Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Becmcshane
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Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby Becmcshane » Sun Sep 16, 2018 10:44 pm

I'm flying from Sydney to San Francisco next month and hoping to take my bike. On their website it says bike boxes can be up to 114 x 80 x 30. I'm.wanting to use my Scicon hard case which is not as long but wider and higher. I spoke to a woman at Qantas and she said there is no guarantee they will accept it as it is up to the check in staff on the day but as long as it is not overweight it should be ok. Has anyone flown with a Hard Case on Qantas? I don't want to get to the airport and be told I can't take it!

billy70
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby billy70 » Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:52 am

Yes, I have do so reasonably frequently in the past and it’s never been an issue to date.

Note: past performance is no indication of future behaviour
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Ross
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby Ross » Mon Sep 17, 2018 7:49 pm

I did a few years ao (to France) and the issue was the weight. The case and bike weighed over 20kg and I only had a luggage allowance of 25kg so I was over by ~10kg as I had a case full of clothing with me as well. QANTAS wanted to charge me ~100 per kg excess baggage. They generously reduced it to about $300 but it was either pay it or don't fly or don't take that bag. This was just on the Canberra to Sydney leg. I was flying Etihad for the rest of the trip and they didn't bat an eyelid at the bike case.

On the way back from Sydney to Canberra I was in a Fokker Friendship or similiar small plane and they didn't charge me any extra. I was in a 747 for the original Canberra - Sydney leg where they charged me the extra $300 - go figure, I thought extra weight would be more of an issue on the smaller plane.

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ValleyForge
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby ValleyForge » Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:17 pm

My bike and I have traveled a lot over years past. My Scion AeroTech Evolution has never been a problem with QANTAS.

Allow a minute or two extra to roll it to the Oversize Baggage counter. Mine has its own RFID tag and is often off the plane before me. I would pack mine to weigh just under 25 kg and the rest I could fit in a carry-on. For International I had a higher luggage allowance so it wasn't an issue to have a second smaller bag in the hold.

You are more likely to run into problems with a forgotten tool. I always pack disposable gloves and a old towel after putting chain grease on a hotel carpet. I now have a chain condom - the only decent advice Lance ever gave anyone.

The other thing is they are really hard to personalise. On one trip there were several on the concourse and they all looked the same. The ABS is such that stickers or paint don't take hold.
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Robdog
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby Robdog » Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:14 pm

I had no trouble flying Virgin from CBR to DRW via SYD a month ago. They allowed 32kg for the bike bag as my checked baggage with no dimension limit.
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antigee
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby antigee » Mon Sep 17, 2018 10:08 pm

billy70 wrote:Yes, I have do so reasonably frequently in the past and it’s never been an issue to date.

Note: past performance is no indication of future behaviour
same many times but with the same note you just never know - hard case I have is a little big on one dimension but I think if it looks like a bikecase and not a badly packed bike in a cardboard box then no one is going to bother to get out a tape measure - Qantas are a lot lot easier to deal with than some of the contracted out check in/handling that low budget airlines use in Europe and here in Melbourne you see stacks of bike cases at the airport

AS above all the weight stuff applies and don't forget to pack a brush and some cleaning materials for return - road bikes usually get nodded through but MTB's needs to be squeaky clean........and have a good time - jealous

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g-boaf
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby g-boaf » Mon Sep 17, 2018 10:21 pm

antigee wrote:
billy70 wrote:Yes, I have do so reasonably frequently in the past and it’s never been an issue to date.

Note: past performance is no indication of future behaviour
same many times but with the same note you just never know - hard case I have is a little big on one dimension but I think if it looks like a bikecase and not a badly packed bike in a cardboard box then no one is going to bother to get out a tape measure - Qantas are a lot lot easier to deal with than some of the contracted out check in/handling that low budget airlines use in Europe and here in Melbourne you see stacks of bike cases at the airport

AS above all the weight stuff applies and don't forget to pack a brush and some cleaning materials for return - road bikes usually get nodded through but MTB's needs to be squeaky clean........and have a good time - jealous

It's so much luck of the draw with weighing of bike bags/boxes. Sometimes they don't care at all, other times they do.

I'd also second the advice on cleaning the bike. I've had my road bike checked (they wanted to see the tyres) when coming back into Sydney. But second time around they didn't care. I was sent straight through.

