Anyone had any experience of taking bikes with BA recently?

Its not very clear how much this is or if you have to pre book. I don’t think they will be too impressed if 7 of us turn up with bikes.

I was on a code share flight with BA for a sector recently- I think when I looked the charge was about £50, but when I checked in my luggage nobody mentioned it. Never pre booked either. (admittedly that was on a transfer).

Seven bikes shouldn’t really be a problem- have you seen how much sports equipment comes out of the oversized luggage pickup from some flights!

“I ain’t gettin’ on no plane!”

as long as your within your luggage weight limit there should be no problem

When we flew with the didn’t tell the and just turned up

You need to pre-book bikes, as you do with other sports equipment like golf clubs etc. There isn’t any problem with pre-booking, I can’t remember paying for it when I went with them a year ago to California but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t. I think you need to call a help line to make the booking.

Just be aware than some airports now (this is NOT a BA thing) won’t accept any bag that weighs more than 32kg, regardless of the excess charge. Geneva seems to be an issue here but I’m still not 100% clear on what they will and won’t take.

We didnt book ours seperate but didnt know about any weight limit but they wouldnt let our bikes on unless we payed about £200 each for excess baggage weight. 👿

I take a bike on a BA flight a couple of times a year and it’s no problem. In fact, 8 of us turned up to Heathrow with bikes last summer, no prior warning needed. Just pack your bike bag, make it up to (but not more than) 23kg with helmet, toiletries (v. important as this can’t go in the cabin), shoes etc. and it goes in the hold as your checked luggage. You can then take a cabin bag and a backpack as hand luggage for your clothes.

One word of warning, if they find any CO2 cartidges you’ll have to throw them away.

Right. Not sure I can pack my bag and gear for 23kg for a week away.

Right. Not sure I can pack my bag and gear for 23kg for a week away.

Then pay the £50 or whatever it is for an extra checked bag- i.e. your bike bag.

On a plus note…..if you fly with BA as I did last week…..they are currently showing Life Cycles under the sports section TV! 😆

Admittedly this was for a 5 day roadie trip so the bikes were lighter (allowing an extra couple of kg in the bike bag) but packing wasn’t a problem at all. You can fit a fair amount into a cabin bag and you can always wear what you can’t fit in (although you may come across some resistance from security while wearing full body armour).

Where are you going?

We went to the states a few years ago, they have a much more generous allowance in that direction. (2 large bags each in the hold)
We booked our bikes on, and had no issues. A nice lady even met us at Colorado to help us check in and make sure everything went smoothly.

We’re going to France (Nice) so doubt the customer service will be of that level.

Taken from BA (which is why I decided to fly with Virgin last year as it is completely free!)….

Sporting equipment

There is no additional allowance for sporting equipment (inc. bicycles), but it can be carried free of charge as part of your free checked baggage allowance.

If the total number of bags is more than your free checked allowance, you will need to pay extra bag charges.

So take you main bag under 23kg which is free – then add one additional bag (for the bike) and keep it under 23kgs which will be charged depending on the type of ticket you have, i.e. Euro Traveller UK Domestic = £30, Club Europe (2nd bag is free) or World Travller = £34.

But to get these prices you need to do it online through your ‘Manage Your Booking’ on BA.com – otherwise the charges are higher if you pay at the airport (i.e. £35, £35 or £40).

Just be aware than some airports now (this is NOT a BA thing) won’t accept any bag that weighs more than 32kg, regardless of the excess charge. Geneva seems to be an issue here but I’m still not 100% clear on what they will and won’t take

32kg is an international H & S standard and is the maximum weight for manual handling. If it’s more than 32kg it has to go cargo. This is stated in every airlines T & C’s.