Air France and CTC bike bag

duncan harris

Anyone tried travelling on Air France (from UK to France) using the CTC transparent plastic bike bag (http://www.ctcshop.org.uk/ctc-plastic-bike-bag/#more)?

Air France say on their web site (http://www.airfrance.co.uk/GB/en/common ... france.htm):

place your bicycle in a protective container (cardboard*, hard plastic). Bicycle containers are available for purchase at most Air France check-in desks.

Technically the CTC bag is a protective container, but obviously not cardboard or hard plastic.

mercsport

Do not get excited, no one else has replied and I was passing,....

The CTC bike bag is a good - and cheap - piece of kit. Trim it to length and do your best to sticky-tape the opening. Upon arrival carefully wrap/roll it up and carry it with you until the you roll back up at the airport again. It's not bulky or irksome and light enough to carry with you.

At the airport take a little time out also to pity your fellow pedallers, the wretches toiling with their near farcical and grotesque hard cases with which they have to wrestle to who-knows-where (Left Luggage?). Obey the Air France bit about removing the pedals and swivelling the 'bars around (a bit of a mystery this last one). I've never taken my front wheel off yet but, for what it's worth, it may be the occasion to go with the flow and submit to that indignity also. One indignity that I've been forced to submit to the last couple of trips, has been to deflate the tyres to near zero pressure. A sad affair this, for I have never been able to get them back to proper pressure with the weedy hand pumps that I've carried (one up for the lads with bikes in cases, for I have never seen them opened up to check their pressures).

That's about it. It only remains for you to turn up at check-in and hope that you do not confront a stressed out exhibitionist who -possibly- might delight themselves by saying things must be thus-and-so, and your diligence and exercise of semantics is not quite good enough: " The next flight is tomorrow morning at 6.30, and check in begins at 4.30. Thank you. NEXT!"

Chances are extremely good that last will not happen (it's never happened to me), and baggage handlers, whilst they may joyfully chuck bike boxes around, are -in my experience- quite considerate when handling your precious, unprotected wheels and steel (in my case, recently, a four and half grand titanium job. Quite unmarked).

Good luck.

I am the god of hell fire

Did somebody say "Air France?"
Spooky coincidence

Id booked onto an AF to Lyon for the Marmotte this year
Their website says they carry bikes and when I booked my tickets the operator confirmed this too and said there would be no extra charge but I would have to phone back to get confirmation my bike was OK

Funnily enough this was in November and it has taken until this week to be told that they will not in fact guarantee my bikes passage as my bike bag is too big!
My bag is 117cm long, their maximum dimension is 95cm

This is odd on 2 different counts:
1) I cant find any bike bags that small
2) Their own website says they carry bike bags up to 175cm

By another coincidence they also 'forgot' to tell me my direct flight has now been cancelled and replaced by a connection in Paris which may involve a plane or a train for the other leg - they cant say which for sure yet

All in all a bit odd and Im glad to have got my money back - but not without some more hassle

It was never like this with Ryanair...................