[Closed] Easyjet - do they ever weigh bike bags?

yes

Oh yes, and they check for anything thats not a bike in there as well!

Yes. But never had them look inside the bag. Edinburgh last three years

Yes. And they treat you like a PITA.

not when i went.

they did look in the bag there were extra bike bits but they didn't mind spare tyres etc.

yep, I paid £72 excess weight last year (at Luton). £9 a kilo.

I'm driving this year, in a bl00dy great big old Merc estate. I'm taking EVERYTHING !

Yes they do... varies on looking inside though. Some do, some don't. Pesronally I like EJ and bikes as its clear and transparent on their policy.

Yes but always nice 'n' light. Gatwick mainly. No issues, I like EJ.

Weight limit when you've paid for a bike is 20kg for your bag and 32kg for your bike with no extra charge (apart from the £15 or whatever bike fee). So you really shouldn't be short on weight.

See the end of section 10 here:
http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Book/regulations.html
Specifically this bit...
Passengers travelling with bicycles are recommended to check-in 2 hours prior to departure. Bicycles are subject to the sports equipment fee and exempt from any excess baggage charges relating to the weight of the bicycle.

The wording of the various bits is a bit ambiguous but this is right, these override any other details. People I know have been refunded if they were charged extra (excess baggage).

they didn't weigh either of my mates bikes, which were in boxes (and at least 5kg heavier than mine) - but they did weigh mine and charged me £30 excess! Bastids

Second what steveh said. My bike bag was 31.8 kgs last year. I got a small telling off for being so heavy and carrying stuff in the bag that wasn't bike but they're small print says that you don't need to pay extra weight if you'd paid for bicycle carriage.

I didn't pay extra in Brizzle, I was also delighted to find the box opened and the first sign of it when I'd arrived in Madrid was the baggage truck driving away! (cue me shouting through the conveyor flaps and a fella running off after it!). I wasn't annoyed though, at least they had the courteously to open the box for me and have a good root around.

Mine was around 28kg last time I flew, didn't get weighed in Bristol but the case got covered in whining stickers about the weight on the way back pffft

steveh - read it again, paying the fee for the bike increases your total checked in baggage allowance to 32kgs - it doesn't add 32kg to the 20kg. So if you have a normal bag and a bike, the total allowance is 32kgs.

I got done in Geneva last year - but refunded as they got their own rules wrong.

beej,

Trust me its 50kg in total (not quite the 52kg as stated above)

Bicycles are subject to the sports equipment fee and exempt from any excess baggage charges relating to the weight of the bicycle.

First time flying with the bike this year with Easyjet from Liverpool. I was planning on putting, camelbak, tools (to put bike back together), full facer, tubes, armour all in with the bike. All riding clothes I'll put in with my normal luggage.

Seems like I may not get away with that, bit of a mixed bag really.

Guessing most of you have bike covered on the House Insurance for flying, in case it turns up a different shape ?

yawn, how many times do we have to have this!!

The bike can be upto 32kg, the max permisable weight for a single item. You pay £18 for this.

Any other hold bags are unaffected by this.

Personally I take my bike box with a few cheeky heavy things in it like shoes and tools, and carry all my light clothes etc as carry on. Never been stung. The only person I have seen to have probs was a chap whose bike weighed 35kg!

Yup beej you're wrong. Is says what you have stated in the area about additional baggage item but the piece I quote is from the carriers regulations which DO override anything else.

You WILL get refunded if they charge you on the basis of what you believe and complain (don't know how long you have to complain though).

It looks quite clear from the website:

From - [b][url= http://easyjet.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2838/session/L3NpZC9XQTFfUEpYag%3D%3D/kw/bike/r_id/166/sno/1 ]Relevant bit Easyjet Website[/url][/b]

Bicycles

Carriage of bicycles:

* The bicycle must be packaged in a bicycle box or bag
* Only one bicycle per bicycle box or bag will be permitted
[b] * No other items can be carried in the bicycle box (i.e. clothing)[/b]
* The handlebars must be flush with the frame
* The pedals must be flush against the frame or remove

Passengers travelling with bicycles are recommended to check-in 2 hours prior to departure.

