American Airlines reducing bike check-in fees

[tourmalet]

AA announced they will start treating bikes as regular luggage: $30 to fly within the continental US with your bike instead of the previous $150.

[duff_duffy]

Nice!

[Mark McM]

American Airlines will now charge standard baggage fees for bikes. Which means that bikes are now subject to oversized baggage fees. Any bag/case which has combined dimensions (length + width + height) of over 62" will incur a $200 oversized baggage fee. Which means just about any bike case for a standard sized bike.

[donevwil]

More from the fine print:

"Hang gliders, scuba tanks and antlers will still be subject to oversize luggage charges."

[tourmalet]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

American Airlines will now charge standard baggage fees for bikes. Which means that bikes are now subject to oversized baggage fees. Any bag/case which has combined dimensions (length + width + height) of over 62" will incur a $200 oversized baggage fee. Which means just about any bike case for a standard sized bike.

They say up to 126 linear inches: https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...and-sports.jsp

[Mark McM]

Sweet!

Although it appears that e-bikes are excluded.

[ColonelJLloyd]

At first I was pretty excited, but my Thule case weighs 37 pounds without the bike so it will always be subject to the $150 surcharge since bicycles hit that level at more than 50 pounds.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd

At first I was pretty excited, but my Thule case weighs 37 pounds without the bike so it will always be subject to the $150 surcharge since bicycles hit that level at more than 50 pounds.

As a wild guess, I'm thinking that AA has data on the weights of the bikes (in cases) it has carried in the past, and selected a cut-off weight so that most passengers with bikes pay the excess weight fee anyway (their previous fee for bikes was coincidentally also $150).

[ryker]

An EVOC case weighs 20 pounds by comparison. My 60cm road bike in the case along with helmet and a couple tools comes in under 50.

[donevwil]

Originally Posted by ryker

An EVOC case weighs 20 pounds by comparison. My 60cm road bike in the case along with helmet and a couple tools comes in under 50.

Unfortunately an EVOC is soft sided and will be considered a "fragile" item by most airlines releasing them from liability should something happen. Ultimately not a big deal since no one should rely on an airline's damage liability coverage to make you whole again, but just another wrench in the spec. Not clear if this "fragile" designation affects baggage rate.

[sitzmark]

Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd

At first I was pretty excited, but my Thule case weighs 37 pounds without the bike so it will always be subject to the $150 surcharge since bicycles hit that level at more than 50 pounds.

Do you have the Thule Transition has d side? I have one and if I leave the work stand legs at home and pack my pedals (PTap P1 - i.e. heavy) in my carry-on I can easily come in under the 50lb cutoff. Just FYI.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

American Airlines will now charge standard baggage fees for bikes. Which means that bikes are now subject to oversized baggage fees. Any bag/case which has combined dimensions (length + width + height) of over 62" will incur a $200 oversized baggage fee. Which means just about any bike case for a standard sized bike.

So they actually raised the price $50? That's my old company! Always looking out for their passengers.

[ColonelJLloyd]

Originally Posted by sitzmark

Do you have the Thule Transition has d side? I have one and if I leave the work stand legs at home and pack my pedals (PTap P1 - i.e. heavy) in my carry-on I can easily come in under the 50lb cutoff. Just FYI.

No. Old school Thule 699 clam shell.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by makoti

So they actually raised the price $50? That's my old company! Always looking out for their passengers.

No, that was my mis-reading of the AA policy. The $200 oversized baggage fee applies to standard baggage, not sports equipment (such as bicycles). Under the new policy, the oversized baggage fee does not apply to bicycles, but there is a $150 fee if the bike + case exceeds 50 lb. (which will be exceeded with many, if not most, hard cases).

[cribbit]

Fly Alaska! It's always been no oversize AND no overweight fee for all sports equipment with them.