Easyjet & Bikes

Morning all,

Just been looking at flights this summer for a bike holiday and am getting confused regarding weight limits on Easyjet.

Looking at flying from Bristol to Geneva in September.

Whats the weight allowance and what do i need to book to ensure i don’t get stung upon checking in at the airport?

It’s too early in the day for me to think straight so i’m hoping you guys will help me!

Thank you,

Nick.

you’ll need the sportng equipment supplement at the least. Don’t be surprised if they screw you for more at the airport though…

Up to 32kg on top of your normal baggage [if you’ve paid for any]

If they think that you are using your bike bag to store extra clothing etc. they can get a bit arsey but usually are OK
I think they must send memos occasionally to the check in staff as they sometimes seem to have a purge
Last year at Luton we had to take our bikes out of the bags & remove & clothing

Don’t think easyjet even know themselves.

To be on the safest side, pre-book bike and keep all luggage under 32kg to avoid excess baggage

See here:
http://www.easyjet.co.uk/EN/Planning/baggage.html

HOWEVER:
If you look at carrier regulations:
http://www.easyjet.co.uk/en/book/regulations.html#baggage

Buried at the bottom of the page

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

If you’re going to wave this is front of them, I would make sure no clothing in bike bag. But i would argue, pads, tools etc are bike related, probably wrongly.

Never had a problem myself, 3 times from Belfast with bike, always over total 32kg, but single bag always under 32kg. But trips I’ve been on, others travelling form elsewhere have been stung, I think London easyjet airports seem to be the worst.

Some disagreement here:
http://www.mtbrider.com/mtbr/showthread.php?t=17843

From the Alpine Elements website…..

Easy Jet Bike Carriage Latest
Following some issues with regards to Bike Carriage and Easyjet during ‘Check in’, we have spoken to Easyjet, and they have informed me that you would be able to ‘Check in’ a total of 32 Kilos. This weight will need to take into account your hold luggage, and your Bike. I suggest you put all your bike equipment in the hold luggage, and your weeks worth of clothes, you pack into a Rucksack or bag with the following dimensions – 55x40x20cm .

If you go over 32 Kilos, beware, you will be charged excess luggage. I also suggest that you ‘check in’ extra extra early, as although you would have paid for Bike Carriage with your ticket it is at the discretion of Easyjet and their Check in staff whether they allow your bike on.

I hope this does not put you off your trip, but as long as you stay within the 32 kilos you should be fine. We would always advise clients check this with Easy Jet direct.
.
=http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/mountain-biking-holidays/bringing-bikes-with-you.html]

I’m flying Easyjet with my bike from Bristol to Geneva in a months time so if the above info is incorrect then I’ll report back.

You get the normal 20kg + 12kg if you pay the sporting goods supplement. I’ve never been able to stay within this limit but we’ve flown with them 4 times in the last two years and only got stung once for excess baggage – I think it just depends who is on the checkout desk at the time.

Thanks guys….Thats what i thought but wanted to check as this will be our first alps trip and want to get it right!

@enmac

Have a read of the carrier regulations posted above
As long as you only have a bike in your bag/box it can be up to 32kg without incurring excess charges – your other hold bag has to stay within the 20kg limit as no one can have more that 52kg total hold baggage
An Easyjet CS director explained it all to us last year at Luton when we had to take clothes out of our bags & put them in our main bag

I use clothes to pad the bike. What difference does it make what’s in the bag? Pointless rules get right on my mammaries they really do.

What difference does it make what’s in the bag?

From their POV – you could be using the exemption from excess charges relating to the bike to avoid excess charges on other hold luggage

I really dont think you can complain about easy jet and bikes, at 15 quid each way for a bike its a total steal and far less than all the non-budget carriers.

Its so cheap that if you do have non-bike realted excess baggage I would be tempted to pretend it is a bike, rather than paying their normal exorbitant excess baggage charges

“you could be using the exemption from excess charges relating to the bike to avoid excess charges on other hold luggage”

eh? like I said what difference does it make. I pay money, they take me and my big bag on the plane.

oh sorry forgot this is STW, of course some one WILL complain about it!!

think about it Dave

Excess charges are what? £6/kg
Mr & Mrs holiday maker have a suitcase that weighs 30kg – so £60 excess
Instead they say f*** that put some of it in a box & call it a bike – £15 instead of £60

Fly BA, all in all it’s cheaper. Flew Sleazy jet for years with the bike and got pi**ed off with being ripped off with different excuses every time. My BA flight to Geneva in June works out about £30 cheaper with sports equipment included (even with BA’s new weight policy). Sleazy jet rely on extra charges.

People get sucked into the fly for a quid crap (although great marketing), we all know what it ends up costing.

Chunky – that only works for flights out of London though, doesn’t it?

Thats great advice chunky….if BA use your nearest airport!

I live 5 mins walk from bristol airport so i incur zero travel/parking costs 🙂

I’ve only had good experiences with Easy Jet. Flew with the Stinky (which seems about as heavy as a bike can be) and was way overweight checking in at EMA. Easyjet’s opinion seemed to be that you’ve paid for sporting qeuipment so no problems. Oh, they’ll ask you if it’s just the bike in there, and according to their baggage policy it should just be the bike, so don’t tell they you’ve stuffed all your clotes, shoes and body armour in there too.

And at £15 each way you can afford to pay a little more excess baggage if you do get stung.

Check in early and smile nicely, and hold the end of your bike bag up while it’s on the scales. If you’re checking in as a group just tell them to weigh one bike as they’re all the same and pick the lightest.

With regards to BA, as I understand it their policy is that they don’t take any oversize baggage now, due to them operating from Heathrow T5 with the fancy new automated baggage system that doesn’t take anything bigger than a suitcase, so no skis, surfboards, kayaks, bikes etc, etc. That was certainly the case last year.

“I live 5 mins walk from bristol airport”

You live in the on-site car park?

Nickegg wrote…..

I live 5 mins walk from bristol airport so i incur zero travel/parking costs

.
Great, then you won’t mind me leaving my car on your drive for the first week of June whilst I’m living it up in Chamonix 😉

PS. It’s the morning flight I’m catching to Geneva so a cooked breakfast and a big jug of coffee would go down quite well 😉

@Driller – not the case anymore with BA at terminal 5. We flew out from there to the States three weeks ago – two bikes in bike bags, no charge, and no hassle either.

Flew from Bristol in March with a bike – I was a bit confused by the baggage allowances to. In the end I read it as 32kg total (hold + bike combined) but as I was taking a hard case bike box (14kg on it’s own) I was a bit worried I’d end up paying excess. In the end though I didn’t get charged (think it was around 34kg total I had). All I put in the bike box (besides the bike…) were cycling shoes and tools.

No, the car parking is across the road from me 😀

Oh, and i do offer car parking and taxi service to the airport for “free” 😉

email nickthoday@hotmail.com if interested.

BA – I flew out of T5 last year with an Orange 5 in a big bike bag and they were fine.

What are BA’s new weight policy, by the way?