How to.... Take your bike on a plane

[fatbikerbill]

So far I have never plucked up courage to fly with a bike.

Please could people offer their wisdom and experience.

Some questions are :

Recommended airlines
Excess baggage.
Packing the bike. If cardboard box how do you bring the bike back?
If bike bag, what to do with the bike bag when you arrive, assuming you are not hiring a car and riding from the airport.

Thanks.

[Taylor]

Answering your questions in order.

I've only flown with easyJet, United and air Canada. Not had a problem with the airlines themselves although the baggage gorillas at each airport are a different story.
Ripped bike bag but fortunately nothing missing, smothered the the thing in duct tape for the return journey.

Depends what you mean by excess baggage? Overweight bike bag or extra hold bag. If you don't take the Mickey you can pack your bike bag out with extras like clothing, riding shoes, etc

Find a local bike shop, email them and ask if there's any chance you can get rid of a bit of their cardboard waste on the day you want to travel.
Which business doesn't want free waste collection?

When we did the Tuscany trail we landed in the evening, I'd booked a hotel for the night, which was about 1k from the airport and stayed the night there and built my bike up, they kindly stored our bike bags for the week on a promise we'd stay there the last night before our morning flight the next day.
They charged us the princely sum of €1 for the week per bike bag/case.

[Cheeky Monkey]

Always put spacers in the frame and forks if you have taken the wheels out to avoid crush damage.

[Dave Barter]

To add to Taylor's most excellent response.

I've found British Airways and Westjet to be good. In all my years nobody has ever cared about the weight of mine, I'm sure its happened to others but I've been over 24Kg loads of times and got through.

Coming back from Spain we just wrapped our bikes in polythene. Did the same from Belfast with Ryanair a few years back. I had no problems with this as my bike was loaded last, I know this as it came out first.

Be careful not to pack CO2 or gas (stove) by accident

[Dyffers]

Packing the bike.

Suitcase test-pack March 2021 800x600.jpg (119.21 KiB) Viewed 1805 times

Don't take the wheels, makes it much easier to pack.

(Sorry, not helpful...photo from early 2021 when I had to do 14 days isolation in a hotel room abroad and spent 25 hours on Zwift, woo effing hoo)

[summittoppler]

Only done Iceland with the bike, so here's my bit...
•Recommended airlines
Flew with Easyjet. No issues except don't put your tent pegs or torque wrench in your hand luggage!

•Excess baggage.
Going out was fine as I could weigh the box at home, however on the return we (JC & me) had to pay extra as we were over. Forgot how much though.

•Packing the bike. If cardboard box how do you bring the bike back?
I used a large bike box from my LBS and as we hired a car over there, we kept the boxes in the guys garage for the week. When initially packing the bike in the box, I made some additions like adding kingspan insulation to parts of the box for added protection.


...would be nice to go back...

[woodsmith]

All the usual things, pedals off, bars turned ( or even off if wide flat bars) front wheel off. Deflate tyres if using tubes. If tubeless just let them down to a bit lower than the lowest you would ride them on. Its a BS rule and it doesn't say deflate completely :)
I've only used Turkish Airlines. £30 quid per flight and sometimes they have offers for free luggage especially on internal flights. 23kg limit like the others but I've found that by the time you have the bike + box + all the stuff you can't have in hand luggage like tent poles, pegs, knife, tool kit, chain lubr, latex, stove, poop trowel etc that you're getting close to the limit anyway.
I take off the front disc ( 6 bolt) and stow it in the frame bag. All the bottles of lube and latex I stow inside a wide mouth kleen kanteen under the downtube. On one previous flight they were in the frame bag and showed up on the x-ray. the operator wanted to know what they were and was a bit dubious about chain oil.
Some airports as well as airlines have a different bike policy. gatwick at one time only allowed bikes in bags.
I believe that the TSA in the USA routinely opens bike boxes and removes everything but seem ok ar repacking. I've no idea if this is on departure or arrival or both, or whether its domestic or international or both.
I have rebuilt my bike both before and after passing through customs. I'm always paranoid that some drug dealer is going to use me as their unwitting mule and drop something into the box through the hand hold openings :)
Local bike shop for a box for the return flight. Stores selling washing machines etc are a good source of cardboard if you need to improvise. Thankfully I haven't needed to resort to this yet.

