I'm flying to the States on Wednesday but have not as yet prebooked my bike & box. Trailfinders who I bought my tickets through were keen I prebook, but I got the feeling it earned them comission.
I've turned up at check in before without prebooking and snuck my bike on without paying any excess.
Is this just wishful thinking just now, or should I pre-pay-book.
Flying Edin - New York - Portland
Which airline?
Depends on the airline, who are you flying with? Check their T&Cs online for information on sporting baggage.
Some airlines charge for bikes & extra bags and it can be cheaper to do this in advance online. In the past, I've taken my bike to North America on BA ($0) and Air Canada ($50) and just turned up, no problems.
Continental
I flew with continental on Tuesday, back home.
They charge you $100 each way. Even though their T&Cs state that they'll only charge if your bike weighs over 23kgs.
You can't book ahead with it, but they say unless there's a huge event on then they're usually able to take it.
Flew Continental last year, no charges at all on the out bound flight, but a $100 on the return.
American Airlines are the same and charge with the same consistency. It all depends on the check in agent.
Coming back from Calgary she told me she was going to charge me excess, and a bike fee, I told her I didn't get charged on the way there and she didn't charge me anything.
I always print out the Terms & Conditions to take with and argue my case, so many of the check in agents don't know their Airlines policy on bikes.
Thanks for that folks. Its a carbon road bike in a box so it should be pretty light. As I said in the OP I've flown out free before and had to pay on the return. I think its worth the risk. The bike box is only marginally bigger than a big suitcase.