Calling all International Bike Travel Experts - ideas?

[Wayne77]

I've never taken a bike on a flight... Looks like some airlines charge $100+ each way. Are there better options? Any airlines that are cheaper than others? Someone mentioned British Airways may let you count a bike as an included piece of luggage...

I'm going to be doing the Flanders Sportiv next year. So I'll be flying from SLC to Brussels and need to get my bike over there. Maybe it would be cheaper just to rent a bike?

How about bike travel cases? What's the best deal? I don't need anything fancy...just need to get it there in one piece.

Thanks!

[ultraman6970]

Performance bike has one like for 120 bucks that will sufice IMO, i have used it for international twice and never a problem, you might have room to even put your clothing inside. It has wheels and when in the taxi just put it in the front seat.

Get a nice lock aswell.

Look at CL if you cant buy one locally. Ask to your friends maybe somebody has one.

As for airline you have to find one that let you take the bike as a personal item so you dont get overcharged.

Next solution, any of the belgian forumites around to get you a bike there???

[Neil]

BA don't charge for bikes, but they do count as your hold luggage.

[Pierre]

Bring the bike with you (you won't regret it) but make sure you get a direct flight to where you are headed as the fee is per leg of the trip which obviously can add up pretty quickly.

There are tons of bags out there that will meet your needs. In fact, if you only plan on travelling once or very rarely, just head to your local bike store and get a box from them that meets the airline's dimension limits and use some padding to pack it up properly. As someone else suggested, you can probably rent or borrow one locally too.

the trick is to figure out what you are going to do when you get there - a hard bike bag will likely not fit in a taxi, a soft case could give you some additional options...a cardboard box...well you could dump it and get another from a local bike store for the trip back.

There are some bike racks out there that are pretty small and portable. Check out this seasucker as an example. Having a rack ready at your destination could also open up some doors for you.

http://www.probikekit.ca/cycling-accessories-nc/seasucker-talon-qr-fork-mount-rack-with-1-rear-wheel-strap-1-bike/10946228.html?affil=thggpsad&switchcurrency=CAD&shippingcountry=CA&gclid=Cj0KEQiAvNrBBRDe3IOwzLn6_O4BEiQAmbK-Dv8AbHqgPQ4CMgVkQVkDVdi9dgb-fV9bJ8SuZsLOdwkaAtaJ8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CMW9kayvwtACFcS0swodZIsOVw

[R3awak3n]

Personally I would just go to a bike shop, get a good cardboard box and board it that way.

1- box is free
2- you can dispose of it when you get to your destination (sometimes you staying at multiple hotels and you dont want to keep carrying a box with with you) Just get a new box on the way back
3- Bike box is big, bike should easily go back in there if TSA decides to snoop around (bike bags sometimes are too complicated and TSA doesnt want to figure them out)


Some airlines are cheaper to send bikes with, others are not. i would always just bikeflights the bike if in the US but you are going international so it might cost too much.

Oh, I would bring the bike if you plan on using it more than 3 times, otherwise I would just rent.

[PaMtbRider]

edited - nevermind
Personally I would just go to a bike shop, get a good cardboard box and board it that way.

1- box is free
2- you can dispose of it when you get to your destination (sometimes you staying at multiple hotels and you dont want to keep carrying a box with with you) Just get a new box on the way back
3- Bike box is big, bike should easily go back in there if TSA decides to snoop around (bike bags sometimes are too complicated and TSA doesnt want to figure them out)


Some airlines are cheaper to send bikes with, others are not. i would always just bikeflights the bike if in the US but you are going international so it might cost too much.

Oh, I would bring the bike if you plan on using it more than 3 times, otherwise I would just rent.

[bigbill]

I've traveled overseas with a bike in a Performance hard case. I've had the case since 1997 and it's crossed the Atlantic 5 times and been to Hawaii twice.

I've been able to send it as a piece of luggage each time to Europe but a couple of times I had to pay an overweight fee. If you're going to get the weight fee, it's worth it to pack the case full. I used plastic grocery bags to hold my bike clothes, shoes, and helmet. You'll need a pump because you're not supposed to fly CO2 cartridges.

All that said, bike rentals in popular cycling destinations in Europe are usually pretty good and reasonable if you consider the hassle and cost of bringing your own bike. Another wild card is TSA. I include a picture of my bike all packed in the case and where everything goes and they jacked it up each time.

[weisan]

I have flown with my own personal bike six times so far.

