Their website implies that you can take it in a box or a bag as part of your now optional checked luggage allowance on a European flight.
Has any one done it recently and do you have any positive or negative comments and tips?

I will be at the end of July!

Er… thanks for your valuable input 🙂

I flew with BA a couple of years back and that was the case. I had the bike in a bag and packed in all my clothes around it. I think as long as the total weight was under 30kg (?), size and contents were irrelevant.

My input isn’t particularly valuable either but I’ll keep an eye on this thread because I’m booked on BA in September – that was certainly my understanding of how it worked when I booked but I haven’t had the real life experience to check…

Yes, flew to Italy earlier in the year – very painless. Once you factor in Ryanair et al charging you £100 to take a bike somewhere it makes BA prices seem very reasonable.

Yes last year in August – taken as normal check in luggage “no hassle”.

I say in quotes as despite spending two hours dismantling bike, lots of pipe lagging and bubble wrap I still got a scratched rear shock which was my fault regarding packing. It was my first time flying always having driven before and I didnt have a proper flying bike bag (i used a duff bag which is great for car but not designed for flying) I’ll be back to driving again.

Thanks Sam. It appears myself and a few others shouldn’t be so sceptical. I suppose we have all got used to reading stories about Ryan Air charging for loo paper in the Daily Wail.
Brother in Law is flying out with a bike to join us in Italy tomorrow so I’ll update this thread to let other interested parties know how it went.

I travel with BA with my bike a couple of times a year (and will be again for the Maratona next week). You can check in the bike as your one piece of hold luggage, the weight limit for this bag is 23kg. If you have stuff you’re not allowed to take as hand luggage, toiletries, tools etc you will need to put those in the bag too. You can also take one piece of hand luggage (usual cabin bag size) plus a small rucksack (or handbag).

I spoke to them about this as I have a flight with them in August. They say that they allow one piece of luggage and so long as it fits the weight criteria they don’t care.

Last October. Treated as part of luggage allowance, so provided within your allocated luggage items and weight, no charge.

Sometimes it’s worth considering booking Club just for this. The cost of an Economy and Club ticket can be quite close if you end up paying excess baggage in Economy. The allowance in Club is usually double that of Economy.

@Mattk24

I did last month.

You’re correct. You can take a bike bag as part of your luggage allowance. However, you are only allowed one piece of checked in luggage and if you check in a bike bag then that’s that gone. This is on Economy.

Their hand luggage allowance is fairly generous. So you could try fitting your other items for your holiday into it.

Charges for exceeding the allowance (23kg) is a bit hit and miss too. We got charged out of the UK, but not inbound from Malaga. However, two guys on the same flight who checked in earlier weren’t charged despite their bags being over the limit both ways.

Tips:
– If you’re going with a mate then club together and get a spare piece of checked in luggage with all your kit in it.
– You can take your helmet in your hand luggage. Or at least I did with no problems.
– Baggage check in may be more lenient if you’re early.
– Definitely worth looking into whether you can go Club like the above has suggested.
– If you pay for banking with Barclays then you may be allowed to use the airport lounge.

We are paying for an extra piece of luggage between two of us.

And I’ve seen people boarding flights wearing their helmet so it counts as clothing rather than luggage (this was Ryanair…) my OH always takes his helmet as hand luggage, I usually put it in my case. Both work.

Yes at the beginning of march. £32 out £32 back. They treat bikes as extra bags just oversize, one of our party upgraded to business class as the extra bag is included
Always try to fly BA, cheaper than scumair and more convenient to Spain

As promised a quick update. It costs £20 each way to Italy and was completely painless. You just pre book a checked bag, check it in either in a proper bike box or in this case a cardboard box from the LBS. Get a baggage bar code at the check in desk, stick it on the box and take it to oversized luggage.