Flying bikes with British Airways

rider217
rider217 Posts: 70
edited July 2008 in MTB general
I'm off to Morzine over the August Bank Holiday weekend, flying with British Airways to get in a few days riding. As they've changed their policy on what sports gear they fly, I checked their website. They say that they will fly bike bags within certain dimensions, although it suggests they may be slightly flexible. My standard DHB bag is technically outside their dimensions, although the wording is vague so I think it will be ok as it is a standard bike bag. Has anyone had any bad experiences flying bikes with BA since their new policy, or anything to watch out for?

Thanks
Stephen

Comments

  • papasmurf.
    papasmurf. Posts: 2,382
    no experience of the new policy...is it different to the new one coming in in november re weight etc...

    As long as its not massivelly out then you probably be okay.. being Polite, friendly and have all your stuff organised when you reach check in often helps smooth things over...
    Meta5.5
    Duster
  • P-Jay
    P-Jay Posts: 1,478
    Just come back from a 9 day trip in morzine and flew with BA.

    I honestly cannot fault them. They're very relaxed about the whole thing. Saw all sorts of sized bike bags and they didn't bat an eyelid. I think as long as it's a proper bike bag and weighs under 32Kgs you'll be sweet. In fact one of ours was actually 33Kgs on the way out and the guy said "Funny, scales must be out" with a wink.

    A million times better than a certain orange, so called budget airline I've heard horror stories about.
    Shocker Enduro
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    They won't take surfboards any more - which is a real pain as they fly to all the best surf locations! :cry::cry:
  • rider217
    rider217 Posts: 70
    Yeah, they have stopped flying a lot of types of equipment, I will no longer be able to use them to fly with my kayak. I heard that it caused some controversy with some of the olympic athletes as they wouldn't fly some big bits of kit like javelins and pole vaults.

    Worst case was going to be that I'd far rather fly with BA and hire bikes than have to get on sleasyjet or ryanair.

    Surfer Matt - in case you didn't know, as soon as BA announced the change of policy, Virgin reversed their policy of not flying kayaks and will now do so for free. You may be able to use them for your surfboard.

    Sounds like it should all be ok though for August, cheers all
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    rider - I did hear that. Sadly Virgin don't fly to Bordeax (for Hossegor), Lisbon (for Ericeira) or Lanzarote (for La Santa) :cry::cry:
  • stevebrock
    stevebrock Posts: 239
    rider217 wrote:
    I'm off to Morzine over the August Bank Holiday weekend, flying with British Airways to get in a few days riding. As they've changed their policy on what sports gear they fly, I checked their website. They say that they will fly bike bags within certain dimensions, although it suggests they may be slightly flexible. My standard DHB bag is technically outside their dimensions, although the wording is vague so I think it will be ok as it is a standard bike bag. Has anyone had any bad experiences flying bikes with BA since their new policy, or anything to watch out for?

    Thanks
    Stephen

    I just come back from morzine, flew with BA from Gatwick and also have a DHB bag and can honestly say they were faultless outward and inward.

    My bike was just over 32kg limit but they were ok and let my bag through!

    It was my first trip to the Alps.....in a a word AWESOME it blew me away!
    Santa Cruz Heckler

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