International
US to Australia (United Airlines)
Australia to Singapore (Qantas)
Singapore to US (United Airlines)

Domestic
Austin TX to Albany, NY (United Airlines) X 2
Austin TX to Oakland, CA (Southwest)

For the international flights, I had to pay for oversize luggage (except Qantas) using the AirCaddy.
http://www.aircaddy.com/aircaddy_new_cover_a3.gif

https://ritcheylogic.com/media/catalog/product/cache/6/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/r/break-away-bike-travel-bag.jpg

Pro: Minimum disassembly required, can assemble the bike and hit the road in less than 10 minutes upon arrival if so desired. Very good all-around protection, have rollers, easy to move around. Re-usable. Relatively inexpensive, bike arrived in perfect shape, easy for TSA to inspect, full visibility and no need to take anything out of the box, plenty of room for putting extra cycling stuff as long as you keep under weight limit.

Con: Oversize charges, bulky, might not fit into a small car.

For the domestic flights, I decided not to bring my wheels but borrow from someone over at my destination. Full credit goes to Elefantino and BumbleBeeDave for lending me their wheels. Without the wheels, it makes it a lot easier to pack the bike and also more compact. See pictures below.
I have made two trips to Albany, NY both for D2R2. On the first trip, I have used a box meant for a chair. For the more recent trip that I took this year and also my trip to Oakland last year, I used a Ritchey Breakaway case that is meant for my S&S coupled Long Haul Trucker deluxe. It meets the regular suitcase requirement so no extra charge, just considered a luggage. I managed to fit a rear wheel in with the bike and decided that I don't want to mess around with squeezing the front wheel in. Too tight. My bike is a ritchey breakaway coupled custom bike and I like to zip-tie everything together so that when the TSA inspector look at the bike and if he chose to take it out, he's taking or lifting the ENTIRE package out of the box, no fallen parts or figuring out where everything goes. You take out one piece of equipment, you put back the same one piece of equipment. As of my last trip, I have saved up the pipe foams and labelled them accordingly to which part of the bike they go to (top tube, down tube, seat tube, head tube, seat stay, fork legs etc)

You want to make sure that there are no moving parts inside the box that can come loose and knock things around, scratch up your bike during transit. Also, it is a MUST to install dropout protectors to ward against any heavy stacking on top of your box or case that might potentially bend or break the tubes.

http://alicehui.com/pic/bike/mini-taylor_cross.jpg

http://alicehui.com/pic/d2r2_2013/DSCN2607.JPG


To me, there's nothing like riding my own bike and my fit is "problematic" so I would rather not deal with rental bikes. It's extra hassle, but totally worth it for me. And I tried to maximize my trips with the bike with me, meaning, I ride EVERY opportunity that I get EVERY day on the trip. No exceptions.

[11.4]

I prefer taking a soft case or hard case, but even the soft cases are bulky if rolled up. Many European cabs can't or won't take them. With a cardboard bike box you can cut the tape and collapse it, then fold it in thirds so it'll fit in just about any car trunk or in a back seat. Be sure and get a bike box that hasn't been cut -- most shops just cut them open rather than trying to pull the staples and open them the gentle way. And bike boxes vary a lot. I really like Santa Cruz boxes. Comotion boxes are the best of all. BMC boxes are ok. Trek and Specialized boxes are so so.

Don't worry about the packing stuff they come with. The best protection for a bike is a pile of USPS Priority Mail flat rate boxes. Use some of them flat inside the bike box as reinforcement where the bike might otherwise get bashed or poke through. If you assemble one of the medium or large flat rate document boxes (the thin ones) and tape them shut (don't use the supplied adhesive strip), they make the best protection in the world for wheel axles, brifters, fork tips, and the like. Just punch a couple small holes and they stay in place superbly. When you get to your destination, they disassemble with a box cutter and pack inside the folded up bike box. When you're ready to leave, just reverse the procedure.Boxes do better than pipe insulation and just about anything else I've tried.

Part of why I suggest using the bike box is that it can be a pain in Europe to find a shop with a good quality bike box. A lot of European bike boxes are crap, and many are cut up or damaged before you can get to them. Some shops do their bike assembly at a location distant from the shop, so it basically can be a pain in the butt to find a shop with a good box. You don't want a panic at the end of your last day.

When I travel I'm often traveling with a few other trackies, and we all travel with at least one track bike, one road bike, at least a couple extra pairs of wheels (unless we have a team or a track providing them, though for a sportif this isn't typically an option). After lots of Thule hard cases, SciCon cases, BikeCase soft cases, bike bags, and so on, this has worked best. European pros often use bike bags but they typically aren't having their own race bikes travel that way (just their personal training bikes if they only are issued one and don't have another one traveling with the team truck -- the team handles that or if it's a small continental team, they almost always are driving anyway.

When you travel, bring a small pair of pliers, spare cables, spare cable housing, some extra handlebar tape, just in case. With that you can fix a badly kinked cable housing which happens frequently enough (another reason I love Di2 these days). If you have hydraulics, be sure you have the stuff to replace housing and bleed your brakes (even if the lines aren't damaged you can end up pulling a leak and getting air into your system. Obviously, bring a small tool kit -- allen keys, screwdrivers, pair of scissors, etc. -- so you can deal with other issues.

