Euro Airline travel with Bike

[54-46]

I’m optimistic that I’ll be able to get to Italy by June, 2021 and registered for the Hero Dolomites Ride. http://www.herodolomites.com/en/the-race/courses

Anyone have tips for traveling with a bike to Europe? Airlines to avoid?

[54-46]

Nevermind - buddy will line me up with a suitable rental. But, am still sort of curious...

[toast2266]

I went to France with a bike last year. Used an Evoc bag. Flew Westjet. I think I might have paid $80 on the return flight for the oversize bag, but iirc I got away without paying on the way there. As I recall, there are a few airlines that bend you over pretty good on the oversize bag charge, so check the fine print. And watch for weight limits - some of the airlines have pretty high weight limits (as much as 100lbs). Some are much lower (50lbs). 50lbs is doable with just a bike, but by the time you put some tools in, maybe an extra tire or two and some spare parts, you're over 50lbs pretty quickly. But for the most part, it seemed like flying with a bike is actually easier / cheaper internationally than it is on domestic flights.

Overall, it was pretty easy. The biggest hassle was once we got there - bringing a bike on the metro train was a pain in the ass, but getting a taxi big enough to carry bikes was too expensive / an even bigger hassle. Also, not sure about Italy, but in Paris, watch out for pickpockets on the train - they'll nab your shit while you're preoccupied dealing with your giant luggage. The guy next to me on the train had his phone stolen.

[bennymac]

Agree with what Toast posted. Flying the bike is easy once you’ve done the research on how much it’s gonna cost you. Every airline good or bad will end up fucking you on occasion but if you know the rules in advance you can minimize that hassle.

Once you land in Europe it’s getting that bike and bike bag around (small taxis + small apartments + no elevator etc) that’s more of a hassle.

Looks like a cool event to do.

[toast2266]

(small apartments + no elevator etc)

I have fond memories of dragging a bike bag up 5 flights of narrow, spiral stairs at our hotel in paris.

We booked the place because it advertised having an elevator. The elevator was barely big enough to fit one person, let alone a bike bag.

[alpinevibes]

We took our mountain bikes in hard cases on a northern hemisphere trip a few years back. It was a bit convoluted, but lots of different airlines and policies:

Denver-Anchorage on Alaska, a week later Anchorage to Reykjavik on Iceland Air, week later Reykjavik to Trondheim on Iceland. Home Oslo-Frankfurt-Houston on Lufthansa then Houston-Denver on a United.

I’d looked at shipping to Norway and renting in Norway and both would’ve cost a few grand for our ~10 days of riding there. I’d figured max cost flying with the bikes would be ~$1500. We paid $75 per bike on Alaska and that was the only charge for the whole trip. Iceland and Lufthansa were super nice and just counted the hard cases as normal luggage. Probably not normal, but everyone we dealt with was chill.

Of note: United in Houston tried to charge us $200/each but I called their bluff/ignorance by pulling up the international airline rules which dictate that the original carrier’s baggage policy carries through a whole itinerary with multiple carriers. Can be important, depending on your itinerary.


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[bennymac]

United charged me $100 for flying international and then when I tried to fly home they said $200.

I tried to plead my case but when you’re flight is boarding and you just want to go home and the checkin dragon is not budging and there’s a lineup of people behind you I didn’t have much for options except to pay up.

Not that United is known for customer service and satisfaction. I stand by my earlier comment that even the best airline will sometimes fuck you over (I’m talking about the big major international airlines). If an airline treats you right 95% of the time I think that’s the best one can hope for unless you have status with that airline - in that case you will still get fucked at the same rate but they will at least listen to your complaint and maybe remedy the situation.

/rant

[Benny Profane]

I agree that the big issue is getting a bike around once you've landed. You can't rent a small car because you need room for the bike case and luggage. Rent, it will be a whole lot easier. Rentals may be hard to find up in the Dolomites around Hero time, so maybe look at a rental in a place along the way up.

Lots of e mountain bikes for rent in Europe.

[plugboots]

Also pay attention to the code share. Sometimes there are three or four airlines code sharing the same flight, and usually the prices are near identical. Book with the airline that has the best baggage policy.

[summit]

It doesn't matter who you bought the ticket from, what the codeshares are, or anything like that.

Baggage fees apply based on the majority carrier: the carrier's metal you're flying in for the majority of the that itinerary leg in terms of distance. If your first flight on a leg is with a minority carrier with a favorable policy and they have an Interline agreement on the luggage then you will likely get away with the better charge. If they have a worse policy, then you're going to have to raise a stink to get them to honor the majority carrier policy. On an international trip, if your first flight is domestic, you might be inadvertently charged the domestic extra fees instead of the higher international, as bennymac was.

United really really hates bikes. They are probably the worst out there as they'll hit you with oversize fees, which are extraordinarily high at $200 domestic and Europe. They'll also do overweight fees on top of it which can be another $100 (domestic) to $200 (europe) for 51-70lbs unless you have status or class. 60lbs bike bag is technically $400 each way for United to Europe.

Sometimes it is worth it to upgrade to biz/first because the upgrade fees are the same or less vs baggage fees and you usually get a 70lbs weight allowance depending on the airline.

[54-46]

I agree that the big issue is getting a bike around once you've landed. You can't rent a small car because you need room for the bike case and luggage. Rent, it will be a whole lot easier. Rentals may be hard to find up in the Dolomites around Hero time, so maybe look at a rental in a place along the way up.

Lots of e mountain bikes for rent in Europe.

My buddy in Parma will be lining up a rental for me and we’ll take it from there. Now all I have to do is train and get there