| Re: Airplane travel with bicycles
"Steven M. Scharf" wrote ...
> For decades, the airlines did not charge for bicycles on overseas trips,
> not sure if this is still the case, last time I brought a bike on an
> overseas flight was about three years ago, and there was no charge.
>
> The airlines are now even charging for individual suitcases that are
> over the 50 pound limit, even if your total baggage weight is under the
> limit. On a recent trip I was careful to keep each suitcase under 50
> pounds by juggling items between the two (this was two suitcases for
> four people, not two for me).
Different airlines have different policies. Last May British Airways did not
charge to take my unboxed bike, just counted it as one of my two pieces of
unboxed baggage, waived the size restrictions, and took very good care of
the bike on both legs of the journey. Apparently they don't charge for
bikes on trips to and from North America, but do charge on certain other
routes. The US airlines that I contacted while planning this trip all
insisted that the bike be boxed and charged a large fee.
I'm told by people in the aviation business that very heavy individual
pieces of baggage make balancing the aircraft difficult, slowing down the
loading process and increasing the labor cost involved in getting a flight
off the ground, to say nothing of potentially delaying the flight. There are
airlines that flatly refuse to take pieces of checked baggage that weigh
more than 70 lbs, since they don't want their employees to get hurt hauling
heavy objects around.
--
mark
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