I generally remove the rear derailleur, the chain (so bring spare links), and bottle cages. It can make shipping a lot easier at times if you pull the crankset and pack it separately in the box. It just lets you set the bottom bracket down on an assembled small flat rate postal box taped to the bottom of the bike box and gives room for your wheels.

I used to have an S&S Serotta Legend and I'd ship it in the S&S case all the time and simply pull the cables out of the housing, coil up the housings carefully, and then thread new cables when I had arrived. It's worth thinking about (and I still do it). For the cost of a few cables you get new performance and less likelihood of a kink or anything else to mess you up. You'll learn to adjust your derailleurs and brakes rapidly and how to thread cables into your levers. Again, Di2 is even better for this. Paying for four cables (or two, if you're electronic) is nothing when it gets you on the road right away.

Lots of other tricks, but I've probably had to ship 400-500 bikes round trip to Europe and had to fix all the problems on the other side. It gets pretty pragmatic after a while.

[Wayne77]

This is great information guys - really appreciate it!

[mjf]

Lots of things I wouldn't have even considered. Thanks!

[mcfarton]

Just make sure when you get there that your bike and box will fit in the car you are traveling in.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

[guido]

I have had good luck with the Pica Packworks bag. Not too bulky on arrival, works well with a luggage drop service or a fixed base type trip.

[11.4]

I have had good luck with the Pica Packworks bag. Not too bulky on arrival, works well with a luggage drop service or a fixed base type trip.

Of all the formal bike bags out there, I'd agree that this is the best. At least among those I've had experience with. Don't expect too much protection from it -- you have to learn how to package your bike so it has some protection inside. I've seen a couple crumpled carbon top tubes in Pika bags, so just be careful with them. You get easy use or you get good protection, or you have to sacrifice some of one to get the other.

[ripvanrando]

Probably can't escape the $150 fee leaving from salt lake. Leaving from New York or lax for instance there are international airlines like air canada British jal cathay pacific that do not hit you with fees. I use a Pika pack bag

[572cv]

Miscellaneous thoughts....

Looks like Jet Blue hits SLC and JFK in their network. Their bike fee is quite low, $50 if I remember. You could hit another airline at JFK for Europe. But really, the issue is the composite cost all the way through, so you may be better off finding one carrier which would get you all the way out and back.

We've done twenty or so trips to France, Corsica, Switzerland and Catalonia, with bikes, and have had full sized hard shells, soft cases, and S&S cases in that period. Oversized cases are a little harder to travel with all the way around. Baggage location pickup can be different, the car you rent might need to be bigger, etc. On the other hand, if you shift to S&S or Ritchey, you spend more time putting the bike back together with the couplers.

No matter what system, it is totally worth bringing the bike that fits you.

If you can fly on the same airline all the way from start to finish, I think you have a better chance of your bike making the trip with you in the same time frame. I've known people whose bikes didn't make the transfer. Even on the same airline, book flights which give a little extra time between flights if there is a transfer. You are better off, really.

The most bike friendly airline we have flown to Europe is Air Transat, the Canadian airline. From Montreal, you can fly direct (!!) to many locations in Europe. Your bike is an extra $30 each way. The only catch is that they start flying to Europe in April and end in October. But that is generally the biking weather anyway.

Since we can get to Montreal to use Air Transat, my next trip to France will include my Eriksen, and I will try an Orucase. I'm also going to try it on a trip to FL in January. We'll see how it goes, being over the 62" threshold by 3" but still looking stealthily small, and being the lightest case I will have ever had.

Good luck with your efforts!

[mjf]

I'm curious though, since it seems to be mixed.

I tend to travel very light and having to put a bike in a car isn't something that crossed my mind.

Is it irregular for most airports, be it safety or otherwise, to not be able to be able to put your bike together and ride out from the airport directly?

[Polyglot]

I'm curious though, since it seems to be mixed.

I tend to travel very light and having to put a bike in a car isn't something that crossed my mind.

Is it irregular for most airports, be it safety or otherwise, to not be able to be able to put your bike together and ride out from the airport directly?

There are quite a few European airports that are virtually impossible to safely reach or leave on a bike, but I have yet to find an airport that has neither a train/subway connection or a way to ride right up to or away from the terminals. But do your research before starting off to the airport. I remember back in the 80's trying to reach the Orly airport south of Paris. All the roads leading in were indicated as no bike traffic. I rode many miles and lost much time until I ended up riding to a RER station and just barely made my flight .

