| Re: Airplane travel with bicycles
Jim Thomas wrote:
> I have had problems with airline travel in another area of my life,
> model airplanes. Whats the connection, you ask? I used to be able
> to pack my gliders in a large wooden box specially designed for them,
> and check it as baggage. Once in 10 times I might be charged
> oversize baggage by an overzealous clerk. No more. It is now
> oversize, overweight, just about anything you imagine the airlines
> can add to make a few more $$. The answer was simple. Ship the box
> to myself at the destination. It just takes a little extra planning
> to send it a few days in advance to assure that it arrives when I do.
> Net cost: $30 each way; savings: at least $50 each way.
>
> So, why not apply this same idea to our bikes? Get a travel carrier
> (one of the commercial ones or even a discarded bike box from the
> LBS), take off your handlebars, front wheel and pedals, pack it
> securely with the few tools you will need to put back in riding
> shape, and FedEx Ground ship to yourself at you destination.
In fact I've been doing that. It's a good way to go, and Fedex Ground is cheap.
But it takes up to a week (each way) to go coast to coast, and I don't want to
be without my bike for that long.
What bugs me is how cyclists are treated vs. other sports enthusiasts. Golfers
can get their clubs on the plane for free. The travel industry assumes golfers
are people with money and influence, that they don't want to offend. Apparently
they don't see any value in treating cyclists well.
Matt O.
|