14 of us going to Malaga. BA Group Bookings called to say actually they can only take 6 bikes on a Boeing 737(or Airbus 319). Rather surprised at that I have to say. Splitting the group means flights at silly o’ clock or on different days. Not impressed.

Anyone come across this with BA? Are Easyjet any better? Prices with Easyjet add-ons about the same as BA. Love the Easyjet bicycle policy of ‘no clothes in the bike bag’ btw…

I suspect they’ll all have similar policies. BA will be the only ones to tell you in advance though, the rest will just leave the extra boxes on the Tarmac for the next flight.

Going out to the alps last year easy jet put 24 bikes on our flight.

Love the Easyjet bicycle policy of ‘no clothes in the bike bag’ btw.

Wow. Even if its protective padding?

Thing is when you go its soo warm that you simply rewash what you’ve worn and hang it ready to wear again for the next day or so so you literally only need handluggage for your kit?

will depend on the plane and who else is going. Would you rather know now or when you land?

easyjet left half our groups bikes on the tarmac

i guess you have not seen the luggage space on a 737 ?

its not as big as you think and believe it or not – they dont design it for everyone taking a bike.

Easyjet holds are generally empty as everyone stuffs everything into those god-awful cabin bags on wheels.

at least they told you

every time Ive done a european event theres always a fair sized group of people whos bikes are sitting on the tarmac somewhere and who have had to desperately hire something for the etape/marmotte/PdS/etc etc at the last minute

Not just clothes actually. Anything other than the bike. Do they check?! I guess by sense of smell on the return flight 😉

Bicycles are permitted for carriage provided that specific criteria is met:

The bicycle must be packaged in a bicycle box or bag
Only one bicycle per box/bag is permitted
No other items can be carried in the bicycle box/bag (i.e. clothing)
The handlebars must be flush with the frame.
Pedals must be removed or flush against the frame

At a guess, rather than turn around times, BA flights most PAX will tend to take a hold case compared to a budget airline who take a premium for the pleasure.

Easyjet have never checked the contents of bike bags I’ve travelled with (and it’s usually full of clothes, helmets, tools, camelbak etc.). I have read some people have arrived only to find the bikes weren’t loaded as there wasn’t enough room but it’s rare – all down to how much hold luggage the other passengers are taking (paying for a bike bag isn’t a guarantee it will be on the plane unfortunately). Best avoid flying in a big group of cyclists and hope there’s not a big group of golfers/skiers etc. flying at the same time.

Airlines quite often carry up to 75% of their hold capacity as commercial cargo, so there may actually not be room for your bike after all. It’s not just passengers checked baggage that’s in there.

There were 12 bikes in the hold of the Air Transaat A330 that took us to Vancouver a couple of weeks ago.

I know this cuz the check in lady said “There’s a lot of bikes today. We’ve already had 4” as we rocked up with 8 more.

Canadian affair policy says only tell us in advance if there’s 10 bikes or more in your party.

We’ve flown BA before with no problem (a few years ago) and there were definitely more than 6 of us – we always travel mob handed!

Always had trouble with BA and sports equipment, includinbg being told that Terminal 5 at Heathrow cant cope with sports equipments, despite managing it for plenty of official teams. I have come to the conclusion that it is just code for “we dont want your business”.

“It’s not a bike, it’s bike components – you can’t make a fully working bike out of this.”

Problem solved.

Aer Lingus have a policy of no more than 4 bikes per plane.

No other items can be carried in the bicycle box/bag (i.e. clothing)

Interesting use of “i.e.” there instead of “e.g.”, doesn’t that result in it meaning that only clothing is forbidden? 😉

Surely this depends on whether you are taking your bike in addition to your normal luggage allowance?

When I’ve flown with bikes on BA recently, the bikes have always been part of my standard 2 bags per person allowance with no requirement to declare them in advance nor any extra to pay for the privilege.

So if you turn up with a bag of clothes and a bike in a bag, it’s no different to someone turning up with 2 suitcases.

If however this is on top of your allocated baggage allowance, I’d expect there will be limited room for additional baggage over and above each passengers individual allocation.

Easyjet I assume are different as there is no “allocation” as such of space for each passenger, they keep charging people for whatever they want to take until the aircraft is full (or as it seems here, until it is past full, and still keep charging!).

If containerised (think BA are) then you can only get four containers on an A319. One (or more likely two) containers have bags, the others will take the bikes and frankly I think stuffing six of them in is quite an achievement anyway.

I think you’re pushing it trying to get 14 bikes (and associated luggage) on an A319. How about half of you fly with EasyJet? (Bulk cargo so they’ll just stuff it in. Probably more risk of squished bike but higher chance they’ll all make it, given that Malaga tended to be a A320 route when I flew for EZY).

