Easyjet bike but no hold baggage?

remedy_7

Hello,

I hope to fly to Spain next week with easyjet.
Going to do a little tour so I will take my bike and just a carry-on, hand baggage.

Question - When I book the bike under 'sport equipment' do I also need to book a hold bag (which I won't need)?
The small print says that the 'sport equipment' takes your allowance up to 32kg. But I couldn't find anything about the allowance for just a bike. With a bike box it will be more than 12kg.

I will probably just pay the extra for the outbound, to be safe, but it would be nice to save £35 for the round trip.

Cheers.

andymiller

Try seeing if the web system will accept a booking for sports equipment without other luggage?

marcusjb

No - just pay the sports equipment supplement.

As long as the bike box isn't more than 32Kg, then you're all fine.

I flew with them a couple of weeks ago and it was all fine.

Barrydeek

Hi

As marcusjb says, just pay the sports equipment.
I flew to Geneva with them last week with just sports equipment supplement added.
I just had bike box with cabin case.i did have my cycling gear in with the bike box ( your not really supposed to, as long as the weight is under 32kg it will be fine), they didn't even weigh my bike case in Edinburgh just asked roughly what it weighed.

jaxf

+1 for what Barrydeek and marcusjb said. I have never been asked to open my bike box to prove there is nothing else in it - and usually everything but the kitchen sink is.
BTW, if anyone ever goes to Tenerife for a nice bit of climbing (and the drivers there are amazingly courteous and bike friendly) Thomson is really cheap for bike transfer at £15 per bike per way. Can make EasyJet look a v expensive option, although their flight times are often more palatable .

remedy_7

The 32kg, according to the t+c's, is 20kg for a hold bag and an extra 12kg for sport. So I would assume that you first need a hold bag to get the extra 12kg?
Paid for a hold bag on the outward leg, just so I can relax and not worry about it. Will ask at the airport regarding the return.

marcusjb

Your money, your choice.

http://www.easyjet.com/en/sports-equipment

See the table at the bottom for 0 Bags, 1 Sports Equipment

remedy_7

yes I saw that but the paragraph above says -

Payment of the non-refundable Sports equipment fee entitles You to an additional weight allowance of 12kgs and increases Your checked in Hold luggage allowance to a maximum of 32kgs. A single item cannot weigh more than 32kgs in total.

mea00csf

Marcusjb has it right. If you pay the sports equipment fee you get sports equipment up to 32kg. You cannot take another suitcase, just the sports kit.

We used to do this with snowboard wheelie bags, just pay the sports kit, but then cram as much stuff in as possible and then just take the rest as handluggage. Never got challenged on it, despite the fact that we obviously had more than just a snowboard in the bag.

gsk82

bike box = checked luggage

i've flown with them many times and never once even considered that i'd have to pay for a suitcase i wasn't going to be using as well.

mrc1

+1 to just booking sports equipment - 70% of our guests fly Easyjet and nobody has ever had a problem.

remedy_7

Just a quick tip.
In the past I have been asked to open the box to see if 'only' a bike was in there. This meant I couldn't close the box again as I didn't have anymore tape.

This time they didn't ask, but asked why I hadn't taped it up. You can't win.
I recommend leaving it open and having a roll of tape with you. Can't go wrong that way.
Also, getting on/off trains, elevators etc the holes for lifting the box got a bit torn/larger. So it was good to have the tape to make some repairs.

elffy

Just be aware that Easyjet have from 31th October changed there weight allowance for bikes from 32kg to 23kg and have also increased the price from £28 each way to £35. Looks like they have become a bike unfriendly airline.

remedy_7

Just saw that. But the I have to admit, the picture of the scales with the weight make it a lot clearer to understand what you can take.
£35 and you can no-longer put other stuff in the box so you now have to take a hold bag. So the original 32kg for £28 is now nearer £50.

bernithebiker

I just booked Easyjet from Nantes to Gatwick to Palma in Feb for a weeks pedaling.

Costing me £140 for the bike (2 legs of 70) when I could have hired for the same amount.

BUT, I'm very attached to my bike and would like to have it with me, and also, I would have had to have booked a suitcase which was about £70 total I think.

My bike, 6kg + bag 9kg = 15kg, which leaves me 8kg for clothes and helmet, shoes, etc. right? (Plus whatever I can get in my carryon)

bigjim

£35 and you can no-longer put other stuff in the box so you now have to take a hold bag.

I've never been asked to open a box and always leave panniers, tools, sleeping bag, tent, stove etc in the box.

gsk82

i booked a flight for june next year on 14th october. how will the change of policy affect me? i never saw anything saying the policy had changed and wouldn't have known about it without reading this thread!

andymiller

bernithebiker wrote:

My bike, 6kg + bag 9kg = 15kg, which leaves me 8kg for clothes and helmet, shoes, etc. right? (Plus whatever I can get in my carryon)

I think the effect saying you can only take the bike in the box is that you either have to make do with a carry-on bag or you have to pay for a suitcase. But I don't know how rigorously they will enforce that.

jumbosausage

I've just flown with my bike with Easyjet and I had to wait whilst the case was x rayed before being allowed to leave it with them. I had nothing other than the bike in the case so I can't say for sure if you'd get away with it or not. But they did seem very keen to check.......more so than in the past!

bigjim

E/Jet don't x ray the box. Thats security, which is just that. To make sure it's secure. Security don't care if there is a sleeping bag, tent etc in there.

gsk82

I contacted easyjet re my booking made in October and they've 'put a note on my booking' to say the new rules don't apply.

remedy_7

E/Jet don't x ray the box. Thats security, which is just that. To make sure it's secure. Security don't care if there is a sleeping bag, tent etc in there.

I have flown many times with my bike. I have been asked to open the box so they can check inside. I now leave it open and take tape with me.

Once in Gatwick, an Easyjet staff member came to the 'oversize' baggage check-in with me and checked the weight and asked the x-ray staff it was good. It wasn't but the x-ray staff said it was. Thankfully.

If you get away with it, great, if you don't it gets expensive plus a huge hassle repacking everything at the airport. I have been caught out, that is why I am careful.

BUT - if it wasn't for Easyjet and their prices I wouldn't have been able to go on so many great dive/climb/hike/cycling trips.

bigjim

I've flown with E/jet many times from different airports and never experienced the above.
I'm amazed a member of their staff could be spared to accompany you to the oversize x-ray and should imagine it's beyond their responsibilities.
I would have thought the security people would have gotten the hump about their interference.
I've always just been asked what the weight was at Gatwick. They've never bothered actually weighing it.
Did this member of staff leave their check-in post to do this?