[11.4]

When it comes to flying without paying for a bike, there are some airlines that just don't give you a break. But then there are plenty where they'll look the other way. A few tips:

1. Don't push your bike box right to the limit or over. If it's oversized and overweight and a bike, you'll get charged. Keep it light and carry all the junk separately and you can smile and chat with the agent and he/she may not even ask you about the box and just take it. If there's an attempt to charge, you have a better chance of talking them out of it if it doesn't violate a couple other standards as well. These agents do get lectures on how oversized and overweight boxes cause baggage handlers to have back injuries, which turn into lawsuits, which come back to the agents. And they get lectures about how expensive bikes can be and how the airline really doesn't want the liability. So make it simple for them.

2. Don't make them ask if it's a bike. I'll avoid cases or boxes that say "bikes" all over them, and will spray paint the outside both for visibility (it's hard for someone to steal a fluorescent red bike box). I've stenciled "wheelchair" on the outside of bike cases and gotten past many a ticket agent. And I've labeled "velo parts" on Pika bags and wrapped enough pipe insulation around the bike so it wasn't clear there was even a full bike in there.

3. Arrive early and check in early. Agents get short-tempered and there are more supervisors behind the counter at peak hours. Nobody likes having supervisors around. If you see someone just stalking the backside of the counter and not serving customers, or with a manager badge on, avoid them.

4. If you can, get a frequent flyer card. Just being able to go into a preferred line means they know they want to be nicer to you. I can't remember the last time I didn't get charged in the basic economy line and can't remember the last time I did when I was in the Platinum/First Class line.

5. Politeness and friendliness are the best single defense against fees. First thing I do when I get in front of an agent is to comment on how hard it must be for them and ask what I can do for them. I started carrying small boxes of chocolates (about $4 each) and dang but the agents love that. Just tell them you appreciate them and know they must have a really hard job and say this is just a small thank you. Four dollars is a lot better than $150. Never, ever, lose your temper or whine or badger them. I always make it clear it's their decision and I just try to make that decision easy for them.

6. Seriously consider sending your bike via BikeFlights. It's safer, more secure, insured, and you don't have to sweat it. It's at the hotel and you don't have to pay off a cab driver, and life is simple. You're there to be a cyclist, not a freight forwarder.

[Wayne77]

This is extremely helpful. Great advice! Thanks!!

When it comes to flying without paying for a bike, there are some airlines that just don't give you a break. But then there are plenty where they'll look the other way. A few tips:

1. Don't push your bike box right to the limit or over. If it's oversized and overweight and a bike, you'll get charged. Keep it light and carry all the junk separately and you can smile and chat with the agent and he/she may not even ask you about the box and just take it. If there's an attempt to charge, you have a better chance of talking them out of it if it doesn't violate a couple other standards as well. These agents do get lectures on how oversized and overweight boxes cause baggage handlers to have back injuries, which turn into lawsuits, which come back to the agents. And they get lectures about how expensive bikes can be and how the airline really doesn't want the liability. So make it simple for them.

2. Don't make them ask if it's a bike. I'll avoid cases or boxes that say "bikes" all over them, and will spray paint the outside both for visibility (it's hard for someone to steal a fluorescent red bike box). I've stenciled "wheelchair" on the outside of bike cases and gotten past many a ticket agent. And I've labeled "velo parts" on Pika bags and wrapped enough pipe insulation around the bike so it wasn't clear there was even a full bike in there.

3. Arrive early and check in early. Agents get short-tempered and there are more supervisors behind the counter at peak hours. Nobody likes having supervisors around. If you see someone just stalking the backside of the counter and not serving customers, or with a manager badge on, avoid them.

4. If you can, get a frequent flyer card. Just being able to go into a preferred line means they know they want to be nicer to you. I can't remember the last time I didn't get charged in the basic economy line and can't remember the last time I did when I was in the Platinum/First Class line.

5. Politeness and friendliness are the best single defense against fees. First thing I do when I get in front of an agent is to comment on how hard it must be for them and ask what I can do for them. I started carrying small boxes of chocolates (about $4 each) and dang but the agents love that. Just tell them you appreciate them and know they must have a really hard job and say this is just a small thank you. Four dollars is a lot better than $150. Never, ever, lose your temper or whine or badger them. I always make it clear it's their decision and I just try to make that decision easy for them.

6. Seriously consider sending your bike via BikeFlights. It's safer, more secure, insured, and you don't have to sweat it. It's at the hotel and you don't have to pay off a cab driver, and life is simple. You're there to be a cyclist, not a freight forwarder.

[ripvanrando]

Bikeflights is the best option domestically and the worst internationally.

There are a few international airlines that do not charge for a bike but your first flight has to start with them. Otherwise if the flight is codeshare flight, the affliate will wack you for 150 bucks.

I just include this into my ticket price calculation.

I've sweet talked or argued successfully a few times.

Make sure you undo your rear derailleur and bring a spare derailleur mount

TSA is going to rifle thru your junk and your careful packing is going to **** anyway