Flying with a B&W bike case

RickyG

Morning All,

I was hoping for some advice on flying with my newly purchased bike box. I was about to book a flight to Tenerife taking the below box along.

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehs ... -picture(2)

It seems that at 13.8kg and 130cm long most airlines think it’s too big to put in the hold.
Ryanair will allow 32kg for a bike, which is fine, but a maximum dimension of 119cm.
Monarch have no maximum dimensions but only 20kg limit so unless I buy a seat for my wheels that option won’t work either.

Has anyone had experience of flying with a bike box this large?
Is it just a case of taking the excess baggage charge on the chin?

Any help is much appreciated,
Thanks, Rich

polocini

I reckon you'll be fine. I doubt the staff on check in will be getting out the tape measure. I travel with a (big) bike bag quite a lot and it's never been measured. Will your bike bag bike weigh more then 20kg???

AL

RickyG

Thanks Al. Normally I'd agree with you about it not being measured but I'm nervous about taking a risk as those check-in staff at Ryanair are a special breed...

The empty box is 13.8kg so as soon as the bike is in there I'll be getting over the 20kg limit.

polocini

Bloody hell. That's a serious box!!!!

AL

giropaul

I've flown with one of these boxes - Britannia - but that was some years back.

I'm guessing that the "budget" airlines wil find every reason to charge a premium, so it's worth checking well beforehand. It may be that overall a less "budget" airline works out cheaper for you +bike.

People do fly with large boxes - bands, pro cycling teams etc - it's just about how much you're prepared to pay.

There are some pretty good hire places in Tenerife I think - maybe worth comparing costs with cost oftaking your bike box?

milleman

Flown with Easyjet with people with those boxes and they were ok, none of the group (16 people) had their bike boxes measured at anytime-they just checked the weight when you checked in.

bigpikle

I went out to France with a box using Ryanair this year. We did get weighed at check-in and then sent over to the oversize luggage area to actually drop the bike off. I'd be nervous if I knew I was over the weight limit as they did check them in Stansted. The group I went with did have a big variety of cases though and some were enormous - looked like folded snooker tables! None had any issues though although everyone was below the weight limit IIRC.

kayakerchris

just come back from tenerife. Flew with Thomson from Birmingham. I have a bikeboxalan bike box. Bike + box + pump comes in at 22.5 kg.

I booked extra sports equipment. turned up at birmingham on way out and tenerife on the way back and had no problems at all.

Chris

renard

I can't comment on whether you would get charged extra, but it will not be too big to fit in the hold.

You can get some big things in the holds - have a look at the size of the hold doors.

RickyG

Thanks for the replies guys.
It sounds like the dimensions shouldn't be a problem, I just need to ensure I'm within the weight limit. Ryanair allow 30kg for bikes so I shouldn't have a problem with that.

Thanks,
Rich

nad20

Hi guys!


I'm planning to book a flight with easyjet.

I have the B&W bike box and the total weight (with bike) is 19Kg.
A + B + C = 235cm
=> So it corresponds to the check-in luggage conditions.

Do you think I'll have to pay the extra for bicycle or they will take it as my normal check-in luggage ?

dandrew

Just flown with BA. No issues on the way out. Coming back I was told that I was 4 kg over. Took it out. Then took it to overweight baggage despatch & put it all back in again!
Generally airlines staff are flexible if you're cheery and friendly.

pilot_pete

giropaul wrote:

I've flown with one of these boxes - Britannia - but that was some years back.

You are right there Paul, over 10yrs ago now!

I can't comment on whether you would get charged extra, but it will not be too big to fit in the hold.

You can get some big things in the holds - have a look at the size of the hold doors.

All depends on what aircraft type you are flying on renard though. An Airbus or Boeing then yes I would agree, but some smaller outfits such as flybe operate much smaller aircraft, especially if you are only doing a very short hop.

Do you think I'll have to pay the extra for bicycle or they will take it as my normal check-in luggage ?

Read what it says on the Easyjet website nad regarding carriage of sporting equipment. They will charge you to carry a bike as it is not normal check in luggage. I have used them several times and it is not exorbitant.

PP

nad20

Pilot Pete wrote:

Read what it says on the Easyjet website nad regarding carriage of sporting equipment. They will charge you to carry a bike as it is not normal check in luggage. I have used them several times and it is not exorbitant.

PP

Yeah I asked http://www.easyjet.com and they told me I have to pay the extra. It may not be exorbitant, but the flight cost 38.- bucks (x2), and I would have to pay 120.- extra to take the bike. So +150% !!


It makes https://www.flysas.com much cheaper as you can count the bike as your check-in baggage. Which makes more sens as it's less than 20Kg and even smaller than the maximum dimensions of check-in baggage.

Scandinavians are definitely the best to promote bike mobility.

pilot_pete

Hmmn, not sure what currency you are talking in there Nad, but in the UK easyjet charge £30 each way for a bike. Seems reasonable to me. I go to Faro every year with my bike on Easyjet or Monarch and it usually comes to around £150 return for me and bike, which I don't think you can argue with, I think that is very cheap.

PP