrote: »

I was recently able to checkin online after modifying the booking via phone to add a bike. I was unable to add a checked bag though online after I did the phone change.

Maybe it depends on where your flying to? I've flown 3 times with Aer Lingus and each time I was flying to Lyon.

Anyway, I prefer Ryanair when binging a bike.

Raam · 24-07-2014 9:47pm

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

That surprised me that we could do that. Thankfully it was a short trip and you didn't need to book a bag.

Could have booked it by phone anyway. Aerlingus are quite responsive via Twitter btw.

DaithiMC · 24-07-2014 11:45pm

Just got back from a trip to Nice. Flew AL, did the flight booking, booked the bike by phone, checked in online. I was with the family so we had two bags plus the bike to hand in at check in, all three items placed on the platform so were weighed, nothing overweight, deposited bike with the oversized luggage guy in both airports and had no problems. The phone call maybe more complicated than the Ryanair system but, Ryanair is... well..... Ryanair - never use it unless I absolutely have to - negative customer service is more frustrating than slightly more complicated processes.

BTW - good quality bike bags were on sale in Decathlon in France for €60, I think -10%. I didn't get one as I had a loaner but for flying regularly with the bike I think its a good idea - all the kit went in with the bike, shorts jerseys, helmets, tools - I don't think I'd trust any airport (and it is the ground service that handles this stuff, not the airlines) with the bike outside of some sort of bag or container.

Wishbone Ash · 25-07-2014 2:12am

brownian wrote: »

.... up to date info on other airports and airlines, and how awkward they are (or are not) to deal with....

I've flown many times with a bike and in my experience it can really depend on the staff on duty on the day rather than the airport or airline. USA airlines tend to be the most difficult on return flights when they try to add supplementary "sports gear" charges on top of the bike fee already paid. It's especially suspicious when this is requested in cash. Thankfully Mrs WA usually screams the place down and these fees are quietly dropped by a manager.

(And while some airport staff ignore CO2 cartridges, others will confiscate any found).

07Lapierre wrote: »

Aer Lingus have a ten bike limit on most flights..

I've been caught out on that twice now necessitating getting a much earlier flight than everyone else! Pain in the arse hanging around an airport for hours on end as you can't really do much while carrying a bike bag/box.

Raam wrote: »

What probs you had? I've never had any apart from those of my own design.

Apart from the 10 bike limit I've always found AL easy to deal with.

Bear in mind though that, although your bike may not be weighed in Dublin airport, it may be weighed for connecting or return flights.

StickyMcGinty · 25-07-2014 9:53am

Flying with Aer Lingus to San Francisco is September... plenty of comments above on what Dublin Airport is like, anyone got any experience with San Fran / AL? Dont want to get away with a box in Dublin then be forced to but a box on the way back!

spyderski · 25-07-2014 10:08am

I fly a few times a year with the bike. Always use a hard-case bike box. I wouldn't trust a cardboard box to protect a bike that's in any way fragile. The damage done to my bike box is enough to demonstrate the care with which the baggage handlers treat it.

As regards weight, Aer Lingus is 23/25kg, Ryanair 30kg, but I basically put loads of my clothes in bags around the bike (which also protects it) so my bike box usually weighs 30kg+. I've never been in an Airport where the bag was weighed prior to check-in, so there's really no way for them to charge you extra if you're overweight.

Its a lot handier to add a bike to your booking with Ryanair - its just the same as adding a suitcase. Aer Lingus won't let you add it online, you have to phone after you have booked to add one - which means you have no way of being certain they have room for your bike until AFTER you have booked the flight. I have never had a problem with online check-in like a previous poster.

07Lapierre · 25-07-2014 10:21am

spyderski wrote: »

I fly a few times a year with the bike. Always use a hard-case bike box. I wouldn't trust a cardboard box to protect a bike that's in any way fragile. The damage done to my bike box is enough to demonstrate the care with which the baggage handlers treat it.

As regards weight, Aer Lingus is 23/25kg, Ryanair 30kg, but I basically put loads of my clothes in bags around the bike (which also protects it) so my bike box usually weighs 30kg+. I've never been in an Airport where the bag was weighed prior to check-in, so there's really no way for them to charge you extra if you're overweight.