Some airlines with frequent flyer programs give greater luggage allowances to more frequent travelers (with higher status). Mine does. It can be worth doing miles runs, quick flights to get enough miles to get to the next status tier. It can also pay off with lounge access.
Last edited by g-boaf on Tue Sep 18, 2018 9:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

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MichaelB
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby MichaelB » Mon Sep 17, 2018 10:57 pm

No experience with hard cases, as I travelled with the Scicon soft case. Completely different dimensions, but that wasn't the issue, and neither was the weight.

The CO2 canisters though - sheesh !! All sorted in the end, but trying to get a straight answer ....

Travelling domestically, and had to purchase an extra '23kg' for each flight, but that was done prior for $75 each way (with Qantas)

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antigee
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby antigee » Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:04 pm

MichaelB wrote:.......................

The CO2 canisters though - sheesh !! All sorted in the end, but trying to get a straight answer ....
forgotten that I just don't bother with C02 if travelling and can live with it as purely recreational - if taking rechargeable lights then current situations seems to be the battery pack(s)/lights must be in hand luggage

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g-boaf
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby g-boaf » Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:26 am

MichaelB wrote:No experience with hard cases, as I travelled with the Scicon soft case. Completely different dimensions, but that wasn't the issue, and neither was the weight.

The CO2 canisters though - sheesh !! All sorted in the end, but trying to get a straight answer ....

Travelling domestically, and had to purchase an extra '23kg' for each flight, but that was done prior for $75 each way (with Qantas)
Some airlines won't allow CO2 canisters either, although it seems to be a policy up to interpretation depending on the check in staff. One person had to give up his lot of them at the airport. He asked if he could keep the valve, and on emptying the contents to take off the valve the staff reacted like it was Novichok!

Yet I had no troubles with Emirates. And no punctures either when overseas, luckily.

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MichaelB
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby MichaelB » Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:35 am

g-boaf wrote:
Some airlines won't allow CO2 canisters either. One person had to give up his lot of them at the airport. He asked if he could keep the valve, and on emptying the contents to take off the valve the staff reacted like it was Novichok!

Yet I had no troubles with Emirates. And no punctures either, luckily.
To make matters worse, each airline is different.

I flew OS with Qatar, and their limit was a total mass (not qty), but can't remember what the amount is. I declared them at check in, and they called someone over, and after a brief chat, all was good (had rung then before to work it out). When getting to the Oversize check in, also mentioned it to them, and one guy said no more than 4 (so had to dig some out), but another guy there said that per AITA (?) rules, there was a limit on checked in bags (e.g. the bike bag) of 4, and 2 for carry on.

Meh, I complied. Left 4 in the bike, 2 in my carry on and gave the other 2 to the missus. Easy.

RobertL
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby RobertL » Tue Sep 18, 2018 1:31 pm

ValleyForge wrote: The other thing is they are really hard to personalise. On one trip there were several on the concourse and they all looked the same. The ABS is such that stickers or paint don't take hold.
Try tying a piece of coloured ribbon onto the handle.

hamishm
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby hamishm » Tue Sep 18, 2018 2:06 pm

MichaelB wrote:The CO2 canisters though - sheesh !! All sorted in the end, but trying to get a straight answer ....
Virgin specifically list these as allowed on their web site https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/p ... ous-goods/

"Gas cartridges - non-flammable for lifejackets, bicycle pumps and other inflating devices."

No more than 4 small cartridges allowed.

hamishm
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby hamishm » Tue Sep 18, 2018 2:08 pm

hamishm wrote:Virgin specifically list these as allowed on their web site https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/p ... ous-goods/
And Qantas too - same limit - although it's confusing about whether or not you need to get approval in advance.
https://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/ ... cartridges

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ValleyForge
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Re: Flying Qantas with a Hard Case

Postby ValleyForge » Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:29 pm

RobertL wrote:
ValleyForge wrote: The other thing is they are really hard to personalise. On one trip there were several on the concourse and they all looked the same. The ABS is such that stickers or paint don't take hold.
Try tying a piece of coloured ribbon onto the handle.
You can't really as it doesn't have that sort of handle. I have a blue tie-down strap I wrap around it for identification.
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