[In Reverse]

Where are you thinking of going Bill?

I've never had any bother. Usually use a cardboard box as it's easier in many ways - you can fold it up and put it in a left luggage locker at the airport then ride straight off. Or if you're flying into and out of different airports you can bin the box then get another from a friendly bike shop somewhere near your departure point.

Tom's got a nice bag that fits a XL 29+. Well, strictly speaking I've currently got it...

[ootini]

Only done Iceland with the bike, so here's my bit...
•Recommended airlines
Flew with Easyjet. No issues except don't put your tent pegs or torque wrench in your hand luggage!

•Excess baggage.
Going out was fine as I could weigh the box at home, however on the return we (JC & me) had to pay extra as we were over. Forgot how much though.

•Packing the bike. If cardboard box how do you bring the bike back?
I used a large bike box from my LBS and as we hired a car over there, we kept the boxes in the guys garage for the week. When initially packing the bike in the box, I made some additions like adding kingspan insulation to parts of the box for added protection.


...would be nice to go back...

Not to hijack the thread, but I'd love to visit Iceland. Did you plan a route in advance, or have some local assistance? Or did you just arrive and wing it?

[fatbikerbill]

Thanks all.

Good to know about the tent pegs and gas cans. The latter fairly obvious but tent pegs, less so.

I do like hotel on arrival and departure idea. A bit of comfort, clean clothes and a shower.

Andy, I too have a bike bag, a rather tired fat bike bag, but never used by me.

I'll carry on dreaming for now. Do I do part of the ht550 or do I pop over to Italy. Rain or sweat in the eyes?

[Teaman]

Good to read the various replies.

My first time of flying with my bike was a few months ago when I had to get back from Spain. I liked the idea of a big bag over the bike but eventually ended up boxing it up. Fortunately Ryanair don't specify a max. box size, so I got the biggest box going from a Spanish bike shop that measured a whopping 190x21x118 ! (This is significantly larger than most other airlines specify). This made it relatively easy to get my XL MTB in with the front wheel removed. However, I then had to search online for a taxi van that would accomodate such a large box and that was a 9 seater and it only just went in there with all the seats folded flat. The fun didn't stop there, as when I got to Alicante airport, the box wouldn't fit through the normal scanning machine. I was taken behind the public area where we then tryed to get it on and through their biggest scanning machine and it was too big. However a wise and/or experienced member of staff came up with a way of supporting it at an angle (resting on the trays that you normally fill with your metal objects etc) and we just managed to get it through The bike arrived safe and well at Bournemouth airport without any damage.
I had gone out via the ferry to Santander which was very simple and no dismantling required

I am planning on picking up a more normal sized cardboard bike box next week so that I can practice packing the bike in there. I'm not looking forward to having to get it into a smaller box but need to make sure I can do it in preparation for flying to Spain for the Spanish Divide in a few months. I will be flying with Vuelilng who specify the bike must be in a box whereas quite a few airlines state a box or bag. I will make some enq's to see if they will allow a bag as it will possibly make things simpler at both ends but possibly put the bike at more risk of damage.

Anybody flown with Vueling and not used a box for their bike?

[Mr conners]

Leave the rear wheel on, this saves loads of hassle. Remove mech and chain and cable tie mech safely to chain stay. Remove bars and cable tie to top tube ( pad this with bubble wrap first). If you can get some of the packing and plastic bits that come with new bikes from your LBS that will really help pack out wheels and splint your forks. I've travelled about 15 times with my bike and always seem to do it differently every time.
Good luck.

[woodsmith]

Be careful not to pack CO2

I've often seen this repeated but it would appear to be a myth. According to the Civil Aviation Authority they are allowed in checked, carry-on, and on the person but need airline approval. They do appear to by banned by the TSA in the USA though.

https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/before ... n-baggage/

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-scr ... nd-camping

it also states that previously used stoves can not be taken in checked or carry-on but I've personally never had a problem with this.

