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Hey
Just had a great experience taking my bike on British Airways and wanted to pass on the feedback. I looked for some on the forum before I flew but advice was thin to come by hence I thought I'd add this.
Flew from Glasgow to Gatwick then Gatwick to Toulouse both flights with BA. Can't recommend them enough! From check in at Glasgow to picking up my bags at Toulouse everything went perfectly. The things that impressed me the most were.
Taking the bike was completely free and didn't count towards my normal hold baggage allowance. They didn't even bother weighing it which was a relief seeing as I had every bit of bike related tools/clothing/equipment I own stuffed into it.
Checked all bags straight through to Toulouse. Made life at Gatwick a piece of cake.
All bags, including the bike, turned up at Toulouse on the carousel (didn't require to go to overweight/special collection or the like.
Bikes in perfect nick. The frame was bubbled-wrapped beyond belief however, I was pretty worried that the wheels would get buckled. The bag was of the soft shell variety and while I reinforced it with cardboard It could still have happened if something relatively heavy had been placed on top. Happy to say everything’s as true as ever.
So. In summary.
British Airways + Bikes = Very Positive Experiance.
Shouldn't that be:
Baggage handlers at Glasgow, Gatwick and Toulouse (on that particular day when none of them were hungover or at the end of their shift) + Bikes = Very Positive Experience?
Unless you're another one of these people who would rather pay more for the flight and get the bike taken for free and really rate that part of the experience.
Every time i've entrusted my bike to those morons they have lost it. Waiting for 8 days of a 3 week holiday in New Zealand really made me angry.
It could have been worse Stuart, you could have ended the holiday by breaking your back.
It was still a good trip!
I'd rather pay more for my flight so that I'm treated like a human rather than livestock.
But yes I agree with your comment about the baggage handlers. Lucky me.
My wife does the Gatwick-Glasgow and Gatwick-Toulouse flight. You never know she might have been the one flying the plane!
Unfortunately I think that bike bags on planes has a lot more to do with the temperament of the staff at that particular airport. Flying from Gatwick with a bike bag has never been a problem with any airline. But flying back from Geneva is a ****ing nightmare as the pseudo Nazi staff get all ****ing arsey about how much the bag weighs. I wouldn't mind if the situation was consistent between aiports but its not - you can be fine at one end and then get stiffed at the other even thought its the same ****ing bag.
It's a ****ing lottery!
Good to hear you had a positive experience. I regularly take bikes to and from South Africa and, fingers crossed, I have never had a bad experience.
I've used Air Frace, Lufthansa, Virgin and before they went under, Nationwide.
baggage handlers at Gatwick? Fine as long as you're not in a window seat watching them 'load' your bike on the plane. Big heave and throw over the shoulder onto the tarmac. Pick it up, drop it. Swing it into the hatch, miss, drop it. Try again, succeed. Thank god I padded it well. I'm starting to think there's something in this 'just put it in a transparent plastic bag' idea. At least then (despite all the stickers you may have pointing out the obvious) they can SEE it's a bike and therefore may treat it with some care.
I actually flew with BA from Nice to Heathrow once and didn't have a box or bag for my bike. I let the air out of the tyres, handed it over and expected it to be handed back to me trashed.
Imagine my surprise when the nice baggage chap at Heathrow wheeled my bike (with bars straightened and tyres re-inflated) back to me in one piece and undamaged.
Saying that though I did have a serious bit of damage done to one bike that was well padded & packed but BA sorted it all out in record time and gave me 2 free flights to say sorry.
I'd rather pay the extra.