Airlines to Sweden

[rpm]

I'm off to Goteborg, Sweden this summer with my bike (in a Trico case) and I'm looking for airline suggestions. Delta (KLM) is the dominant carrier in the Twin Cities, and its fees and policies are awful. Icelandair flies here and it seems to have reasonable fees ($59), but I'd like to know if anybody has had experience with Icelandair or has other suggestions for airlines.

[TMB]

This seems on point ...


THREAD (http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=245576&highlight=iceland)

[zap]

Lufthansa.

[tuscanyswe]

According to below SAS lets you take a bike of max 23 kgs for free if you dont exceed your baggage weight / kolli total world wide. If you do max out it says another 600 sek (approx 95 usd) extra for travelling worldwide.

I dont know if sas fly from your location and i wouldent trust a webpage to tell the whole story even if its in print but it might be worth checkin up their prices.

You have to google translate i guess.

http://www.sas.se/sv/Allt-om-resan/Bagage/Overvikt/

[SEABREEZE]

Icelandic Airlines.........


http://www.icelandair.us/


Flew them many times.....Economical.
Did I mention the women are the prettiest in the world, according to Vogue magazine.

If you have a layover in Iceland, dont miss eating at the Lofleider Hotel in Reykjavik, best rack of Lamb I ever had.

[ergott]

I've been to Sweden/Finland many times and my favorite carrier is Finnair. I don't know what sort of service you have near you.

[1happygirl]

Delta (KLM) is the dominant carrier in the Twin Cities, and its fees and policies are awful.

Not Delta if you value your bike. According to the latest customer service, the worst in the industry. The worst also on losing baggage. Never had it personally, but from what I've read, the worst for denting your bike.


Think carefully grasshopper. Icelandair=better. Lufthansa = best

[Volvo1]

Great place to go!

Make sure you try the following:

Coffee (if you drink coffee you will love the coffee there)

Hot dogs! (they give you the hot dog and pile mash potatoes on top of it)

Ice cream (again hard to explain but its great stuff!)

Good thing you're bringing the bike! :)

[Karin Kirk]

Icelandair is great! It's been quite some time since I've flown with them but I had good experiences. I would definitely opt for a day or two layover in Iceland if you can. It is completely wonderful there!

I've also had no problems with Delta/KLM back and forth to Europe via MSP. I do that trip fairly often to visit family and the MSP-Amsterdam flight has worked out well. However I have not tried to bring along a bike.

Sounds like you have a great trip coming up! Don't forget to post your photos here. :)

[kohlboto]

I'll back up the SAS recommendation from tuscanyswe. We've flown with them twice to Europe and the flights have been nothing short of excellent.
I would double check on the baggage policy though...

[rpm]

Thanks, folks! After Sweden I'm headed for Norway for some hiking. I'll post pictures when I'm back.

[Hardlyrob]

I agree with Karin. I've flown Northwest / Delta / KLM many times through Amsterdam to the rest of Europe. I'm not sure if this works for you, but I've had good luck purchasing a round trip ticket to Amsterdam, and using a different European based carrier for the flights within Europe - it usually works out to be much cheaper. However, the additional charges for the bike may negate that.

Ride report and pics when you return - have fun!

Rob

[EddieBirdsell]

I flew SAS into Copenhagen and out of Stockholm in the Fall. It was easy, the beef stroganoff and red wine were fantastic, and I'd definitely do it again.

They have a customer service line based out of NYC. I had to call about something (forget what it was - seat change maybe?) and again, it was effortless.

[jeo99]

I have flown many, many times over the years out of Detroit Metro using Delta(N-W)/KLM. Detroit is also a hub for Delta. Those trips to Europe included of course The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy and Sweden. Always with my S&S coupled Serotta. Never claimed a bike and never was charged and never mishandled. Additional trips were to Japan, India, China and to S.Korea although the bike did not go to Asia. My $.02

:beer:

[hybridbellbaske]

My information may be out of date, but I flew to Europe on SAS with my bike ina hard case (from Austrlia) in 2001 and there were no extra charges for the bike case. My recollection is as was was stated above, it's OK as long as your total luggage weight was under their total. Again, 23 kg rings a bell.

[rickbb]

+1 for SAS. In dozens of flights to Stockholm, never a problem.
Have a great time in Sweden. Bicycles are so much more a transportation mainstay there.