[i]Slightly[/i] OT, but does anyone know whether EJ are the same on skis / ski bags??

Taking a late trip to Italy next week and have booked in one hold bag and two ski bags for me and mrs rkk01. Seeing as our boots have to go in the main hold bag, we were planning on adding stuff to the ski bags up to the 20kg skis limit....

@beej

this has been done a few times now - I'd say use the search if there was a usable one

Anyway, there's been various emails from EJ & I've spoken face to face with one of their directors at Luton, someone even got a refund after reading one of the threads & back-claiming it

What steveh & others have said here is correct

rkk01- if you pay for skis, that covers you for ski bag and a boot bag.

Several times Gatwick to Nice.....

Gatwick staffed by gram counting pedants.
Nice - piff paff poof pas de problem. Continuation of gossip with colleague.

Seems to depend who you get behind the counter. Arrive early early early, and remember that airport scales magically add about 20% to the weight of anything. I have never paid a penny in excess baggage.

Keep your hold bag at 10kgs and your bike bag as low as you can to be safe, they say 32kgs but the special airport scales will weigh it over.

Get your Bird to show a bit of leg and flash that blonde hair around. Can't hurt...

rkk01- if you pay for skis, that covers you for ski bag and a boot bag.

Doesn't look like it - ski boots are specifically excluded from sports equipment! and have to be checked in separately as ordinary hold baggage!

out to gran canaria with bikes (luton) no problem at all.

back from GC to luton... MASSIVE problems.

had to wear everything i owned (helmet etc!) then put half of bike kit in hand luggage and general mass swap around.

right faff.

rkk01- where does it say they are excluded?

rkk01- where does it say they are excluded?

OK, I mis-read their conditions - "if travelling with boots only..." ie no skis.

But then again, I can't see anything in theirs Ts & Cs that states boots are included if you pay for carriage of skis.

Thanks all (or most, anyway)

The baggage guidance says sporting goods increase your TOTAL weight to 32kg for hold bags, which was the worry.

The notes on bicycles in the carrier's regulations add the crucial bit highlighed by steveh and rock3gozy about bikes being exempt from excess weight charges.

Anyway carriers regs printed out, highlighted and ready to wave in the direction of the check-in crew if we get into problems.

If anyone else wants it, see "carriage of bicycles" immediately (ominously?) above this bit in baggage regs:

http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Book/regulations.html#lostbaggage

I hope 25kg of a bike in a bag plus about 12-15kg of hold baggae should be fine and dandy.

The reality really is you are at the mercy of the check in staff and their supervisors.

They seem to interpret the rules as they please, and i've seem people be polite but argueing their case, to the other end of the scale of shouting abuse, both getting nowehere, and then the same story with the supervisor.

Best bet is to get there nice & early, put your charming hat on and be armed with your T&C's and hope you haven't got a stroppy orange Umpa Lumpa behind the desk.

They tried to do me for excess weight fees a few years back and I politely but firmly stood and argued to the point where the check in person couldn't catagorically tell me I wasn't right...so they waived the fee. On the way back (Geneva) they made me unpack the bike bag and I then had to repace in 2 mins what had taken me 20 mins previously.

It is for these reasons that I now hire when we go abroad. In Sept we are back off to JoyRiders and I will be hiring from them for the second time. I know that £150 for the week might seem like a lot to pay for the hire when I own my own bikes, but saving the extra equipment costs plus all the airport hassle is well worth it; plus a bike will be waiting built up ready for me in Spain!

I'm flying from Liverpool this weekend with Easyjet, done it many times and always been confused with weight limits. I've also been stung for overweight charges when I've been over 32kg, and paid for a bike.
The way I looked at it, adding a bike adds 12kg to the 20kg normal allowance.
[i]

Payment of the additional fee increases your checked-in hold baggage allowance (including additional item) to a maximum weight of 32kgs.
Where your total checked-in hold baggage weighs more than 32Kgs, normal excess baggage charges as set out above shall apply in addition to the
above fee.