Nobeerinthefridge – Member
Airlines quite often carry up to 75% of their hold capacity as commercial cargo, so there may actually not be room for your bike after all. It’s not just passengers checked baggage that’s in there.

think this is the problem – airline perspective easy air cargo is attractive business – whims of passengers isn’t

edit think generally only applies major scheduled airlines hence flexibility of the likes of easyjet as they don’t have the commercial cargo commitments

Anyone know how many bikes an A340-600 will take? Taking two of mine on one next month, hoping there won’t be too many others.
Also, quite annoyed just now when I logged on to find out what sort of plane it has come down £300 since I booked…
Just relieved to find it’s not a Dreamliner though. Any of those still flying or are they all grounded at the moment?

Don’t know about BA, but flew Easyjet from Manchester – Geneva and back last week. Took bike with me in box. Found out that weight limit is 32kg (thought it was 35) and that my bag weighed 39 (as I’d packed everything in it with a view to stuffing the fullface in the rucksack if necessary). As it turned out they accepted the 39kg case at Mcr (not without some huffing and puffing), but the Swiss flat refused to take it – “32kgs or under or it doesn’t go on the plane” – despite me having reduced weight to 35kgs. This led to a frantic repack next to the check-in desk whilst my mate sniggered, but still managed to get some clothes in there and nobody from EJ gave a toss as long as it was below the weight threshold. FWIW there were about 10 bikes on the flight.

OP, when are you going?

32kgs or under or it doesn’t go on the plane

This is a health and safety thing I believe – not safe for handlers to lift more than that.

Its not an issue of how many bikes they can carry, its how many they are prepared to carry. Most flights make more money from underbelly freight than passengers, so they will allocate a limited amount of space for bikes as they wont be as valuable to the airline as the same volume taken up with iPods, or German sausages or whatever else it is they’re carrying. If you wanted to cram them in you could fit many more bikes in the underbelly of a 737. 4 bikes will probably take up about 1/2 of a pallet worth of space which will be all that the airline will be prepared to commit for bikes. It will be a policy that will vary from airline to airline.

Surely this depends on whether you are taking your bike in addition to your normal luggage allowance?

The bike is the only hold bag. So not over normal allowance.

OP, when are you going?

end of October

Looks like I will bump 8 poor souls onto Easyjet 🙁

I fly on the 19th Oct, hope you and your group don’t ruin my holiday – and probably others… Which obviously you haven’t given a thought to 😉

The bike is the only hold bag. So not over normal allowance.

So surely no problem? You don’t even need to tell them in advance what it is. Perhaps they are getting confused with your question and stating only a limited number of additional bikes can be carried. If it was me and my group I’d just be turning up with our bikes and expecting to fly, if there is any hassle just point them towards their own baggage rules which provide no exceptions when travelling with bikes. From the BA website this clearly states that it is part of your allowance (they then list bikes below this as qualifying for this criteria)…..

Many types of sports equipment can be carried as part of your free checked baggage allowance or as part of an additional purchased allowance if required. We’ll even accept some types of equipment over our standard checked baggage size.

We will only accept sporting equipment if it is packed appropriately (to avoid damage) and meets the given size and weight restrictions. Items over 23kg may incur a heavy bag charge. See our advice on specific types of equipment below for details.

Some sporting equipment is restricted for safety and security reasons. If your equipment isn’t listed below please get in touch to check if it can be carried.”

Also note this Guardian travel article on the subject

British Airways

Bikes go free as part of your normal checked-in allowance. You don’t even have to inform the airline in advance.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2012/jul/31/airline-bike-friendly

A while back flying from Bristol to toulouse just around etape du tour time with FlyBE in one of those train prop planes.

We’d all boarded when someone from BE came and told the six or so guys flying over for the etape that there wasn’t room for their bikes. They said they wouldn’t fly then but because we’d boarded, the airline wouldn’t let them off. Stand off ensued for 45mins at which point the airline / handlers agreed to unload and repack the hold and somehow found room for all the bikes and baggage

So surely no problem? You don’t even need to tell them in advance what it is.

Group Bookings asked about luggage and I said only one hold bag which would be a bike. They were fine with this for a few months but then recently got in touch to say there is a limit set by BA in terms of size of the bag/ box which is 175x103x30. I agreed we would be under this but then they checked on the number and came back with the 6 maximum thing because the route is served by smaller aircraft (737s and A319s).

So being aware of this I guess I’m reluctant to risk a stand-off at the airport with the possibility of seeing my bike sitting on the tarmac as we take off!

Good thing I didn’t mention that 12 of the 14 are 29ers/ 650bs or we might be one bike per flight 😉

Guys, come on, there’s no great consipracy here.
Facts are: if everyone turned up with a bike, they wouldn’t fit in the hold; there has to be a limit.

hora – Member

Thing is when you go its soo warm that you simply rewash what you’ve worn and hang it ready to wear again for the next day or so so you literally only need handluggage for your kit?

That’s a great theory until you’re riding down three thousand feet of mud in an Alpine thunderstorm.