[whitestone]

Be careful not to pack CO2

I've often seen this repeated but it would appear to be a myth. According to the Civil Aviation Authority they are allowed in checked, carry-on, and on the person but need airline approval. They do appear to by banned by the TSA in the USA though.

https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/before ... n-baggage/

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-scr ... nd-camping

it also states that previously used stoves can not be taken in checked or carry-on but I've personally never had a problem with this.

I think the "previously used stoves" refers to the old style Bluet cylinders that the stove punctured rather than screwed on to.

A quick search about CO2 cartridges suggests that they are more sensitive to excessive heat than a low external pressure, even in outer space there's only around a 1% increase in pressure difference between the inside and outside of the cartridge - the gas is typically at 100-140 bar, the external atmosphere is 1 bar at sea level and zero in space - I'd hope that there's (a lot) more safety margin in what they can withstand.

[woodsmith]

Be careful not to pack CO2

I've often seen this repeated but it would appear to be a myth. According to the Civil Aviation Authority they are allowed in checked, carry-on, and on the person but need airline approval. They do appear to by banned by the TSA in the USA though.

https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/before ... n-baggage/

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-scr ... nd-camping

it also states that previously used stoves can not be taken in checked or carry-on but I've personally never had a problem with this.

I think the "previously used stoves" refers to the old style Bluet cylinders that the stove punctured rather than screwed on to.

As the fuel canisters are not allowed to be carried I can't see their style being relevant.
From the CAA banned list :
Item Details
Camping stoves – gas or flammable liquid fuelled Stoves that have been used or are new and have their fuel attached, are normally not permitted; however, there are some circumstances when stoves hat have been completely purged fully clean of fuel can be carried.

[whitestone]

I think we are misunderstanding one another.

The key word in that sentence is "and" - "Stoves that have been used or are new and have their fuel attached". A typical modern gas stove burner is simply a lump of metal that attaches to the cylinder, the fuel is so volatile that just removing the burner from the cylinder effectively purges it. The old style Bluet stoves meant that you had to leave the cylinder attached until all the fuel was exhausted, obviously with screw on style stoves that isn't the case. Also there are the old Primus/Optimus stoves where the fuel tank is permanently fixed to the burner.

I've carried gas and petrol (MSR X-GK) stoves without their fuel sources and had no problem. I must have taken the fuel bottle for the MSR but I will certainly have purged it - emptying it and then leaving it open in a shed for a couple of days will do that.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Last time I flew with a bike was about 5 years ago. I had one of those big plastic CTC bags. Once landed, I folded it up and used it as my tarp / shelter ... I'd preciously fitted some eyelets to it. Didn't have any problems at all and it meant that I always had a means to 'package' my bike should something unforeseen happen.

Sorry, no idea if the airlines are still happy with such things.

I carried my front barbag as hand luggage as it contained my quilt and mat - the thinking was that should my bike go missing, I'd at least have something to kip in.

[woodsmith]

I think we are misunderstanding one another.

The key word in that sentence is "and" - "Stoves that have been used or are new and have their fuel attached". A typical modern gas stove burner is simply a lump of metal that attaches to the cylinder, the fuel is so volatile that just removing the burner from the cylinder effectively purges it. The old style Bluet stoves meant that you had to leave the cylinder attached until all the fuel was exhausted, obviously with screw on style stoves that isn't the case. Also there are the old Primus/Optimus stoves where the fuel tank is permanently fixed to the burner.

I've carried gas and petrol (MSR X-GK) stoves without their fuel sources and had no problem. I must have taken the fuel bottle for the MSR but I will certainly have purged it - emptying it and then leaving it open in a shed for a couple of days will do that.

The wording is ambiguous at best and can certainly be read more than one way. I've also taken a recentley used petrol stove, Soto Muka, on a plane without any problem. I left the bottle in the sun for a day but it still had a definite waft of fuel to it. Fitted the pump to the fuel bottle and triple zip-loc bagged it.
On the other hand I did know of someone who had their MSR pocket rocket confiscated from their luggage in New Zealand.

[whitestone]

Yeah, definitely, probably written in a way to give airlines flexibility.