Its a lot handier to add a bike to your booking with Ryanair - its just the same as adding a suitcase. Aer Lingus won't let you add it online, you have to phone after you have booked to add one - which means you have no way of being certain they have room for your bike until AFTER you have booked the flight. I have never had a problem with online check-in like a previous poster.

Palma Airport. I was "Escorted" downstairs to the "Oversize X-ray" Machine to have my Bike box X-rayed and weighed. Also had the box weighed in Lyon airport. Ryanair aso weighed it at Dublin airport (but this does seem to depend on whos on duty and how busy they are at the time)

blobbie · 25-07-2014 10:26am

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Apart from the 10 bike limit I've always found AL easy to deal with.

Having spent the past 20 minutes been given the run around querying if / how to ensure my bike is on an AL flight in 2 weeks time, unfortunately I cannot agree with the above statement.

MB Lacey · 25-07-2014 10:56am

Dublin - (July 2014) Ryanair and CTC 'touring' plastic bag over the bike. Done this twice now through Dublin, I wouldn't bother again, the vagueness and uncertainty from Ryanair staff over whether it's allowed through in a CTC bag is a pain and kind of stressful 'Will they let us fly with the bag or won't they'...
Luckily on both instances we've been allowed, but I don't think I'd chance it again on the offchance you get the jobsworth who's in a bad mood. Bike arrived completely unscathed fwiw.

LeedsBradford (July 2014) as above, again twice, both times hassle - due to the CTC bag, shame because again the bike arrived in Dublin both times unscathed.

spyderski · 25-07-2014 11:01am

07Lapierre wrote: »

Palma Airport. I was "Escorted" downstairs to the "Oversize X-ray" Machine to have my Bike box X-rayed and weighed. Also had the box weighed in Lyon airport. Ryanair aso weighed it at Dublin airport (but this does seem to depend on whos on duty and how busy they are at the time)

Mine has been weighed every time too, but always after I have checked my luggage on, so I'm not sure how they could charge me. In my experience, the guys operating the oversized x-ray machines are Airport staff, so they don't work for the airline, and appear not to care how much the box weighs.

Alek · 25-07-2014 11:26am

Santiago de Compostella.

Having been told by Aerlingus that I can wheel my bikes in with handlebars turned and pedals removed (no problem in Dublin), I got a nasty surprise in Santiago.

The airport staff have refused to take both our touring bikes onboard, as they could not fit cardboard bike boxes provided by the airport (for a fee). After a lengthly conversation that nearly ended in shouting match I was told that their oversize scanners are too small for anything bigger that the bike box. Fair enough, but how should I have known that before? The situation was frustrating enough due to my superactive 2 year old running around and 30 minutes to departure at that stage... And there were at least 30 other people waiting in the queue behind me to a single check-in counter!

At the end I was allowed to remove the front wheels, strap them to bikes and put them myself in the scanner. Thankfully the wheel bolts on one of the wheels (non-QR) took the same spanner size as the pedals. Whew!

One of the most frustrating travel experiences I ever had.

Decided not to fly with bikes for any length of time shorter than a month. Not worth my nerves.

outfox · 25-07-2014 11:42am

Alek wrote: »

Decided not to fly with bikes for any vacations shorter than a month. Not worth my nerves.

That's interesting. Is there a general consensus on bringing your own bike v hiring a bike at your destination? A recent week long spin along the Danube was almost ruined by crap bikes, and the bike hire shop was absolutely impossible to deal with. This is the second foreign cycle that's been affected by crappy bikes and crappy service. The alternative (our own bikes on plane) also seems nightmarish. Third option (transport by car on ferry) is expensive, and you loose 1-2 days at each end of the trip. Living on an island sucks.

Alek · 25-07-2014 11:47am

Frankly, if it was light and fast type of touring I would probably hire a bike or bring my road bike packed in a box.

This time we had a child trailer, a child, 30kg of baggage and fitted, big and comfortable bikes to carry all these things around.

07Lapierre · 25-07-2014 11:58am

spyderski wrote: »

Mine has been weighed every time too, but always after I have checked my luggage on, so I'm not sure how they could charge me. In my experience, the guys operating the oversized x-ray machines are Airport staff, so they don't work for the airline, and appear not to care how much the box weighs.

