shazzmo

Hey all,

I recently signed up to participate in a charity bike ride overseas this November (hey, when you're junior with vacation in NOV you gotta be creative!) and was wondering about various airline policies regarding baggage fees for jumpseaters.

I'm specifically interested in Delta, US Airways, and Continental's policies as they are the most likely airlines for me to fly. The bike is a regular racing bike which will be packed in a hard sided bike carrying case. The linear dimensions (WxHxL) do exceed 62 which seems to be a magic number in terms of fees for regular customers, according to the airline websites. Weight will be around 35-40 lbs. as the bike itself is a super light carbon fiber beauty.

If anyone could let me know about this I'd be most appreciative. I have found that some foreign carriers waive bicycle fees if you bring proof of participating in a ride for charity so I need to decided if I'm better off travelling on a ZED with a free ride for my bike, or Jumpseating and potentially paying some big time fees. Being a cheap pilot, I'm looking for the low cost solution

Thanks!!!

Kingjay

Have you thought about FedEx? they offer a great discount 75% to airline pilots probably wouldn't cost too much to ship it over that way. Might be something to consider.

YAKflyer

Delta will charge their own non-revs for bringing a bike along......somehow I don't think they'll let a jumpseater get off for free. Delta is $150 to check a bike domestic. I don't know what the charge would be for international.

shazzmo

Yep, shipping something that large, internationally, even with the discount is more expensive than paying the full baggage fees that passengers are charged. ($100 each way vs $300). Thanks for the input tho......

atldc9

Have you thought about renting one when you get there? Most big rides/races have lots of shops nearby with either rentals or demos available. Probably easier to rent then pack it up, ship it, put it back together, etc.

Hugh Jarse

Didn't I just read this on another forum?