Anyway back on topic...

I've used both cardboard boxes and dedicated bike bags to ship bikes. Not had a problem with either but both have had some oddities:

We flew to Cyprus using cardboard boxes for the bikes and didn't get charged in either direction (this was ten years ago) while another couple who we were biking with and were on the same flights who were using bike bags did get charged. We padded the bikes with pipe insulation from B&Q.

When we went to Geilo for the Fat Viking we flew to Oslo. On the return the airline used a smaller plane and had to check that our bike bags (the big ChainReaction ones) would fit through the hatch! Fortunately they did

In Peru we were flying in a large (20 or so) group from Cusco to Lima and the check-in clerk decided that we couldn't lump all the bike bags together and was going to charge us an extortionate amount of excess baggage so we played awkward buggers and put all the bags through separately and ended up paying excess on only a couple of them - I think that backfired on her

These days it seems there's a standard charge and you are lucky to avoid it, if you are unlucky the check-in clerk has had to deal with a load of awkward passengers before you. I have been asked at the oversized baggage scanner if there were any containers of oil in the bag so probably worth leaving things like that out.

[woodsmith]

There's definitely an element of luck of the draw with check-in staff and scanner operators.

[Tanglefist]

I've always used the CTC bike bag, then just taking it with me. I just wanted to repeat Mr conner's point about removing the rear mech/hanger. My buddy almost had a tour ruined when his partner's bike took a hit on the mech during transport. He had to spend the first day of his Slovakian tour bending it back and using the mech bolt to re-tap the hole.

[Scattamah]

Have flown bikes around the world a few times. Mostly in boxes acquired from local bike shops. I got brazen at one point and did the heavy plastic wrap between UK and Spain/UK and Italy. Small form factor/lots of tape is your friend. Unwrap and rebuild at destination. Carry the wrap (fits in a harness nicely behind a dry bag) and fresh roll of gorilla tape to rinse and repeat on return. Risk vs reward here...YMMV.

I leave the back wheel in if in a box and keep the drivetrain in place so I don't have to tune it at the destination. Pad the deraileur and brake calipers heavily. Bar bags strap nicely between forks.

In and out of Oz to Europe and Nth America, long haul carriers have generally been lenient with boxes ~ 1500cm long/70cm high/20cm wide/18Kg taped up. Short haul in Europe I've never had issue with boxes that I break down and leave in the terminal.

In and out of the US has been mostly ok but TSA do love to open boxes and mess things up. The biggest issue I can recall...getting a hold of my bike box in Seattle ex Manchester...with many holes from forks and cranks (tie them to the frame tightly!)...anything fluid in toolkit missing but skeletool and hexus still there...pedals floating around loose in the ziplock no longer strapped to the frame and luckily still in the box. Will find out soon enough how things have changed since 2019 when I fetch Lois home from ABQ next month.

Greetz

S.

[woodsmith]

In and out of the US has been mostly ok but TSA do love to open boxes and mess things up. The biggest issue I can recall...getting a hold of my bike box in Seattle ex Manchester...with many holes from forks and cranks (tie them to the frame tightly!)...anything fluid in toolkit missing but skeletool and hexus still there...pedals floating around loose in the ziplock no longer strapped to the frame and luckily still in the box. Will find out soon enough how things have changed since 2019 when I fetch Lois home from ABQ next month.

Hopefully flying the same route this summer. Were your forls and cranks separate from/not fitted to the frame?
Would you recommend cable ties for the pedals onto the frame? I assume they emptied out the frame bag etc?
I guess you can carry chain lube / sealant in carry-on if its under 100ml

[Scattamah]

Cable ties are a faff if you don't have cutters at the other end...and folks question pulling out a knife to cut them. Go with a roll of 1/2" velcro and cut long strips. Useful outbound, during the trip and on the return....for multiple trips. Forks/cranks stay on fitted. I try to stop things from moving about with said long straps. No frame bag for me...but security definetly rifled through/repacked bar bag, saddle bag, jerry can and gas tank. I suspect it's down to the person inspecting on the day as to how messed up things get.

Greetz

S.