Lucky you...I must look like a smuggler so!

Wishbone Ash · 25-07-2014 12:03pm

spyderski wrote: »

...I wouldn't trust a cardboard box to protect a bike that's in any way fragile. The damage done to my bike box is enough to demonstrate the care with which the baggage handlers treat it....

Some argue that a bike in cardboard or plastic is handled more carefully.

Peterx · 25-07-2014 12:37pm

outfox wrote: »

That's interesting. Is there a general consensus on bringing your own bike v hiring a bike at your destination? A recent week long spin along the Danube was almost ruined by crap bikes, and the bike hire shop was absolutely impossible to deal with. This is the second foreign cycle that's been affected by crappy bikes and crappy service. The alternative (our own bikes on plane) also seems nightmarish. Third option (transport by car on ferry) is expensive, and you loose 1-2 days at each end of the trip. Living on an island sucks.

hiring a bike only seems to work well on trips where you can base yourself in a place and do loops every day. We did just that in Bormio, Italy last year and really enjoyed doing a lot of the Giro Climbs and roads.
All other trips have been A to B touring on tarmac and we've brought our own (cyclocross) bikes. Cardboard Boxes in Dublin airport and just rolled up to check-in at the returning airport has usually worked. Geneva airport insisted I buy a cardboard box from them, A Ryanair jobsworth nearly didn't let us put the bikes on the plane in Tallinn but everywhere else has been relatively rosy.

Bringing your own bike is perfectly fine when you have a system.
Get a cardboard bike box from a bike shop, put the bike, one of the panniers, the shoes, the tools et cetera in the box and take the second pannier as carry on. At the other end I usually book a hold bag for the second pannier as we have no cardboard box at that end. Arriving at the airport with plenty of time to spare for removing pedals and wheels, cable tying the front wheel to the frame, re-organising the panniers makes the stress levels much lower.
On our last trip we made some train journeys and had to have the bike bagged. The bike bags were actually quite light and handy for the return flight leg afterwards. http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/theusasurf/item/tioga001/
http://www.kancycling.com/Getting_Started/Using_Bikebags.html

circular flexing · 25-07-2014 1:30pm

Flying with a Brompton is way less stressful

Alek · 25-07-2014 1:33pm

Or better, Bike Friday Travel System

They even have a decent road version (9kg)

Johnny Jukebox · 25-07-2014 1:48pm

outfox wrote: »

That's interesting. Is there a general consensus on bringing your own bike v hiring a bike at your destination? A recent week long spin along the Danube was almost ruined by crap bikes, and the bike hire shop was absolutely impossible to deal with. This is the second foreign cycle that's been affected by crappy bikes and crappy service. The alternative (our own bikes on plane) also seems nightmarish. Third option (transport by car on ferry) is expensive, and you loose 1-2 days at each end of the trip. Living on an island sucks.

I've done both and now generally prefer to rent at destination. However, you need to be diligent about this as you can end up with crap.

What I usually do is;

* Find the local bike hire places online
* Go to Trip Advisor and pick the one with the best reviews
* Pick out the bike(s) I want from their website
* Email sizes and details and photos of the bike(s) I expect to hire and get confirmation of same from shop. Get confirmation that they will fit own pedals too.
* Agree a price

This has worked for me in the past, shows your serious about what you want and lots of paper to back it up. I usually try to contact the shop shortly before I arrive to confirm all is well.

brownian · 25-07-2014 1:57pm

Thanks to all, that's pretty useful info all round. Anybody got information about flying back to Dublin from more locations. We've touched Lyon, Rome, Talinn, Santiago...what about (picks airports he'd like to fly to) Biarritz, Lourdes/Pau, Carcassonne, Girona, Barcelona, the Milans, Bergamo, Pisa?

For A-to-A cycling, a bike box or bag is a runner - for A-to-B, it's just not (unless you have a Bike Friday, perhaps - nice system!). Overall, arriving at the airport with the bike in a box seems to be universally acceptable (any exceptions?) - the issue is how much less than this can you get away with?