Always droppped on lucky, Get first in the queue so they see loads of other people waiting and just want to get you shifted and booked in. Also flying back from Malaga and Geneva we got some newbies on the desk, "Are they paid for" pointing at the bike bags, "Yep" i replied he just then pointed over to the oversized baggage area and off we popped. Was funn that my mate had packed his bike chain in his carry on bag, this didnt go down too well and he emerged 15 mins lates from a side room looking a little sheepish!!!

We dont speak about that! 😀

vim_fuego - you're wrong. The cycling T&Cs show this. However if you're worried drop a email to them via the website, they'll take a couple of days to confirm but then you'll have it in writing. I've done for the last three times i've flown with them, and every time they've confimed its 20kg hold + 32kg bike.

Direct from Easyjet T&C's, bottom of section 10 here:

http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Book/regulations.html#baggage

(1) Carriage of bicycles:

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

Passengers travelling with bicycles are recommended to check-in 2 hours prior to departure. [u][b]Bicycles are subject to the sports equipment fee and exempt from any excess baggage charges relating to the weight of the bicycle.[/b][/u]

Ewan, tragically1969,
I certainly don't mind being wrong on this one, but where does it say you can take onboard 52kg, I've scoured the easyjet website.

This was done to death months ago, you will just have to believe us we are right, i had to be convinced last year too.

You are allowed 20kg checked luggage, you paid for a bike, that can be up to 32kg and is exempt from excess luggage charges, it cant be any clearer than that

I went to the alps last year with the mountain bike, 25kg packed including spares and bag, 18kg of luggage, no excess charges and all weighed and accepted no problems

Just print the T&C's that i linked to, hightlight the part about no excess for bikes and if you get any trouble at check in, be polite, reference them to the T&C's and smile smugly, but not too smugly as they dont have to take you if they really dont want to !!

[i]I must have missed that thread.
Could you just highlight the bit I need to highlight in the T & C.
Apologies for being dumb, plus I've just come back from the pub, so even dumber.

I have underlined it and its in bold in my post above

Each passenger is allowed a maximum hold baggage weight of 50 Kgs including any sports equipment, subject to available space. The maximum weight for any single piece of baggage is 32 kgs.
An additional non-refundable fee is charged per item per flight for the carriage of the sporting equipment as set out in the table below:
Currency Per flight (when pre-paid) Per flight (paid at the airport)
GBP 18.50 26.00
EUR 25.00 35.00
CHF 39.00 54.00
DKK 190.00 255.00
CSK 690.00 970.00
HUF 6,600.00 9,200.00
PLN 100.00 140.00
SKK 935.00 1,265.00
MAD 275.00 380.00

OK so 50kg, with 32kg max weight for a single piece of baggage (ie the bike). Seems fairly straight forward, until you read the very next paragraph:

Payment of the additional fee increases your checked-in hold baggage allowance (including additional item) to a maximum weight of 32kgs.
Where your total checked-in hold baggage weighs more than 32Kgs, normal excess baggage charges as set out above shall apply in addition to the above fee.

So now the max weight, including additional you paid for is 32kg, eh??

Its really simple.

[b]Standard hold allowance = 20kg
Sports equipment charge (£16.50 each way)= +12kg included. Anything over charged per kg.
Unless you've got a bike (£16.50 each way) = +30kg included

No single bag can weigh over 32kg for H+S reasons[/b]

Ah, hang on... so you pay the fee to be able to take 50kg max, but you still have to pay excess baggage fees per kilo over 32kg. Except that bikes are exempt from excess baggage. 🙄

The sporting equipment increases the amount of weight you can carry before having to pay any excess weight charges.

So you'd have to 4x the kg rate if you had a normal suitcase and some skis totalling 36kg, but nothing for a case and bike as long as its under 50kg in total (and they can tell you to bin any wieght over that!)