DaithiMC · 25-07-2014 3:27pm

Johnny Jukebox wrote: »

I've done both and now generally prefer to rent at destination. However, you need to be diligent about this as you can end up with crap.

What I usually do is;

* Find the local bike hire places online
* Go to Trip Advisor and pick the one with the best reviews
* Pick out the bike(s) I want from their website
* Email sizes and details and photos of the bike(s) I expect to hire and get confirmation of same from shop. Get confirmation that they will fit own pedals too.
* Agree a price

This has worked for me in the past, shows your serious about what you want and lots of paper to back it up. I usually try to contact the shop shortly before I arrive to confirm all is well.

I have also faxed/emailed my bike fit record, as well as getting the setup you need, it is also an interesting check as to whether the shop you are renting from has a clue or cares about these things. The better shops were delighted to have clear numbers/measurements to work to.

outfox · 26-07-2014 9:04pm

In both cases where we got crap service, we had emailed all our measurements in advance. Hire shop gob****es didn't even read the email, I reckon.
Sorry for dragging your thread slightly off topic, OP.

Seaswimmer · 26-07-2014 10:34pm

brownian wrote: »

Thanks to all, that's pretty useful info all round. Anybody got information about flying back to Dublin from more locations. We've touched Lyon, Rome, Talinn, Santiago...what about (picks airports he'd like to fly to) Biarritz, Lourdes/Pau, Carcassonne, Girona, Barcelona, the Milans, Bergamo, Pisa?

For A-to-A cycling, a bike box or bag is a runner - for A-to-B, it's just not (unless you have a Bike Friday, perhaps - nice system!). Overall, arriving at the airport with the bike in a box seems to be universally acceptable (any exceptions?) - the issue is how much less than this can you get away with?

For the record there is a bike shop in Santiago that provides an excellent boxing service for €21. They pack it really well and also provide a taxi service to airport. (taxi to airport is €30 but they can take up to 3 bikes boxed). I used it 3 weeks ago when there were 3 of us. Also the cycle to Santiago Airport from city is not too pleasant. 22km mostly uphill on busy roads.

http://www.elvelocipedo.com/Velocipedo/Ingles/Velo_EmbalajeI.html

I have flown from Biarritz and for €11 they provide a good size box and tape.

Flying Aer Lingus to Malaga in October so will update then re that airport.

dogsears · 26-07-2014 11:08pm

I've flown back to Ireland through Rennes a couple of times. No problems at all. Bike was prepared as for Aer LIngus on the way out i.e. bars turned sideways, pedals inverted, air let out of tyres and they took it through a checkin desk that was a little wider than the others. No damage of any kind suffered, so pretty happy about the whole thing, and I'm looking forward to doing the same again in a couple of weeks:)

irlgw · 27-07-2014 1:41pm

I recently travelled back from Brisbane to Dublin with a bike that I bought in Australia. Having seen the damage that occurs to normal luggage over the years I decided to invest in a bike case for the transport. I bought one identical to the one in the link below for $60 off Gumtree and very glad I did!

The case is hard plastic with an aluminium banding all around the edges that close together. Somewhere along the way this got pushed in and also one of the dolly wheels was broken off. The bike (carbon fibre) and frame inside where completely unscathed. I usually travel light so the case (13kg) + Bike (8kg) still left me loads to pack extra items in around and still only weighed in at 27.5kg. The weight allowance for Ethiad (i.e ryanair with food) was 30kg.

I did have to weigh it and get tags on the baggage scales at checkin and then took it over to be x-rayed at oversize baggage ( good life-hack to check your carbon frame for damage). I have to admit that despite getting numerous questions and strange looks it all went through no problem. On coming through customs at Dublin Airport I got called over and thought O crap they're going to hit me for import duty or something but they were just curious as they had never seen one before!

Word of Warning though I realised half way between Australia and AbuDhabi that I hadn't got specific insurance for the bike so probably worth to check this if taking a bike anywhere. That way if the worst happens all is not lost.

These cases and similar come up quite often in OZ because people fly a lot with bikes here. Even at a couple of hundred euro new they are a great investment if you have invested in a decent bike.

velogear dot com dot au/cycling-accessories/bike-bags-case-pods/bike-case.html

Airports and Airlines - a guide for cyclists

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